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Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies

2006-07 McCloskey Notre Dame Business Plan Competition

Second Round Entry - Business Plan Instructions

(Subject to change prior to competition deadline of February 23, 2007)

  
   

This information is to be used by semi-finalist teams submitting second-round entries. Teams preparing first-round Business Overviews should refer to the Business Overview template on the Gigot Center web site for further guidance. 

The purpose of the Business Plan is to demonstrate the details of the proposed venture.  A strong business plan illustrates the current status, the expected needs and the projected results of the new business.  It demonstrates the feasibility of the business, the potential problems that may arise, the competition's strengths and weaknesses and how and when the goals of the business will be accomplished.  Submission requirements at this stage of the competition include a written business plan and PowerPoint presentation.
Entry Submission Guidelines
(Packets due to the Gigot Center by 5:00pm EST on February 23, 2007)
Entry Submission Instructions

Second Round submission packets should include the following:

  • One cover sheet that includes team name and team members.
  • Nine hard copies of the Business Plan PowerPoint presentation, printed in slide format; eight stapled and one attached only by paper clip or binder clip
  • Nine hard copies of the Business Plan written document; eight stapled (or bound if too large to be stapled) and one attached only by paper clip or binder clip
  • One electronic copy of the entire submission packet (document and PowerPoint presentation), submitted via e-mail to entrep@nd.edu
Written Document Guidelines

Business plans must be no longer than 25 pages, with appendices not to exceed 15 pages (40 pages maximum total entry).  Each plan must have a cover sheet, include a table of contents and provide an executive summary.

The business plan outline below should be used for guidance only.  While many of the sections apply to most businesses, each plan will differ based on the industry and business model.  Not all sections in the outline will be relevant for every business, so work with your teammates to determine the areas that are most relevant to your individual business opportunity.

While Business Plan Pro is being made available to competition participants, teams are not required to use this software in order to be eligible for the competition.

For a complete list of free online resources that can assist you in preparing a business plan, please visit the "Entrepreneur Resources" section of our Gigot web site.
PowerPoint Submission Guidelines
This year’s McCloskey Notre Dame Business Plan Competition is requiring a PowerPoint element to accompany the written business plan. This document provides a template for creating that presentation. The format should be very straightforward—no animations or effects should be included—although graphical elements may be used to the extent that they illustrate key elements about your idea. The slides will be distributed to judges on paper. Feel free to use more than one slide for a given topic, but presentations must be limited to 15 slides. Judges will only receive the first 15 slides.

The format below should be used as an outline for the PowerPoint submission. It is also a valid example of an outline for your written business plan. Ideally preparation of this presentation will lead to a foundation of your business plan and will make that process much easier for you and your team. Please refer to the submission examples provided in the participant area of the Gigopt Web Site.

 

 

Slide

Key Questions to Answer

What Judges Consider

“Best” Answer

1

Business Concept
(what is your idea?)

What is your idea/venture?  Give a general non-technical overview of what the idea/venture is and what it does.  Why should people be interested in this?

Uniqueness/freshness of idea. Is it the logical next step to satisfy customer needs in this market?

Plausible new way to address a meaningful market issue

2

Customer Problem

What are the current unmet needs does your idea/venture address?  What does the customer want and why do they want it?

Is the problem real or transitory?

Significant, growing problem that customers have shown a willingness to pay $ to solve

3

Your Solution

How can you fix the problem?  What makes this better than what the customer is doing now?  Why has nobody done this before?

Is the proposed solution disruptive or evolutionary?  Why is the time right for this solution now?

Your solution solves the problem in a unique and profitable way.

4

Target Customer
(who needs it, and why)

Who is the customer that is going to be attracted to your product?  How much does your product/service mean to them?  What is the size of your customer base?

Potential size of market being addressed: niche or mass market? Quick to accept new solutions, or not? Based on what?

Sizable market with clear, rational reasons to consider new ways to solve problems

5

Primary Competitors

Discuss your competition: who is in this market space?  What prevents them from blocking your entry into the market?  Have you considered the competition?  If there is no direct competition, what are target customers doing now in the absence of your product/service?

How is the company positioned vis-à-vis known competition? How can a startup win in this environment?

Major competitors are not focused on this opportunity for obvious reasons; underserved market demanding a unique solution

6

Competitive Advantage

What advantages do you have over your competition that will allow you to succeed?  What will prevent the competition from stepping in and forcing you out of the space?

How sustainable is the business?

A strong set of advantages that will offer some protection to this company moving forward

7

Current Status

What stage is your technology and/or business at? What has been done to this point?  Any customers?

How far along is this business?  Has the venture taken its first steps?

A venture not waiting for approval but has already begun finding proof of concept

8

Go to Market Strategy

Is there a channel that can allow this company to get its solution to target customers profitably? What are the channel’s requirements and is the company prepared to meet these requirements?

What has changed to allow a startup to enter? Does this channel accept startups? How and why?

Clear indicators of past channel acceptance of startups

9

Milestones

What are key milestones that will need to be met for your venture to be successful?

What are the next steps and what will they require?

Next steps are thought out and achievable

10

Management Credentials and Involvement
(why you?)

What experience do you have in this area?  Why are you interested in this idea/venture?  Is there anything unique about your involvement in this project or can anyone pull this off?

Who leads? Past experience or plans to supplement with outside mentors or advisors?

A realistic appraisal of team skill set; no oversell—honest reflection of strengths and weaknesses

11

Business Model
(how do you make $$)

Financial benefits, how much are people going to be willing to pay for this product/service?  Do you save them money or create additional value, or both?  How do you capitalize on this added value?

Reasonable ramp-up plans; significant margins that should improve through scale-up

Demonstrated commercial traction; customers have already paid for this solution from this company

12

Financials

What do you expect the financial results to be going forward? Estimate up to 5 years of financial data and provide some basis for the estimates.

How quickly will this venture be profitable?  How valid are the assumptions used to create these numbers?

Transparent numbers that reflect optimism;  a quick turnaround from an investment standpoint


 
Example Outline for Business Plan
While this is an example outline provided by the Gigot Center it is not the only valid outline or the correct outline for your plan.  Feel free to use this in conjunction with other resources to create the best fit outline for you and your plan.

I. Executive Summary

  • Description of the business concept and the business objectives
  • Mission
  • The opportunity and strategy
  • The target market and projections
  • The competitive advantage
  • The economics, profitability and harvest potential
  • Management
  • The offering
  • Risks

II. Business Description

  • General description of the business
  • Industry background
  • Corporate fit
  • Goals and potential of the business and milestones
  • Uniqueness of the product or service
  • Value proposition

III. Market Analysis

Industry Description

  • Industry Size
  • Industry status (growing, mature, in decline)
  • Growth potential
  • Geographic locations
  • Trends and entry barriers
  • Profit potential
  • Sales patterns and gross margins

Target Market

  • Primary target markets
  • Secondary markets
  • Demographics
  • Customer needs analysis

Product/Service Differentiation

  • Unique features
  • Potential for innovation

Competitors

  • Direct and indirect
  • Market share
  • Description
  • Strengths and weaknesses
  • Emerging
  • Substitute products

Competitive Advantage

  • Proprietary protection
  • Other competitive advantages

IV. Operational Analysis

Technical Description of Product/Service

  • Uses, design, prototyp
  • Issues of obsolescence

Distribution Channels Status of Development and Related Costs

  • Current status of development
  • Tasks to be completed, time and cost to complete
  • Potential difficulties, resolution
    Government approvals

Manufacturing or Operating Requirements and Associated Costs

  • Manufacturing cycle
  • Materials requirements
  • Inventory requirements (also retail/wholesale business)
  • Production requirements (also retail/wholesale or service)
  • Labor requirements (all businesses)
  • Maintenance and quality control requirements (all businesses)
  • Financial requirements (all businesses)

V. Marketing Plan

Pricing

  • Venture versus competitors
  • Value chain

Purpose of Marketing Plan

  • Target market
  • Unique market niche
  • Business identity

Marketing Tools

  • Advertising & promotion

Media Plan

  • Uses and costs of specific marketing tools

Marketing Budget

  • Individual costs and total costs as a percentage of sales

Sales Plan
Services and Warranty Policies

VI. Management Segment

  • Management team, its background and its gaps
  • Organizational structure
  • Legal Structure
  • Board of Directors
  • Management compensation and ownership
  • Other investors: employment and other agreements and stock options and bonus plans
  • Other shareholders, rights and regulations
  • Personnel plan

VII. Financial Segment

Financial forecast

  • Projected Profits and Losses
  • Projected Cash Flow
  • Break-even analysis and charts
  • Cost controls
  • Budgeting plans
  • Actual income and balance sheets
  • Pro forma balance sheet
  • Pro forma cash flow analysis
  • Business Ratios
  • Highlights
  • Important Assumptions

VIII. Critical Risk, Problems, and Assumptions Segment

  • Potential problems
  • Obstacles and risks
  • Alternative courses of action

IX. Harvest Segment

  • Transfer of asset
  • Continuity of business strategy
  • Identify successor

X. Milestone Schedule Segment

  • Timing and objectives
  • Deadlines and milestones
  • Relationship of events

XI. Proposed Company Offering

  • Desired Financing
  • Offering
  • Capitalization
  • Use of Funds
  • Investors Returns
XII. Appendix or Bibliography
 

This structure was developed from with the following resources:

  • Entrepreneurship: A Contemporary Approach, by Donald Kuratko and Richard Hodgetts (the fifth edition)
  • Hurdle: The Book on Business Planning, by Tim Berry (1999. Page 162)
  • New Venture Creation, by Jeffrey Timmons (Irwin, 1994. Page 420)
 
  Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
234 Mendoza College of Business • University of Notre Dame • Notre Dame, IN 46556
Telephone: (574) 631-3042 • Fax: (574) 631-3979 • Email: entrep@nd.edu 		 
  © 2007 • University of Notre Dame • Last Updated: October 25, 2007