Missouri Entrepreneurship Challenge A Statewide Competition Patricia PalmerPatricia Palmer, Ed.D, Affiliate Missouri Council on Economic Education 1

Entrepreneurship Challenge A premier student program initiated by the Missouri Council on Economic Education and partnering with The Craig School of Business at Missouri Western State University to encourage the development of entrepreneurial skills in Missouri high schools. Teams of students compete to develop the business plan that is judged the most likely to attract investors. 2

The MO Entrepreneurship Challenge is: O A competition with cash prizes and MWSU Craig School of Business scholarships on the line O A 21 st Century learning opportunity for high school students O A real-life experience that engages and challenges students O A chance for students to create a real business 3

There are Entrepreneurs Sitting in Your Classroom! 4 Are entrepreneurs born? Or Made?

Who Has the “E”? O Nurturing the Entrepreneurial Spirit Nurturing the Entrepreneurial Spirit O Entrepreneurship Everywhere Entrepreneurship Everywhere O Kiss the Boss Goodbye. It is time to be an Entrepreneur! Kiss the Boss Goodbye. It is time to be an Entrepreneur! 5

Where do the ideas come from? 6 Andrew Po, Home-based Skate Board Shop Bettah Buttah An Inventor Reinvents his Own Business

Why Would Our Students Want to be Entrepreneurs? 7 O March 2012 youth unemployment rate in US was 23.2% compared to adult rate of 8.3% O June 2012 Youth Unemployment More Than Seven in Ten O If you can’t find a job, make a job!

Would Your Students be Ready ? 8 O Avoid the Backward Start Up Avoid the Backward Start Up

The Entrepreneurship Challenge Helps to Prepare Students for the Real Thing! 9 O Global Entrepreneurship Week Global Entrepreneurship Week O Teams compete online for the chance to represent their region at the state competition O Students are given a scenario and challenged to create a business plan O Winning team members receive $100 and a scholarship to the Craig School of Business at Missouri Western State University

Registration is NOW Open! O Sign your teams up today! Sign your teams up today! O Each teacher may have unlimited teams of 5 students. O Missouri is divided into 4 regions; each region will have at least two teams in the state competition O Two wild card teams will be invited to the state competition based on the results of the online round 10

Regional Competition 11

Timeline O Registration O 24-Jul-2012 Noon to 03-Oct :00 PM O Online Round O Begins October 8, :00 AM Ends October 19, :00PM Judging October 23, 2012 to October 30,

Timeline O Teams invited to the State Entrepreneurship Challenge will be posted by 5 pm Thursday, November 1 st at O Teams must accept the invitation by noon Wednesday, November 7 th. 13

Scenarios and Business Plans O The scenario for the online round will be posted by 7 am on Monday, October 8 O Student teams will have two full weeks to research, develop and create a business plan for their idea. O Students will upload their business plans to a link that will be provided to each teacher. O The deadline for submission will be 5 pm Friday, October 19. They may submit sooner. 14

Online Round Judging O Judges from across the state will review and score each business plan. O The scoring guide will be available for teachers by September 1 st. It will be posted at under “Teacher Resources” 15

What should a business plan include? O Online submissions should include: O Summary of business idea and company description O Market analysis O Sales and Marketing Plan O Service or Product Descriptions O Financials 16

How Does This Fit My Curriculum? O Isn’t it too early in the semester for all that? O Not really; our hope is that this assignment will lay the groundwork for the rest of your semester. O Students will have a concrete and tangible business idea in their heads as you dive into more details throughout the semester. O The EC will be an excellent way to demonstrate Common Core integration. 17

Help is on the way! O A series of webinars is planned to help teachers with details as the semester unfolds. O Topics will range from generating business ideas to completing a business plan. O A schedule of the webinars will be posted at

The State Final—November 13 O On November 13, 2012, Missouri Western State University’s Craig School of Business will host 100 students (20 teams of 5) to compete for the state title. O We have reserved a block of rooms for the night of November 12 th for teams that need to stay overnight. A grant proposal is pending that would pay for these rooms (making it free of charge to schools/students.) O On November 13, the competition will begin at 9 am. 19

The State Final O The competition will begin a 9am sharp when the challenge of the day is announced. O Students will have 2 hours to create a plan that meets that challenge. O The culmination of the state final will be the opportunity for teams to present their business ideas to a panel of experts. 20

The State Final (a Twist) O On the day of the state final, each team of 5 students will be randomly paired with another team of 5 students. O The state final will therefore feature 10 teams of 10 competing to pitch the best business idea and strategy to the panel. O Judges will review each business plan using the same scoring guide and select the team that has a business plan that most clearly addresses the scenario and has the best chance to attract investors/funding. 21

Judging/Prizes O Each member of the winning team will receive a check that day for $100. O In addition each student on the winning team will be awarded a scholarship to the Craig School of Business renewable for 4 years from Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph. O All students will receive a certificate for participating in the state competition. 22

Join Us for the 2 nd Annual Missouri State Entrepreneurship Challenge Register Now! October: Online! Qualify! Register November 13 : See you at STATE!! Save the Date!! 23