Application Guidelines The 5 th DBJ Women Entrepreneurs New Business Plan Competition 1. Purpose Development Bank of Japan Inc. recognizes the essential role of women s ideas and perspectives in achieving renewed growth. To encourage women who lead innovative businesses to develop their projects into companies with the potential to bring economic and social change to Japan, DBJ will soon be holding the 5th th DBJ Women Entrepreneurs New Business Plan Competition. 2. Target projects The Competition invites business plans from women proprietors of firms with strong growth potential as well as technologies, services, or business models which exhibit original features or promise high added value. A woman proprietor may be the sole proprietor of a firm, its representative (in the case of a corporation), or a person scheduled to be named as representative (in the case of a company awaiting incorporation). To be eligible, a Business Plan must assume that startup will take place within 5 years. Businesses not yet in operation must be scheduled for startup within 1 year. Note: Applicants who have applied to other Competitions or subsidy programs will also be eligible for the 5 th DBJ Women Entrepreneurs New Business Plan Competition. However, projects already receiving substantial funding will not be considered. 3. Selection criteria Entries will be evaluated comprehensively, based on the following criteria. Commercial potential (marketability, profitability, feasibility, sustainability and development potential) Judges will consider whether the applicant has conducted market and customer research, and, on that basis, understands the market and the Competition and has planned a business which will be feasible, profitable, sustainable, and with the potential to expand; and whether she is considering a financial balance and investment plan. Innovative qualities (originality and competitive advantage) Judges will consider whether the project s new technologies and services are based on original ideas and have the potential to create new needs and markets, and whether the original goods and services offered will differentiate the business and give it an - 1 -
edge over competitors. Entry barriers and their difficulty will be another important point. Evaluation of applicant Judges will look for entrepreneurs with the passion, experience, knowledge, and conviction to turn a high-potential business into a market leader. The applicant s organizational planning will also be considered. The DBJ Women Entrepreneurs Incentive Prize is new to the 5 th Competition. The prize will be awarded to a project which makes an outstanding contribution to regional economic growth in light of the criteria listed above and falls under one or more of the following descriptions. i. A new business which creates added value by making the most of a region s resources, both human and natural; ii. A new business which creates inbound demand or promotes community or industrial development by drawing talent into the region; iii. A business which promotes the domestic or global expansion of an enterprise with close ties to its region. 4. Prizes The following four types of prizes will be given. (1) Prize money DBJ Women Entrepreneurs Grand Prize DBJ Women Entrepreneurs Prize Prize for Innovative Regional Growth DBJ Women Entrepreneurs Incentive Prize Up to 10 million Up to 5 million Up to 5 million Up to 1 million (2) Business support For a period of one year after the Competition, DBJ, along with outside entrepreneurial experts, will provide the winners with support in improving their Business Plans, developing networks of corporations and professionals, identifying potential partners, and otherwise maximizing their chances of success. These services will be based on agreements to be drawn up separately between the winners and DBJ. Note: - 2 -
After evaluating the entries, the judges may decide to increase or decrease the prize money or not to award a prize. Please see the Important reminders at the end of these Guidelines for information on prize money and business support. 5. Schedule Acceptance of Business Plans December 15 (Tuesday), 2015 February 26 (Friday), 2016 Deadline for submitting Application, 5:00 p.m., February 26 (Friday), 2016 Executive Summary and Business Plan 1 st selection (inspection of documents) Late February Mid-March, 2016 Mid-March Mid-April, 2016 2 nd selection (interview) In principle, interviews will be held where candidates are located. June 2 (Thursday), 2016 Final selection (presentations) Presentations will take place at DBJ headquarters. Announcement of winners & Late June, 2016 Awards Ceremony Awards Ceremony will take place in Tokyo. Please note that this schedule is subject to change. 6. Selection process There will be a 3-step selection process. 1 st selection: Based on submitted documents 2 nd selection: Interview at candidate s location Final selection: Presentation and Q&A at DBJ headquarters. We cannot respond to questions regarding details and results of the evaluations. Candidates who pass the 1 st selection will be notified individually. Those failing to pass will not be notified. Candidates who have interviews for the 2nd selection will be notified individually, whether or not they have passed. (1) Final selection (non-public) Each applicant will present her project to the judges and answer their questions. The judges will make their final inspections and evaluations. (2) Announcement of winners and Awards Ceremony Each applicant will present her project (to the extent publicly disclosable) in front - 3 -
of an audience. This public presentation will not affect judgments or selections. Public presentations will be followed by the announcement of winners, presentation of awards, and comments on the work presented. 7. Judges Judges will include professionals, entrepreneurs, and persons associated with DBJ. Their profiles can be seen on the website of the DBJ Women Entrepreneurs Center ( DBJ-WEC ). 8. How to apply Applicants must submit the following 3 documents. Only one plan will be accepted per applicant. (1) Application form Please go to the Application Form and follow the procedure below: 1 Enter applicant information. 2 Confirm applicant information. 3 Enter application form. 4 Confirm application form information. Send. 5 Entry complete. Please fill out the required items directly on the Application Form at the DBJ-WEC website. i. Go to the [REGISTER] button and enter your name, email address and password ( applicant information ). ii. Verification will be sent to you by automatic reply. Click on the link to confirm. iii. Once registered, you can log in anytime using your email address and password. Please enter all required information. If you wish to interrupt the entry process, press [BREAK] to temporarily store your information. iv. After entering all required information, go to [VERIFICATION], confirm your information and press the [SUBMIT] button to complete entry. You can renew the page as often as you like before pressing [SUBMIT]. v. A Receipt of Application will be sent to you by automatic reply. This document will show your 6-digit ID number and instructions for submitting the Executive Summary and Business Plan. Please read carefully. Be sure to follow all steps from (i) through (v) and to press [SUBMIT]. After you have completed submission, Entry completed will be displayed at each subsequent log-in. While you may temporarily store your information mid-process, entry will only be complete after you have taken all steps from (i) through (v). - 4 -
(2) Executive Summary Please download the Executive Summary template (Microsoft Word A4 size) and from the DBJ-WEC website and summarize your Business Plan in 1 or 2 pages. Be sure to enter your 6-digit ID number and your name in the space provided on the right-hand side of Page 1 of the Executive Summary. (3) Business Plan Use the format of your choice. We suggest using Microsoft Word and/or Microsoft PowerPoint, but any Windows-compatible software is acceptable. PDF format is recommended for users of Macintosh as well as Windows. Descriptions should be about 10 to 15 A4 pages. Please be sure that fonts and formats will be readable when printed in A4 size. Please pay attention to the layout if using Excel. Typical contents: Business background and mission Business model Services and/or products Impact on targeted customers; market needs, scale and potential Originality and differentiation strategies; competitiveness factors Marketing and sales strategies; distribution, AD, sales promotion, sales channel creation, time required for market entry, etc. Schedule (Intended growth trajectory in the medium and long term, activities in the next one year) Financial breakdown (plans for sales, revenue/expenditure, investment, funding, etc.) Lineup (biographies, roles and responsibilities of management team, organization development, collaborators and affiliates) Be sure to write your 6-digit ID number and your name on the right-hand side of Page 1 of the Business Plan. Please refer to the FAQs for answers to common questions. Please note when submitting application documents: 1 Be sure to enter your 6-digit ID number and your name on the right-hand side of Page 1 of both the Executive Summary and the Business Plan. 2 Please send all application documents by email. The address will be on the Receipt of Application. 3 Volume receivable at one time: 10MB. 4 Material sent by mail or other means will not be accepted. - 5 -
5 Documents once submitted cannot be returned. Please be sure to make your own duplicates. 6 We cannot guarantee that any products, catalogues or pamphlets sent as reference material will be considered in the selections. We cannot accept any books, DVDs, or CD-ROMs. 7 Whenever possible, Macintosh users should convert materials into PDF format. 8 In principle, substitutions will not be accepted after submission. 9. Inquiries Please check the FAQ page on the DBJ-WEC website. For further questions, use the website s Inquiry Form to contact us directly. Questions about the Competition will be accepted until 5:00 p.m., February 22 (Monday), 2016. Questions sent using the Further information, if any link on the Application Form will not be accepted. Use the Inquiry Form to submit your questions, which will be answered by email as they are received. Important reminders 1. The intellectual property rights of submitted plans shall reside with the applicant. 2. Some Competition activities will be outsourced to contractors under a confidentiality agreement. 3. The contents of Business Plans and other application documents will not be disclosed to third parties other than DBJ, outside organizations bound by a confidentiality agreement, and the judges (the Operators ) without the applicant s consent expressed in writing or email, except when required by government authorities under law. 4. The Operators shall incur no obligations for any of their decisions during the course of this Competition (including the selection of prizewinners and other screening results) with the exception of items described in section 3 above, and may unilaterally decide that such decisions be withdrawn, revoked or subject to other disposition. The results of evaluations do not constitute a guarantee that a project will succeed, raise funds, or form a business alliance. 5. Applicants who pass the Competition s 1 st selection may be asked to submit, or allow inspection of, documents additional to those presented at the time of application. 6. All finalists shall make a public presentation requiring disclosure of the finalist s name, the project s theme and outline, and other relevant matters. Such information may be shown on the DBJ-WEC website and in newspapers and other media. To ensure that these public presentations are free of problematic material, applicants are asked to take responsibility for arranging legal protection for any patents, utility model rights, and other intellectual property rights, and for trade secrets, know-how and other relevant information. - 6 -
Applicants may be asked to be interviewed for television, newspaper or other media reports or to have their photographs appear on the DBJ-WEC website. We encourage applicants to agree to such requests. 7. Prize money does not represent a loan or investment by DBJ. 8. Winners shall enter into separate agreements with DBJ. Winners, whether corporations or individuals, must be incorporated at the time that prize money is paid. Under the terms of the aforementioned agreement, prize money shall be paid according to the progress of the project and be limited to an amount which DBJ determines as being necessary for the project s commercialization. The Operators may ask that prize money be returned if used for a purpose other than the commercialization of the project concerned. Prize money may not be paid under certain conditions (if, for example, the winner does not show intention to proceed with the start-up within one year). 9. By providing business support, DBJ does not promise that a winning project will achieve commercial success. Business initiative must come from the winning entrepreneur. 10. Entering this Competition and participating in its related activities are free of charge. However, each applicant is responsible for paying the costs of preparing her Business Plan, traveling to events, arranging accommodations, performing research, and making communications in connection with the Competition. 11. Please consult a tax accountant or other professional for any information you may require on taxation relating to prize money received through this Competition 12. If a winner of this Competition is found to have any connection to an antisocial group, her award may be revoked and she may be asked to return any prize money received. 13. Applicants personal information may be used in future briefing sessions, seminars/study groups, research reports, business explanations and elsewhere, in addition to operations involved in the Competition. The Operators take responsibility for the handling of personal information under the terms of the DBJ Privacy Policy.* * (http://www.dbj.jp/en/privacy.html) Secretariat DBJ Women Entrepreneurs Center (DBJ-WEC) Development Bank of Japan Inc. Otemachi Financial City South Tower 1-9-6 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo, Japan 100-8178 Telephone: +81-3-3244-1652 - 7 -