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The Ernest M. Hodge Center for Entrepreneurship

Are You Ready to Test Your New Venture Ideas?

In the Spring Semester of each academic year The Ernest M. Hodge Center for Entrepreneurship sponsors its Annual Business Plan Competition. The main objective of the Competition is to stimulate and nourish the spirit of business and social entrepreneurship among NSU’s students and alumni— regardless of their academic discipline.

Specific objectives include:

1. To encourage entrepreneurially driven students, both graduates and undergraduates, as well as  NSU alumni, to engage in the process of developing and growing their ideas into innovative and successful new ventures.
2. To provide students and alumni, through workshops and interaction with faculty, successful entrepreneurs and others, opportunities to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to become successful owners/managers of start-up businesses.
3. To provide students and alumni opportunities to gain access to a network of well-established entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, bankers, accountants, and lawyers who might play a significant role in their future success.
4. To build competence and confidence, through valuable feedback from advising faculty and judges.

Rules of the Competition

1. General Requirements
1. Teams: Each team will consist of one to five members and must include at least one current NSU student. NSU alumni who do not own established businesses are also eligible for the Business Plan Competition. Teams are allowed to have faculty and others, including successful entrepreneurs, as advisors/team members. The leader of each team must be a student currently enrolled at NSU or an alumnus.
2. Total number of teams per Competition is limited to 15.
3. Business Plan: Competitors must ensure that their plan does not violate any intellectual property rights. It should contain all of the fundamental components of a business plan. (Business plan outlines and guides are available at the Hodge Resource Center.)
4. The document’s text must be double-spaced with margins no less than ¾ an inch on any side.
2. Tracks: Teams will be classified into one of three tracks based on their business plan’s concept:
   1. Science, Engineering and Technology.
   2. Art, Entertainment, Education, and Social Services.
   3. Business Disciplines (e.g., accounting, finance, management information systems, retailing, transportation and distribution, etc.).
3. The Competition:
   1. A panel of judges will select the best business plans from those submitted. Three finalists will advance to the final round of the Competition. A total of $4,000, funded by The Ernest M. Hodge Center for Entrepreneurship and gifts from sponsors, will be awarded to the three finalists based on the commercial or societal potential of their venture ideas.
   2. Prizes will be awarded as follows: - First prize: $2,000. - Second prize: $1,000. - Third prize: $750.
   3. Following the Competition, an awards banquet will be hosted by The Hodge Center. During the banquet the winning team will present its plan.
   4. The winning team will be allowed to take advantage of the resources available at The Hodge Center, including opportunities for networking and consultation with faculty, established entrepreneurs, and service providers, in order to transform their new ventures into reality.
4. Timeline for the 2012 Business Plan Competition

   • November 25, 2011: Beginning date for submission of Intent to Compete Form: the Intent Form will be emailed upon request by Dr. Sissoko: msissoko@nsu.edu.

   Business Plan Guidelines are posted at here.

   • January 31, 2012: Last day for submitting Intent to Compete Form

   • February 15, 2012: Submission of Initial Business Plan Concept: All entrants are required to submit a 3 to 5 page Initial Business Concept or Idea. The concept paper will determine which applicant will be invited to submit a full, detailed business plan

   • March 1, 2012: First Round Screening: Announcement of advancing teams.

   • March 6-30, 2012: Workshops (recommended for all applicants). They include: (1) Advising from the School of Business Faculty on how to develop and/or improve business plans; (2) Elevator Pitch at the Faculty and Student Research Series every Tuesday and Thursday for 5 to 10 minutes per competitor at the School of Business; (3) Mentorship: all advancing teams will be assigned a mentor to assist them on the development of their business plans.

A Business Plan may consist of the following components: (1) Business Summary; (2) Product/Service Summary; (3) Market Summary; (4) Strategies Summary; (5) Management Team Summary; (6) Financial Plan Summary.

For more information about Business Plan Guidelines, visit the Hodge website, under Business Plan Competition section.

• April 16, 2012: Submission of Final Business Plan

• April 30, 2012: Second Round Screening: Announcement of advancing teams squaring off in the final phase of the Business Plan Competition.

• May 1 & May 4, 2012: Workshops on how to improve power point presentation mentored by School of Business Faculty member(s).

• May 10, 2012: Oral Presentation of the three best business plans by the finalists at the Ernest M. Hodge Center, located on the 6th floor of the McDemmond Applied Research Building.

Award Ceremony and Reception: announcement of the winners for first, second and third place.