2009-2010 UD BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION

The application period is now open.  Applications will be accepted until November 11th, 2009

Overview

The School of Business Administration is pleased to announce the fourth annual UD Business Plan Competition (BPC) for the 2009-2010 academic year.  First prize will be $20,000, and $50,000 in total prize monies will be awarded.  The UD BPC involves teams investigating the feasibility of a new venture and constructing a plan for launching the venture using common formats and guidelines.  Because writing a comprehensive business plan can seem daunting, the BPC is simple to enter and offers applicants built-in support throughout the entire process of developing a winning business plan.  Our goal is to help infuse entrepreneurship across campus and, indeed, the entire region.  Outstanding business plans often attract funding from investors, something that could eventually spur job creation and economic growth.

The Business Plan Competition is open to:

  • Current UD students in any major or school (undergraduate or graduate).
  • Any UD alums from any program, undergraduate or graduate. 
  • Anyone from the Greater Miami Valley region--provided that if they are selected as a finalist team, that their team include at least one one current UD student or UD alum.  The first round, the elevator pitch is open to the broader community without requiring a UD student or Alum as a team member.
Teame sizes may range from solo entries to as many as eight team members.  The BPC also facilitates team formation by creating a roster of individuals and their skills who are interested in entering the competition as part of a team. This helps entrants select individuals from the roster who have the skills that can help the team most.

One Minute, One Slide, $1,500: The Elevator Pitch Stage

During the Fall term, the online entry system opens September 14th, and closes November 11th, 2009.  There is a limit of 125 entries, on a first-come, first-served basis.  To enter, simply click on the competition application link above. Entrants also must make an elevator pitch about their business idea to a panel of judges on November 21st, 2009. Pitches last a maximum of one minute and entrants are limited to one PowerPoint slide.   The Elevator prize package provides the following awards:

1st place:                $1,500.00

2nd place:               $1,250.00

3rd place:               $1,000.00

4th & 5th place:      $  500.00

6th-10th place:       $  250.00

Five finalists will also be named at the conclusion of the elevator pitch stage.  The five finalists will compete for the $20,000 first prize. 

Developing A Winning Business Plan: The Finalist Stage

The five finalist teams will each be assigned a seasoned mentor familiar with the business plan process. Mentors have agreed to provide 12 hours of time to each team. Finalists must submit their business plans by March 12th, 2010, and will make a 30-minute presentation to BPC judges on March 27th.  These business plans will be ranked by the judges and prize monies awarded accordingly at the Entrepreneurship Banquet on April 8th, 2010. Finalists will also present a summary of their work at the Stander Symposium on April 14th. In addition, all five finalist plans will be strongly encouraged to submit their plans to external competitions the following year and funding for entrance fees will be provided.

Judging Criteria and Finalist Prize Money

Finalist plans will be judged on multiple criteria, including feasibility, innovativeness, potential for profitability, and overall effect. Over $50,000 in prize money will be awarded, and each finalist team is guaranteed to receive some of these funds. The finalist prize money will be awarded as follows:
  • First Place          $20,000.00
  • Second Place     $10,000.00
  • Third Place         $ 5,000.00
  • Fourth Place       $ 3,000.00
  • Fifth Place          $ 3,000.00

If you have questions about University of Dayton's 2009-2010 Business Plan Competition, please contact:

Jay Janney
Competition Coordinator
937-229-2975
janney@udayton.edu
or
Dean McFarlin
Management/Marketing Dept. Chair
937-229-4928
mcfarlin@udayton.edu

Dept. of Management/Marketing
School of Business Administration
300 College Park
Dayton, OH 45469-2271

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

2008 - 2009

Business Plan Competition Winners

FREE COPYING 101 TOPS  IN UD'S THIRD BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION WINNING $15,000 FIRST PRIZE

The winning idea of the School of Business Administration's 2009 business Plan Competition would piggyback ads on course papers, tapping into a potential market of 18 million students. 

Alexander Göbel, an MBA student from Augsburg, Germany, won the  $15,000 first prize for Free Copying 101, a business idea to provide free printing and copying of class materials to college students. 

Second place and $10,000 went to KDVS Innovative Concepts by Wesley Hartig, Matthew Lakes and Curt Reigelsperger.  KDVS created an innovative software-driven LED grow-light system that dramatically shortens growing times at a fraction of the cost of traditional lighting systems. 

Third place and $5,000 went to Patron Industries Safety Cone,  by Nick Fahringer, Maroun Nammour, Nathan Ohlinger and Phil Yust.  Many auto accidents are caused by drivers who fail to recognize they are in a construction  zone until it's too late.  The Patron Safety Cone is a 42-inch lightweight retractable cone that uses an LED system for illumination. 

Fourth place and $1,500 went to Sample Scan, by Alex Carney, Marty Kelchner, Michael Peters, Nick Kloppenborg and David Weber.  Sample Scan creates a radio frequency identification tagging system that can be read by a hand-held locator for samples in cryogenic storage tanks. 

Fifth place and $1,500 went to Musky Fever, by James Schroeder and David Whitney.  Musky Fever has created a safety cradle fishing net that attaches to the side of a fishing boat whose lifting mechanism allows a solo fisherman to safely land large fish. 

Congratulations to all the winners!