• Business Plan ideas may originate with Cal Poly students, staff, faculty, alumni, friends or community members of San Luis Obispo.
• Teams that do not have a Cal Poly student as a founder must include at least one Cal Poly student as team members, registered for the quarter in which the competition occurs (Winter Qtr)
• Students may participate in more than one team
• Teams may include both graduate and undergraduate students
• Teams are encouraged to include members from more than one college, with different skill sets and strengths (team strength is an evaluation criterion)
• There are no restrictions on the size of teams, but 3-5 members is common
• The Business Plan Competition is intended primarily for new ventures. Existing ventures less than two years old may participate if they generate less than $200K in annual gross revenue and if their business plan represents a significant reorientation of the firm.

All business plan competition information and guidelines will be availabe to download in MS Word format on November 5, 2005.

KEY DATES

DATE	ACTIVITY
Wednesday, 11/9/05 6:30pm	Info Night @ Sandwich Factory--More information about competition, ideas surface and teams form.
Thursday, 12/15/05 Midnight	Teams submit a Cover Sheet, Business Memo, 1-2page Business Concept Outline. Electronic submissions to: polybizplan@yahoo.com
Thursday 12/15/05 to Monday 3/6/06	Teams prepare a Written Business Plan using complimentary Business Plan Pro (Premier Edition) that is no longer than 30 double-spaced pages.
Monday, 3/6/06 Noon	Teams submit 1 electronic and 6 hard-copies of their written Business Plan to the OCOB Marketing Area Office (03-407) and to polybizplan@yahoo.com
Monday, 3/6/06 to Sunday, 4/1/06	Readers evaluate and rate business plans.
By Friday, 4/14/06	Notification of five Finalist Teams
Friday, 4/28/06, 1:15-5:00 p.m.	Finalist Teams make a public Oral Presentation lasting 20 minutes followed by 15 minutes Q&A. Judges decide on top three teams, followed by Award Reception.

COMPETITION PROCESS

Business Concept Outline
This Outline is a 1-2-page Overview of the business concept, including: description of the product or service (its function and strongest attributes), customers and target market (specific descriptions of age, gender, income, profession, etc), value proposition of the product or service (benefits to customers), and market penetration methods (distribution channels). Judges may invite teams to make a “fast pitch” in person.

Each Concept Outline must be accompanied by a Cover Sheet indicating the name of the team or company, the names of team members, their Colleges and degree programs, and their contact information (email, address, and phone#).

A 50-100 word Business Memo must accompany the Business Concept Outline for publicity and general information purposes. It should provide a brief description of the business idea, market, and team.

Written Business Plan
Teams will submit a Written Business Plan no longer than 30 double-spaced pages (excluding appendices) with 12pt font and 1 inch margins. Teams will be assisted in this process by a series of Workshops. Each team member will also receive a license for Business Plan Pro (Premier Edition) software and technical support, compliments of PaloAlto Software.

Final Presentations
Five finalist teams will be invited to make an Oral Presentation lasting 20 minutes, followed by 15 minutes for Q & A.

CRITERIA AND PROCESS FOR AWARD SELECTION
Awards are based on three elements: the written business plan (40%), the final presentation (20%), and a summative assessment of the business opportunity (40%). Judges complete the evaluation below as a basis for discussion. The scores do not determine their final decision. Ultimately, the judges function as an investment group seeking to reach agreement on the best investment opportunity.

WRITTEN BUSINESS PLAN (40%)

The following criteria is part of the business plan score and they will be scored from one to seven (one being the lowest)

1. Executive Summary (5%)
Clarity, conciseness, comprehensiveness, attractiveness and appeal

2. Industry & Company Overview (5%)
Industry size and growth trends, structure, growth potential, geography, entry barriers, direct & indirect competitors, segments. Company purpose, history, origin of idea, current status, overall schedule, milestones & growth

3. Products or Services (15%)
Description, distinctive benefits and features, payback period to customers, pricing, stage of development, proprietary status or other distinctive competitive advantage, product development plans

4. Market and Market Plan (15%)
Identification of customers, purchasing behavior, needs identification; entry strategy and market development; market demand, sales forecasts and estimated market share; pricing, promotion, distribution channels, orders-in-hand

5. Operations (15%)
Production process and requirements, location, facilities, outsourcing, costs, margins, customer support, regulatory issues

6. Management (15%)
Expertise & experience of team, gaps and remedies, external advisors and services, legal form of ownership, organization, Board of Directors, compensation and ownership plans, investors

7. Financials (15%)
Cash flow, income statement, balance sheet, gross and operating margins, profit potential and durability, ROI, break-even analysis, cost analysis

8. Proposed Offering (5%)
Desired financing, securities offered, capitalization, uses of funds, investor returns, exit/harvest strategy

9. Viability of Business (5%)
Market opportunity, distinctive competence or advantage, viability of business model, critical risks, problems and assumptions, legal & regulatory issues, management quality, business strategy

10. Quality of Written Presentation (5%)
Brevity, clarity of writing, lack of redundancy, effective presentation of data

FINAL PRESENTATION (20%)
The rating system is the same as the Written Report. Refer to above.

1. Content, technique and formality(50%)