The University of Dayton Business Plan Competition

A special thanks to our sponsors UD National Alumni Association

Overview of today’s presentation What is a Business Plan competition? Elevator Pitch Cameo Round ◄ The new wrinkle! Finalist round Prize money ◄ $59k this year! Key dates Support

What is a Business Plan Competition? It’s where you investigate an opportunity for starting a new business – Markets, costs, competition, benefits You present a 1 minute overview of the opportunity – “back of the cocktail napkin” Finalists write up their findings in a commonly used format (the business plan has 11 parts)

Ours is a 3-stage competition Stage 1—Give a one minute speech, write one page of information about your product – Judges select ten semi-finalists, and also identify top ten oral presentations Stage 2---The ten semi-finalists write up 2-3 pages and talk for five minutes. Judges select five finalists Stage 3---Five finalists write a full business plan during the winter semester

3 Stage Competition Prize Money: $59,000 overall PrizeElevatorCameoFinalist 1 st Place$1, $1, $20, nd Place$1, $ rd Place$ $1, $5, th Place$ $1, $3, th Place$ $1, $3, th -10 th $ $1,

Plus a chance for even more money! The three highest placing finalist teams will be invited to pitch the Connor Foundation Seed Fund for an additional $50k investment! We also network our finalists to other competitions and potential investors as well

How our competition works— Three stage competition Solo or team effort (teams 1-8 in size) 1 st & 2 nd stages open to everyone-two entries per person Finalist round must include current UD students or UD Alumni.

What is an Elevator Pitch? It is a one minute presentation where you – Present your idea – Cover six general areas In our elevator pitch, Judges don’t ask you questions—you have one full minute to present.

What are the 6 areas of an Elevator Pitch? 1. Introduction 2. Problem Statement 3. Opportunity 4. Resources Required 5. Returns to Investor 6. Tag line and closing

What do the EP judges look for? 1. Novelty/Cleverness/Usefulness 2. Quality of Benefits provided 3. Competitiveness 4. Growth Potential 5. Ability to Execute 6. Quality of presentation

Elevator Pitch Stage: Application process Application: – Opens 13 September, 2010 – Closes 20 October, 2010 What we ask you to tell us – Demographic information – 6 areas of elevator pitch Space limited to roughly one page.

Elevator Pitch & Cameo stages: Key dates September 13 th : Online system opens October 20 th : Application deadline October 22 nd, & 29 th : Dress Rehearsals October 30 th : Elevator Pitch November 20 th : Cameo Round December 3 rd : Finalists announced

Final Plan Stage: Process Finalist teams notified on 3 December, 2010 Teams are paired with Mentors. Each team given 15 hours of Mentor time. Coordinator will conduct training sessions for all teams Teams prepare Business Plan, presentation slides during the winter semester

Final Stage: Presentation Each team given 20 minutes to present, plus ten minutes Q & A time – Props, multi-media are acceptable – Break after 3 rd presentation Order of presentations is random, and announced the day of presentations Full team must be present, but not all team members are required to speak

What do finalist round judges look for? Quality of the idea Quality of the written plan Quality of the oral presentation Quality of the financial analysis Quality of the team

Why enter a business plan competition? Entrepreneurship courses teach three critical items A. Spotting opportunities B. Planning to seize those opportunities C. Executing the plans. Many people have great ideas, but are scared of parts “B” and “C”– our goal is to make those steps easier and simpler.

Why is this a good resume line? It’s a competition, so you outperformed others Spotting opportunities suggests leadership and creativity Good presentations suggest good communications skills Business Plans are “big picture”, they demonstrate how you can see the entire picture

Eligibility: Plan parameters Work must be original. – Plans checked for plagiarism. Start-ups acceptable up to one year old. Non-Profits are acceptable, but judged the same as others. Plans cannot violate Marianist values. – E.g. no payday loans, etc. Plans must be legal – (e.g. no DVD pirates). Plans cannot have a liquor license. Anyone may enter up to two plans, but can only be a finalist once. Students can’t be serving a university suspension during the competition

Support for entrants Free individual instruction with the BPC Director On-line coaching sessions Optional rehearsals for elevator pitch Coaching sessions for all finalist teams Business mentor assigned to each finalist team Access to market research, planning tools, etc.

What if you don’t have an idea yet? We’ll help you generate many good ideas We’ll help facilitate partnerships with people who do have ideas. We can help you succeed