Business Plan Competitions

The idea of a business plan competition first started				Small Business" and DiversityInc. The BEST
in the 1980's at the initiative of some MBA students				Business Plan contest took place in the winter of
from Texas and has increasingly gained popularity.				2004 and addressed all U.S. citizens over 18. All the
Such events happen yearly and rejoice a great				submitted business plans were judged by an advisory
affluence of contestants, which highly increases their				panel from SCORE.
competitiveness.				Why the need to participate in such events?
Competitions				Besides the cash prizes, that, although quite
Organized by Universities				important, will rarely suffice for financing the
- Babcock Elevator Pitch Competition - Wake Forest				foundation of a company, there is the advantage of
University				learning from this experience - this will enrich
- Enterprise Creation Competition - Ball State				students' knowledge in a greater degree than the
University				mere theoretical aspects they learn from lectures.Not
- Moot Corp. Competition - University of Texas				in the last place, there is the valuable opportunity of
- Duke Start-Up Challenge - Duke University				pitching the business plans to quite a lot of investors
- IBK Capital Ivey Business Plan Competition -				in a very short time.
University of Western Ontario				How Do Winners Benefit?
- OFC Venture Challenge - Clark Atlanta University				Innitially started as a valuable opportunity for the
- Venture Adventure - Colorado State University				students with bright business ideas to express them
Held by business organizations				within contest conditions, the business plan
- Jungle Business Plan Challenge - Jungle Media Group				competitions have become a resource for some
- S.E.E.D. Business Plan Competition - TechKnowledge				investors. There are two categories of results of
Point Corp.				such competitions:You would say that choosing from
- Venture Bowl - National Institute for				purely theoretical plans would be highly improbable for
Entrepreneurship and Carrot Capital				a venture investor. Yet, that's how many successful
You will wonder probably what exactly do these				firms came into being.
competitions consist of and where does their				1-800 Contacts
popularity come from?				A mail-order contact-lens-replacement company in
Organizers				Draper, Utah. The business plan won the 1995
Although the organizers and sponsors are usually				Brigham Young University tournament in Provo, Utah.
universities, there are several business organizations				Attorneys @ Work
that host business plan competitions.				An Internet recruiting and placement service in
Contestants				Atlanta. Competition: 1996, University of Georgia.
Business plan competitions are student entrepreneur				SensAble Technologies Inc.
events. The contests are organized either for				In Cambridge, Mass., won the MIT competition in
graduate or undergraduate students and it does not				1995.
necessarily have to be MBA students. The				Epotec Inc.
contestants may be student scientists, engineers,				Competition: 1997, University of Chicago.
MDs or other specialists who strive to create a viable				However, having good results in an important
business plan hoping to enter such competitions.The				competition does not necessarily imply launching a
popularity of such contests also reached some other				company successfully. There is the risk that some
layers: business plan competitions are also organized				investors consider your plan an academic exercise
with the purpose of giving people the possibility of				before really studying it and thus the percentage of
starting a business. Business plan competitions usually				trust is substantially reduced.
happen as intercollegiate events, but this contest				Laura Ciocan writes for where you can find more
formula has also been taken over by companies who				information about what is a business plan
want to facilitate the founding of new businesses.It is				Please feel free to use this article in your Newsletter
also the case of Ford Motor Company that				or on your website. If you use this article, please
sponsored the Ford BEST (Building Entrepreneurial				include the resource box and send a brief message
Success Today) Business Plan contest in association				to let me know where it appeared.
with SCORE "Counselors to America’s

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Business Plan Competitions