March 29, 2011. The date of the Second Annual Michigan Technological University Business Plan Competition. All Michigan Tech students, undergraduate and graduate along with students from Finlandia University are eligible to enter a team in this competition. The competition is being hosted by the Institute for Leadership and Innovation, Michigan Technological University School of Business and Economics, the Michigan Tech SmartZone, and a grant from the Michigan Initiative for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
If you have an idea for your own business a Business Plan Competition is a great way to get you started. A Business Plan forces you to think through the process of starting a business. What exactly is your product or service, who will your customers be, how will you get to them, how much money will it take to get started and, most importantly, is the market large enough to make your business profitable? These are some of the questions a business plan will answer. If you will have to borrow money for your business you will have to have a business plan for your bank or investors.
Never written a business plan? No problem, all you need is the IDEA! Everyone who signs up for the Business Plan Competition will be invited to four training sessions on how to write a business plan. You will be taken through every step of the process and during the last session you will be able to have your plan reviewed by professionals familiar with business plans so they can give you suggestions before your plan is submitted to the judges.
The completed business plans will be submitted by March 21, 2011, and the top ten will be selected to go onto the finals. A total of ten teams will be selected to make presentations of their Business Plans to a distinguished panel of judges. During the finals each team will have five minutes to present their plan to the judges then there will be ten minutes to ask questions.
Prizes
The first place winning team will receive $1,500 in cash plus $500 worth of consulting services from a local attorney Mary Waddell, from Vairo, Mechlin, & Tomasi, PLLC, who specializes in setting up corporations, $500 worth of consulting services from a local CPA, Joe Daavettila, who works with many startup companies, $500 worth of consulting services with The Marketing Department, free office space in the Michigan Tech SmartZone for three months a value of $600 and from Delta Business Solutions of Houghton a copy of Quickbooks accounting software and four hours of consulting to set up your accounts and training on Quickbooks. The total value of the first place prizes is $4,100. Second place will get $500 and third place will get $250.
Important Dates
Friday, February 4, 2011 by 5:00 PM Deadline to submit “Intent to Compete” and team members
Monday, March 21, 2011 at 5:00 PM Deadline for submission (electronically) of completed Business Plan
Friday March 25, 2011 Notification of ten finalist who will move forward
Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 6:00 PM Final Presentations and selection of winners--Fisher Hall room 139
Business Plan Development Help Session Schedule
Wednesday, Feb 16th at 5:00 PM The Executive Summary and Product description
Wednesday, Feb 23rd at 5:00 PM Market Identification
Wednesday, March 2nd at 6:00 PM Finance and Operations
Wednesday, March 16th at 6:00 PM Plan Reviews
All help sessions will be held in the Chem Sci Building room 108.
These help sessions are not mandatory but will provide valuable information in how to prepare a Business Plan and what the judges will be looking for.
How To Enter
To enter a team send an email to remark@mtu.edu by 5:00 PM Friday, February 4, 2011. In the email list the names and email addresses of all team members and a brief summary, one paragraph, of your business idea.