Contestant Info
Important Dates
- November 15, 2007 - Faculty reception
- February 22, 2008 - Registrations are due
- February 27, 2008 - Lackawanna County Help Session
- February 28, 2008 - Luzerne County Help Session
- March 31, 2008 - Business Plans are due
- April 9, 2008 - Presentation skills Help Session
- April 14, 2008 - Finalists selected
- April 22, 2008 - Finalists presentations to judges
- May 1, 2008 - Awards ceremony
Help Sessions
Each help session includes volunteer professionals from various business functions who will be available to answer your questions on how to develop a business plan.
"The help sessions helped us with our financial portion of the plan, being that we are not accountants we did not know how to do certain adjustments. The accountants worked with us and helped to make our statements more realistic which gave the judges a better understanding of the possibilities. Also, the presentation help session allowed us to speak to what the judges wanted to hear and in turn allowed us to have a better presentation."
-Todd Buckley
VP of Operations, Right Traq Inc.
2nd Place Winners of the 2006 Business Plan Competition
Business Plan Preparation Sessions
Lackawanna:
Date: February 27, 2008
Time: 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Location: TBD
Luzerne:
Date: February 28, 2008
Time: 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Location: TBD
Skills Presentation Session
Presentation Skills:
Date: April 9, 2008
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: TBA
The presentation skills session is strictly to help registrants with developing/refining their presentation skills related to presenting their business plans, in the event they are selected to present their plans to the judges.
This format must be used when submitting your plan.
Business Plan Format
Please click on the link below to download the approved business plan submission format for the 2008 competition. When submitting your business plan, you must use the provided formatting template.
Business Plan Competition Format
This format must be used for your presentation.
Business Plan Presentation Template
Please click on the link below to download the approved business plan presentation template for the 2008 competition. When presenting your business plan to the judges, you must use the provided formatting template.
Business Plan Competition Presentation Template
Judging and Evaluation
Judges will evaluate plans for:
- Focus
- Uniqueness and economic feasibility
- Ability to protect intellectual property, technology
- Evidence of customer acceptance
- Proposed use of financial resources
- Exit strategy for investors
- Expertise and abilities of the team
- Finalists will be required to deliver a formal presentation to a panel of judges
- Growth relating to job creations and revenue projections
*Please Note: There can be NO mention or representation of your college so as not to bias the judges.
What do the judges look for in a plan?
For the finalists who will be given the opportunity to present their plans, a key differentiating factor will be the quality of the presentation. It is recommended to attend the Presentation Skills Help session.
The judges look at many different issues when evaluating executive summaries and business plans, including:
- Is the business opportunity as presented both highly attractive and clearly realistic?
- Is the business defensible from competitors?
- What is the business model?
- What comparisons are there to past success stories that indicate this venture will succeed?
- What is the amount of up-front capital investment required?
- Do the market and financial projections demonstrate that the team understands its business?
- How long will it take from the current stage of development to bring this to market?
- Can this venture achieve a leadership position in its market?
- Has the team gone out to the market already to test its ideas?
- Who will be the first customer(s)?
- Is the team of sufficient breadth, balance and quality to make its ideas happen?
- Will the ego of the founder(s) get in the way of success?
- Is the team focused on its target market?
- What is the expected time and amount of pay-off to investors?
- Is the reader familiar with and interested in the given market space?
- Is the plan clear and well-written?
- Does the team have the necessary communications skills to present a compelling story?
- What roles will the team members play in the venture?
- Are the team members dedicated to the venture and their roles in the group?
- Does the team have a clear plan for spending the investment money it receives?
- Why is this business going to be around and a real world winner in 5 years?