Otago Boys High School pupils Ben Mason (18) and Thomas Geary (17), along with Jackson Toms and Max Brown, won the Otago regional finals of the Young Enterprise Scheme last night with their business Oak Cologne.
They came up with a solid cologne product, made with natural ingredients, which they have been selling throughout the year.
''There was a lot of trial and error, we were struggling for ideas at the start,'' Thomas said.
Ben said there were a lot of challenges along the way, from coming up with a scent to working out how to actually make the product.
''It turned out coming up with the idea was the easiest part.''
They were one of four teams which presented their business pitches to judges at the Otago Business School last night.
But their presentation did not quite go to plan.
Their PowerPoint presentations had become muddled, meaning the wrong one was put up on the big screen and their speeches did not match up with the slides.
They managed to win over the judges, despite the setback.
''We're stoked,'' Ben said.
They will represent the region at the national finals in Wellington in December.
Other winners were: Egnite, Kaikorai Valley College - regional excellence award for annual review, regional excellence award for sales performance; EduCard NZ, Otago Boys High School - regional excellence award for finance; Grind n Grow, Roxburgh Area School - regional excellence award for community impact; Hive9, Columba College - regional excellence for design and marketing; Samuel Hewson, EduCard NZ, Otago Boys High School - regional excellence award for leadership.
