Sponsored by: Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Kelley School of Business Indiana University - Bloomington & Vern Clapp Clapp Investment, Ltd. Official Rules, Guidelines, and Submission Requirements & Idea Plan Outline Updated: November 30, 2016 Key Dates Registration Due: February 10, 2017 by 11:59pm Idea Plans Due: February 22, 2017 by 11:59pm Finalists Notified: March 3, 2017 Final Round Presentations Due: April 6, 5:00pm IDEA Plan Competition: April 7, 2017, time TBD
Eligibility Requirements: 1. The idea plan must represent the original work of the members of the team. The author(s) shall retain all rights to the plans regarding its use prior to and following the competition. The plans may not contain any fabricated information about {but not limited to) the background, experience, or education of the management team, the stage of product development, product performance claims, or market survey results. 2. Only undergraduate or graduate students of Indiana University may participate in the competition. At least one student must be a member of the management team but nonstudents may be members of the management team and participate in planning the venture but only students may participate in the final presentation. A student may submit only one plan to the competition. Teams are limited to 5 people total. 3. The competition is for students enrolled in the current academic year. Students who graduated in the preceding academic year are not eligible to participate. 4. The competition is for student created, managed, and owned ventures. In other words, students are to have played a major role in conceiving the venture, to have key management roles and to own significant equity. Business ideas should be in the prerevenue, customer discovery phase. 5. The competition is for new, idea development with the goal of creation of business. The idea cannot have external funding/financing either committed or within pipeline. Examples of funding include, but are not limited to: Venture Capital Funding Seed Funding, beyond family & friend s investments Grants created to start businesses & enabling commercialization 6. Ventures with revenues in prior academic years are excluded. The history of a team member working on an idea or new technology in previous academic years or even prior to entering college does not exclude a venture, if there were no revenues prior to the current academic year. 7. The competition is an educational experience. Teams should respect the rights of their opponents. The Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (JCEI) reserves the right to disqualify teams who act in a less than professional manner. Idea Plan Guidelines: 8. Plans are limited to 5 pages maximum (12 point font) of text, excluding cover page, title page, and appendices. Appendices should be included only when they materially
support the findings, statements, and observations of the plan. Appendices are limited to 5 pages, so the total presentation will be 10 pages maximum. 9. Official Application Form due Feb 10th, 2017 by 11:59 p.m. via email to the registration link. 10. Idea plans are due on or before Feb 22nd, 2017 by 11:59 p.m. via email to icfellow@indiana.edu. Teams selected to qualify for the final competition will be notified via email by March 3rd, 2017. 11. Digital copies of the finalist s presentation are due on or before April 6, 2017 by 5:00 p.m. via email to icfellow@indiana.edu. 12. All eligibility criteria can be reviewed by the JCEI on a case by case basis for exceptions. Presentation Guidelines (April 7, 2017): 13. Teams will be given two (2) minute to pitch their idea plans. Finalists will be selected and given five (5) minutes to present their idea plans followed by a ten (10) minute Q&A. There will be approximately 10 minutes between each presenting team for set-up preparation. Teams should bring a copy of their presentation on a memory stick for uploading before the beginning of the event. 14. A team may not observe other presentations in their judging track or question & answer sessions until after they have presented their own plan. 15. All public sessions of the competition, including but not limited to oral presentations and question & answer sessions, are open to the public at large. Any data or information discussed or divulged in public sessions by entrants should be considered information that will likely enter the public realm, and entrants should not assume any right of confidentiality to any data or information discussed, divulged, or presented in these sessions. 16. Presentations must be deemed appropriate and professional in content by the JCEI committee. Furthermore, business attire is recommended for final presentations. 17. The following items are not allowed during final presentations: physical prototypes of any kind, giveaways for judges/audience, props used as part of presentation. Drawings/sketches of prototypes are acceptable within the appendix of presentation material. Exceptions may be granted for finalists on a case by case basis. 18. Print out slides are allowed if presentation materials meet the following requirements: Black and White slides, 2 slides per page
Idea Plan Outline: Printed slides must be provided to event facilitators upon check-in of final presentations. The number of copies required will be sent to finalists prior to competition day. This outline provides the needed aspects of a complete idea plan. Each section has some of the key material that needs to be included. Following this outline will help the entrepreneur recognize the actual feasibility of the proposed venture as well as the areas that need to be further developed before the concept could ever be considered for potential funding. Note: Please use this outline as a guide for the Clapp IDEA competition s plan. You are encouraged to create your own idea plan document with figures and any relevant appendices. Questions to Consider While Developing Concept: How does this business actually make money? Can you clearly articulate your concept? Will the Average Joe understand it? Who are the customers? Why would they be interested in this business? What price are customers willing to pay for your product/service? Is that realistic? Will it attract new customers? Has this concept or business model been done before? What makes yours different/unique? Is this concept legal? What steps will it take to get this business off the ground? How much money do you need for each of those steps? What barriers would limit this concept s success? How do you plan to overcome those? Is the success of this concept dependent on any specific factors (certain number of users, solidifying partnerships, gaining access to certain physical space, having a knowledgeable app developer, etc.)? Suggested Resources on Business/Idea Plans: Writing an Effective business (idea) plan: https://www.sba.gov/starting-business/write-yourbusiness-plan Checklist for Idea Plan: http://www.forbes.com/sites/davelavinsky/2013/12/03/business-planoutline-23-point-checklist-for-success/#73b03a293012 Harvard s Outline of Business Planning: http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic944195.files/outline%20for%20a%20business%20plan. pdf Financial Projections: http://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/business-planning/how-to-create-financialprojections-for-your-startup/ Financial Projection Creations: http://www.inc.com/guides/business-plan-financial-section.html
TITLE PAGE Include name of proposed company: Names of the founding team members: The relevant contact information:
TABLE OF CONTENTS Make sure all of the contents in the idea plan are page numbered and listed carefully in the table of contents. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE BUSINESS CONCEPT INDUSTRY/MARKET ANALYSIS MANAGEMENT TEAM PRODUCT/SERVICE DEVELOPMENT PLAN FINANCIAL PLAN TIMELINE APPENDIX BIBLIOGRAPHY
Explanations of the Suggested Sections: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Many people who read idea/business plans like to see a summary of the plan that features its most important parts. Such a summary gives a brief overview of what is to follow and helps put all of the information into perspective. The summary should be written after the entire plan has been completed. The summary must be a clever snapshot of the complete plan and should encourage the investor to read on. Important highlights from each section of the idea plan Clear, concise description of the venture Overview of target market Amount and type of financing needed Any critical aspects of the concept or business models that investors should know The what, how, and why of the concept THE BUSINESS CONCEPT Articulate a compelling story for why this is an excellent concept. This section allows the reader to understand what concept is being proposed and why it has true potential in the marketplace. It also provides an opportunity for the entrepreneur to prove that he or she can articulate this concept in understandable terms to people outside of their circle of friends. It demonstrates a clear understanding of the concept by the entrepreneur in being able to clearly describe the concept for others to understand. General description of business/concept Industry overview Relevant trends in the industry or customer base Goals and potential milestones of the business s development Uniqueness of the product/service over existing alternatives Value that the concept brings to customers why they d want it Current stage of development for the concept/business Description of the business model (retail, wholesale, manufacturing, service, etc.) INDUSTRY/MARKET ANALYSIS The industry/market analysis is critical. Is there a market for the product or service resulting from the venture? What are the current trends in this industry? What are the predicted trends for this industry? Can any of this be substantiated? The market for the product/service may be so
obvious yet you still must validate its existence. Do research on the potential market and industry in order to provide a justifiable estimates of your concept s potential. Description of target customer (age, gender, income, geography, lifestyle habits, etc.) Size of potential market Expected growth potential (How big could this business be? What is a realistic growth expectation for the initial years?) Competitors size, differences, strengths, etc. (Every concept has some kind of competitor, even if it s not exactly the same concept or usage) What makes you think your concept can compete against existing alternatives? Pricing structure Marketing and sales strategy (How will customers find out about your concept? How can they purchase it? What features should you emphasize on to generate sales?) Major trends or events in the industry/market that will impact the success of your business MANAGEMENT TEAM Keep in mind that all new ventures must stand the scrutiny of whether the founding team can really move this idea to market. The experience of the management team may end up being one of the most critical factors to outside investors. Many times venture capitalists have expressed their belief that they prefer a "B" idea with an "A" team as opposed to an "A" idea with a "B" team. Does this founding team have the background, experience, skills, and networks to operationally the concept successfully? Key management team members, their roles in the business, and their relevant qualifications Any specific advisors, board of directors, consultants, or partners Point out any gaps in the management team (in terms of skills and abilities) and explain how those gaps will be addressed Any employees that are required to launch the business (R&D, sales, etc). PRODUCT/SERVICE DEVELOPMENT ANALYSIS Before going any further with a conceptual idea, the entrepreneur must determine if the concept has any practical feasibility. One of the most important questions in this section of the feasibility analysis would be: "What unique features distinguish your product/service?" The more unique features of a product or service, the better chance the business concept has of being successful. Current status of your concept s development
Projected timing and objectives for growth (researching, designing, prototyping, testing, etc.) Specific operational & implementation procedures Sources of key supplies/equipment/resources needed Deadlines and milestones that are critical to the development & launch of the concept Potential problems Expected risks or obstacles and how you ll mitigate those Any legal, regulatory, governmental, or intellectual property considerations FINANCIAL ANALYSIS Potential investors in your business will want to know how much money you will need, how much you will make, and how quickly you will make it. A projected income statement will show how much money you expect to generate and how much money you expect to spend each year. A projected cash flow statement will show how much cash you expect to need {from all sources - yourself, investors, sales), when you expect to raise it, and how quickly you expect to spend the funds. If possible, provide a breakeven analysis to show when you expect the business to start making more money than it spends. These projections should include present next 3 years of business. Please Google examples of these financial statements if you re unsure of what to include. Also, be sure to summarize the critical assumptions upon which the financial information is based, such as growth rate, percent of potential market expected buy the concept, costs expected to remain stable, etc. Financial Statements typically include: Profit and loss Expected costs Budgeting considerations Cash required and generated from the business model All assumptions made while creating financial projections TIMELINE Provide a graphic representation of the dates and the related tasks in order of their completion from present until actual concept launch. Completion of design and development Completion of prototypes Hiring key employees (sales, R&D) First customer sales Major operational updates
APPENDIX Include any additional documentation that was not appropriate in the primary sections of the idea plan. Pictures or mockups of the concept Detailed financial models Diagrams and charts Any other relevant visuals that you think is critical for the investor s understanding of the concept BIBLIOGRAPHY Provide any key endnotes, footnotes, sources, or extra information that would be critical for a funding source to see in relation to the work you performed in creating this idea plan.