Q: What is the BizStarts Collegiate Business Plan Competition?
A: The BizStarts Collegiate Business Plan Competition, sponsored by Mason Wells, is a competition for students with business plans from Universities located in the seven counties surrounding Milwaukee to compete against each other to win prizes that will help students start their business.
Q: Why should students enter the competition?
A: The contest will provide students with:
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The opportunity to earn significant cash and in-kind prizes
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The opportunity to gain valuable experience in writing an effective business plan
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The opportunity test their ideas in a simulated real-world setting
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The opportunity to present their idea for evaluation by experienced business professionals
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The opportunity to publicize a business concept and to attract financial and other resources
Q: Is this contest open to anyone in the Milwaukee region?
A: No, the only individuals eligible to enter this contest are teams associated with post-secondary institutions in the Milwaukee 7 region. A team cannot enter the business plan contest directly. They need to enter their respective institutions process. Then, each institution submits their two top business plans for consideration in the BizStarts Collegiate Business Plan Competition.
Q: What does an institution need to do in order to participate in the BizStarts Collegiate Business Plan Competition?
A: First the institution must complete an Institution Registration Form. This form is located in the Institution Registration section of the website. Print the completed form and submit the form by clicking the Submit button.
Q: Does an institution need to hold a business plan contest to participate in the BizStarts Collegiate Business Plan Competition?
A: No, the institution may choose its candidate plans by any method it chooses, including a faculty member selecting plans from a class, an official selecting from plans submitted in an open submissions process, etc.
Q: How are candidate teams registered for the competition?
A: A designated institutional representative submits one Team Registration Form and business plan for each team and a Participation Waiver Form for each team member. These need to be submitted by April 11, 2012 11:59 pm.
Q: What are the criteria that will be used to judge the entries?
A: A list of the official criteria used to evaluate initial entries is available on the Initial Evaluation Scorecard. A list of the official criteria used to evaluate the finalist business plans and presentations is available on the Top Finalists Evaluation Scorecard.
Q: As a student entering the competition, will I have to pay for transportation, lodging, and food for the final event?
A: Lodging and transportation are the responsibility of the individual team members or the institutions. Some refreshments will be available during the networking segment of the final event, but cost of meals must be borne by the individual team members or the institutions which sponsors the entries.
Q: Where and when will the final event take place?
A: The final event will be take place at the Todd Wehr Center, on the campus of the Milwaukee School of Engineering, located at 1047 North Broadway Street in Milwaukee on April 26, 2012.
Q: What is the eligibility for those entering the contest?
A: The primary requirement is that at least one of the members of a team is a student that has been enrolled at the institution during the 2011-2012 academic years. The academic year is considered to be August 15, 2011 to May 25, 2012.
Q: How is the contest organized?
A: The contest is organized in stages.
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First, post-secondary institutions submit a maximum of two business plans along with the identities of team members.
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Next, the written business plans of the teams will be evaluated. The top five plans from this stage will be invited to revise their plans and resubmit them a few days later.
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These five teams will then be invited to present their plans to a panel of judges. The ranking of the winners will be selected from this group of plans. A more complete description of the contest is provided elsewhere on this website.
Q: When will the finalist teams be announced?
A: The finalist teams will be announced on April 18, 2012. This will give those teams two days to revise and resubmit their plans and about a week to prepare for the final presentations.
Q: How do I become a Sponsor for BizStarts?
A: Contact Eric Paulsen at BizStarts Milwaukee (414-921-0909) or via email at epaulsen@bizstartsmilwaukee.com.
Q: How will judging proceed on April 26, 2012?
A: When the finalist teams are announced on April 18, 2012, BizStarts will issue a schedule assigning a presentation time for each team on April 26, 2012. During the scheduled time, each team will be given 15 minutes to present a plan, and the remaining time (about 10 minutes) will be used by the judges to ask questions of the teams. Team members should make accommodations for the possibility of these presentations at the time of entry to the contest.
Q: Can I require judges to sign a waiver in order to protect my idea?
A: Judges will not be required to sign such contracts, and the presentation of your idea would constitute a public disclosure of the idea. If you are concerned about intellectual property protection, you should make appropriate arrangements prior to submission of your idea.
Q: What is the deadline for an institution to submit an institutional registration form?
A: by March 29, 2012 11:59 pm.
Q: How does an institution advance teams into the contest?
A: The institution will submit team names, team member information, team member participation waivers and Business plans of up to two teams by 11:59pm on April 11, 2012.
Q: Where can we submit questions that are not answered here or submit some of the necessary documents?
A: Any other questions that are not addressed here or documents that need to be submitted can be sent to the contest email address bizstartscontest@bizstartsmilwaukee.com.
Q: Who should complete the institutional registration form?
A: An individual officially representing their college or university.