Business Plan Competition | Washburn University

Competition Information

The Washburn University Business Plan Competition prepares students to start a new business by developing a thorough written business plan for a new product or service. A business plan is an important step towards starting a new venture, as it allows entrepreneurs to analyze how their company will operate and brings together many areas of the business environment.

By participating in the competition, students will gain experience through:

Identifying business opportunities, developing a business model and writing a formal business plan
Performing market research and feasibility analysis using primary and/or secondary data
Developing communication and organizational skills
Working individually or as part of a team

Student Eligibility

The competition is open to any Washburn University or Washburn Institute of Technology student registered in the current spring semester of 2022, full or part time, graduate or undergraduate.

Team Composition

Students may participate as an individual or as a team; a team entry consists of two to a maximum of five eligible students.

Written Business Plan Specifics

The business venture should be original, appropriate and currently not in existence (new). Text for the document should be double-spaced using Calibri 11-point font; no handwritten material of any sort will be accepted. A margin of 1 inch should surround the text. The main body of the business plan must be no longer than 5,000 words. This limit will be strictly enforced. Any entry exceeding the limit will be disqualified. The document should include a title page, specifying the name of the business, the individual and/or team members.

The following sections should be used in the development of your business plan:

• Description of idea and value proposition

• Internal and external environmental analysis / Competition

• Target market / Customer

• Marketing / Promotional plan

• Management team / Human resource needs

• Revenue model / Financial forecast

• Contingency plan

• Appendix (if required)

The business plan document may also include a maximum of five (5) pages of appendices, the purpose of which is to provide support for the assertions and conclusions expressed in the body of the business plan. This content is separate from the main text and will not count toward the word limit. Appendices should be numbered, titled, and appropriately referenced within the body of the document. Although teams may use this space as they see fit, appendices in reports commonly include elements such as:

• Financial statements

• Diagrams / illustrations

• Itemization / categorization of key information

• Implementation timeline

Important Dates

Friday, March 25, 2022 at 5:00 PM - Deadline to enter

Entries must be received by 5:00 p.m. on this date via email. Entries will include a registration form and Business Plan. Registration forms can be completed in person in the School of Business office in Henderson building on the Washburn campus or online. The business plan must be submitted as a Microsoft Word file. The file should be sent to the attention of Hailey Handy, School of Business office at: hailey.handy@washburn.edu and the heading in the email should read: ”Business Plan Competition 20221 Entry.” An email will be sent back to confirm receipt of your entry.

Monday, April 11, 2022 - Winners announced via email. Winners will be notified of next steps required to receive their checks.

Judging and Evaluation

Each business plan submitted will have its title page removed and replaced with an identification number to ensure anonymity; any names or other personal/identifying information contained in the submission will be redacted. Judges will evaluate these business plans independently (i.e., without consulting each other) and evaluate them on a scale from 1 (extremely weak) to 100 (excellent). These scores will then be averaged and the teams ranked to determine the place of each team.

Evaluation criteria:

Business idea and value proposition
Internal and external analysis
Target market / Customer analysis
Revenue model / Financials
Marketing / Promotional plan
Contingency plan
Viability / Feasibility

Judging Panel

The judging panel will consist of at least two judges, drawn from the business community in the local region. No faculty (especially those that play a role in the development of student plans) are allowed to participate in the judging.

Scoring

Every judge will receive an evaluation form to assist in evaluating and scoring the plans, on a scale from 1 (extremely weak) to 100 (excellent). These scores will be averaged to produce a point total out of 100. The judges scores are then received by SOBU faculty/staff who will tabulate the results and determine the winners of the competition.

Feedback

Once winners have been determined, results and feedback can be delivered to students so they may have a clearer understanding of the reasons why the winners were judged to be superior. However, while we encourage our judges to provide written feedback, it is not compulsory.