These days, business plan competitions yield prizes worth more than ever.
The Wharton Business Plan Competition, for example, awards $20,000 in cash and $10,000 in legal services to its top entrant. Harvard Business School’s traditional track competition awards $25,000 in cash and $25,000 in business services to its winner. M.I.T.’s Clean Energy Prize includes $200,000 in cash. And Rice University offers a whopping $225,000 prize to its first-place winner, including $125,000 in equity investment, $20,000 in cash and more than $80,000 in services.
Competition within the competitions can be fierce, however. And that’s why Cindy Boyd, who is chief executive of the Houston-based consultancy Sentigy and a frequent judge at competitions hosted by Rice University and the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, recommends that would-be entrants conduct extensive online research via the Web sites of the host organizations. Even more important, she suggests contacting past participants – judges, winners, and losers – to ask what worked and what didn’t.
Don’t submit an application, says Ms. Boyd, unless the advice you get sounds do-able for your team.
After selecting an appropriate competition, George Abe, a faculty director at U.C.L.A.’s Anderson School, says most teams should take at least a year to hone their business plans. “The earlier the prep begins,” says Mr. Abe, who has seven years of judging experience, “the better the plan is. You can get away with three months minimum if you have a product or service crystal clear in your mind. But you cannot be figuring out a market and competitive story in 60 days.”
Continue Reading: “How To Win A Biz Plan Competition”
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