RICHLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE BUSINESS CONCEPT CHALLENGE SPONSORED BY:

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1 RICHLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE BUSINESS CONCEPT CHALLENGE 2015 SPONSORED BY:

2 CALENDAR OF EVENTS Tuesday, March 24, Executive Summary Workshop NSEC 121 6:00 PM Tuesday, March 31, Pitch Video Workshop Room C212 6:00 PM Friday, April 17, Online Submission Deadline (11:59 PM) Friday, April 24, Finalists Announced Friday, May 1, Final Presentations NSEC 121 6:00 PM COMPETITION OVERVIEW The Team Soy Business Concept Competition is open to all students at Richland Community College, Heartland Technical Academy and Millikin University. Individuals or teams can submit entries, but team size is limited to six individuals. The competition fosters and promotes business growth at the college and university level by giving students a chance to organize, direct, and present a business opportunity to a panel of judges. The competition provides teams with an educational forum to prepare them for the competition and aids them in the creation and implementation of their business. A cash prize of up to $1,000 will be awarded to the team judges feel have presented the most plausible and promising business executive summary. Secondary prizes will also be awarded, including two cash prizes of $750 for 2 nd and $500 for 3 rd place teams. ELIGIBILITY The competition is open to all full-time and part-time students enrolled at Richland Community College, Heartland Technical Academy, or Millikin University. Individual participation is permitted, but teams of up to six students are preferred, and are given points for interdisciplinary teams. The business plan must be for a seed, start-up, or early stage venture and must address the entire business concept (including implementation). At least one team member must have a key role in the company's management team. Proposals for the buy-out or expansion of an existing company, taxshelter opportunities, franchise, real estate syndications, or a non-profit, and other consulting projects and analyses are not eligible. Students who have competed in a previous year are eligible to compete again, however if they placed (first, second, or third), they must present a new idea and may not present the same and/or a revised version of the business plan or idea presented the previous year. If they did not place in the top three, they may submit the same or revised version of the business plan or idea presented the previous year. Richland Community College Business Concept Competition Page 2 of 5

3 THE COMPETITION PROCESS Round I: Executive Summary and Video This phase is open to all students. Begin by registering your team. Teams must prepare an executive summary addressing fundamental issues of interest to potential investors. Teams should also create a two-minute video. Both should highlight the most important and interesting elements of the business that lead a potential investor to understand why your venture will succeed. For more specific information about the executive summary and video, refer to the Executive Summary and Video sections. Finalist teams will be selected to proceed to Round II based on their Executive Summaries and will be announced via the Business Plan Competition website. In order to be eligible for the competition, the executive summary and video must be submitted by 11:59 pm on Friday, April 17, 2015 to bhanger@richland.edu. Round II: Final Presentation Each of the finalist teams will present their presentations to a panel of judges on Friday, May 1, Since the presentation time is limited to ten minutes, the presentation must be well organized and emphasize only the most important features of the business. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The executive summary is a brief document that outlines the fundamental issues regarding a company. The purpose of the document is to convince the reader that the business is viable and could operate in the real world. The most interesting and important aspects of the business, as well as the student involvement should be highlighted and explained. The executive summary with cover page should be no longer than seven pages. The document must have one-inch margins and a 12-point font size. All pages, except the cover page, should be numbered. Compressed types are not permitted. Executive Summary Components of an executive summary: Cover Page Company Overview Market Description Product or Service Sales & Marketing Strategy Team and Student Involvement Brief Financial Summary In order to be eligible for the competition, a PDF version of the executive summary must be submitted by 11:59 pm on Friday, April 17, 2015 to bhanger@richland.edu. A Note Concerning PDF Format The first round submission of your executive summary must be submitted in PDF form. File size cannot exceed 10 mb. Richland Community College Business Concept Competition Page 3 of 5

4 VIDEO A video workshop will be hosted on Tuesday, March 31, 2015, in Room C212 at Richland Community College. The workshop will teach interested participants the elements of a good pitch video and show examples of quality videos. Video must be uploaded to YouTube and submitted online by 11:59 pm on Friday, April 17, 2015, We strongly recommend not waiting until the last minute to upload your video. It may take longer than expected. Videos will give an opportunity to set you and your idea apart. Videos should help judges better understand your idea. They should also explain your executive summary. Teams should decide what ideas they feel are most applicable for judges to know. Videos will give an opportunity to set you and your idea apart. For example, you could use your video to: Give a personal elevator pitch for your idea. o Include: Business Concept, Product/Service Information, and Target Market Information Show your extreme passion for your idea. Let your creativity, your personality, and/or the personality of your idea shine through. Clearly demonstrate and explain the product or idea. Follow these simple guidelines when creating your video: Videos must be no longer than two minutes in length. Keep it professional. No inappropriate sounds, language, or images. Videos containing content deemed inappropriate will result in disqualification. A Note Concerning the Video Format and Size The video should be submitted as a YouTube video and URL should be pasted into the entry form. See for more details on how to upload videos. FINAL PRESENTATIONS The teams moving on to the final round will be asked to give a final presentation and answer questions for the panel of judges regarding their presentation and executive summary. Ten minutes will be given for the presentation, with an additional five minutes allotted for the question and answer session. Business formal dress is required. The final presentations will be held on Friday, May 1, Presentations should have impact and be brief. Most teams will not be able to present all of the aspects of their executive summary during the allotted time. The presentation should reinforce and augment the executive summary. Emphasize the most important features of your business in the time allotted in order to persuade the judges that your business will be successful. A projector and computer will be available, but each team will be responsible for providing any necessary equipment for their presentation, including a copy of their presentation on memory stick if necessary. Please bring any prototypes, posters, etc., needed to present your business concept effectively. Richland Community College Business Concept Competition Page 4 of 5

5 JUDGING The judging panel consists of venture capitalists, lawyers, accountants, entrepreneurs, and other successful and knowledge business leaders. Judges will not be affiliated with, or involved in the preparation or funding of, any participating team. The decision of the judging panel will be final and will not be subject to appeal. The overall selection of winners is based on the viability and likely success of the business. Judging Criteria Judging is based on the following: executive summary, video presentation, and final presentation. Teams must be ready to answer questions on both their executive summary and the final presentation during the final round Q&A session. The top-ranked written plans will advance to the final round in which the three presentations with top scores will be selected as winners. PRIZES The grand prize, in the amount of $1,000 will be awarded to the team with the highest scores given by the judges. First runner-up will be selected and will receive $750 and second runner-up $500. Prize money and in-kind prizes will be awarded during the final awards luncheon. NO CONFIDENTALITY AGREEMENT As a competitor, you are responsible to protect any information concerning your plan that you share with advisors, team members, and fellow participants of the competition. Richland Community College and Team Soy takes no responsibility for unwanted disclosure in these instances. Contestants should be careful about disclosing information concerning proprietary concepts. Richland Community College Business Concept Competition Page 5 of 5