George Washington University Business Plan Competition

Rules

Students are permitted and encouraged to use all available resources in developing their written business plans and oral presentations.  Such resources include, but are not limited to, those described in the "Resources" section of this website.

The competition will be conducted in three rounds as follows:

1. Submit Online Entry and Executive Summary

Final due date:  11:59 pm on Jan. 30, 2012

This online application can be found in the "Become a Winner" section of this website.

The competition is open to individuals or teams of up to four people.  At least 50% of the members of each team must be either GW alumni, currently-enrolled GW students (academic year 2011-12), or GW faculty (academic year 2011-12). At least one member of the team must be a currently-enrolled GW student.  To be considered for the Best Undergraduate Team prize, at least 50% of the members must be currently-enrolled undergraduate GW students. Only one entry may be submitted per team.

Since the competition is designed for new businesses, the business must not be more than two years old (as of Jan. 30, 2012), must have gross sales of less than $200,000 (for the year ended Dec. 31, 2011), and may not be a previous GW Business Plan prize-winning business.  New businesses that have not yet been formed are most welcome to apply.

You must submit your entry by 11:59 pm on Jan. 30, 2012.

The application requires that you attach an Executive Summary of your business plan.  This summary may not exceed two pages single-spaced and must use the Arial 12 font with one-inch margins.  MS Word format is required.  Note: Unlike the 2nd round Executive Summary (described below), this Executive Summary is not required to include a Mission Statement.

Participants whose Applications and Executive Summaries of their Business Plans have been accepted will be listed in the "Recent Winners" section of this website no later than Feb. 13, 2012. All decisions by the panel of judges are final.

See the "Resources" section of this website for information regarding workshops such as "How to Write an Executive Summary."

2. Written Business Plan

Final due date:  11:59 pm on March 19, 2012

This second round of the competition is open only to those individuals and teams who are listed in the "Recent Winners" section of this website, having advanced to the Written Business Plan phase.

Written business plans may not exceed 15 pages single-spaced plus up to 5 pages of appendices.  The cover page and table of contents page (since they are not numbered) do not count toward the 15-page limit.  Plans must use the Arial 12 font with one-inch margins; however, charts and footnotes may use the Arial 10 font.  Word .doc or .docx format is required.  The document name must be the same as the name of the business (businessname.doc or businessname.docx). Submissions that do not comply with these specifications will be rejected.

Written business plans must be submitted via the the "Become a Winner" section of this website and are only accepted by those teams that qualify. No plan may be submitted later than 11:59 pm on Monday, March 19, 2012.

Each business plan must include the following sections:

• Executive Summary (including Mission Statement)
• Industry and Company Overview - Products & Services
• Competitor Analysis & Business Strategy
• Marketing Plan
• Operations Plan
• Management Team & Company Structure
• Financial Projections (including, at a minimum: capital required, 3 years of cash flow and income statement forecasts)

Participants who have submitted Written Business Plans that have been selected to advance to round 3 will be listed in the "Recent Winners" section of this website no later than 9:00 am on April 3, 2012. All decisions by the panel of judges are final.

See the "Resources" section of this website for information regarding workshops such as “Writing a Successful Business Plan.”

3. Oral Business Plan Presentation

Finals begin at 10:00 am on Apr. 13, 2012

This third and final round of the competition is open only to those 8 teams and individuals who are listed in the "Recent Winners" section of this website, having advanced to the final round.

The time limit for oral presentations is 15 minutes.  Oral presentations may be accompanied by PowerPoint slides (no other slide technology will be allowed in order to ensure compatibility with available projection resources).  Warnings will be given at three minutes remaining (green), at two minutes remaining (yellow), and at one minute remaining (red).  Judges will have approximately 5 minutes for questions and answers.

All team members must participate significantly in their team’s oral presentation; however, individuals' presentation times need not be equal. In the event of extraordinary circumstances, a team may request permission for a team member to present from a remote location by video.

Following the eight finalist presentations on April 13, the ranking of the top four teams and the Best Undergraduate Team (which could be one of the top four teams) will be announced and large checks will be presented (see Prizes).  All decisions by the panel of judges are final. A celebratory reception, to which all finalist teams are invited, will follow the announcement.

Prize money will be paid to the winning companies upon presentation of appropriate documentation regarding their companies. The first place team and the top undergraduate team (if different) will be required to provide follow-up information to GWU about their company and their use of the prize money.

See the "Resources" section of this website for information regarding workshops such as "Delivering a Compelling Presentation."

Confidentiality and Intellectual Property Guidelines

• The authors of the business plan will retain all rights to the plan regarding its use at all times prior to and following the competition except as stated below. Due to the nature of the competition, GWU will not ask judges, reviewers, staff or the audience to agree to or sign non-disclosure statements for any participant.
• As all oral presentations and question/answer sessions are open to the public at large, these public sessions may be photographed, videoed, and/or broadcast to interested persons through media which may include radio, television and the Internet. Any data or information discussed or divulged in public sessions by entrants should be considered information that will likely enter the public realm, and entrants should not assume any right of confidentiality in any data or information discussed, divulged or presented in these sessions.