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PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH A BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION
FOR UO BUSINESS MINORS
Presented By:
Ron Severson, Director, Business Minor Program
To:
Randy Swangard, Director, Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship
October 23, 2002
Under your direction, the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship (LCE) sponsors highly successful annual business plan competitions for MBA students and for undergraduate business majors. Below, I propose a way to create a New Venture Competition for Business Minors, so they can also benefit from the expertise of your center.
1. NEED
Over the past four years, the number of students who minor in business at the University of Oregon has increased 150%, from approximately 400 to approximately 1,000 students. Many students choose to minor in business because they hope to start businesses or non-profit organizations of their own someday. Currently, the Lundquist College of Business offers one upper-division elective, BA410:New Business Planning, for minors who want to learn more about business development and writing business plans. The two sections of this course offered each year serve 62 students, or about 6% of business minors. The remaining students (900+) provide an opportunity for the LCE to extend its mission of “mentoring the entrepreneurial spirit” to students across the UO campus.
2. BACKGROUND
The LCE sponsors two annual business plan competitions – one for MBA students and the other for LCB business majors. Both competitions attract many participants and have been very successful. Both have also attracted business professionals and potential investors from the community who evaluate student presentations while providing a real world atmosphere for students. Yet, no business plan competition currently exists for business minors even though students who minor in business outnumber MBA students and business majors combined.
The minor program curriculum consists of six courses:
§ BA 101: Introduction to Business
§ BA215: Accounting: The Language of Business
§ BA315: Economy, Industry, and Competitive Analysis
§ BA316: Management: Creating Value Through Capital
§ BA317: Marketing: Creating Value for Customers
§ BA318: Finance: Creating Value Through Capital
We have recently incorporated a unit on entrepreneurial topics in each of these courses. However, students do not have an opportunity to write and present a business plan in any of these courses. Since each of the courses covers a full range of business topics related to the corporate world as well as to business start-ups, there is currently no room to require a business plan. Business minors who hope to start their own businesses, to join a family business, or to bring an entrepreneurial spirit their future profession need a way to practice their business plan writing and presenting skills outside the classroom. With the experience you have in organizing business plan competitions and with the expertise we have in helping students learn the fundamentals of business reasoning, we can work together to prepare these business minors for the future.
3. OBJECTIVES
An effective business plan competition for minors would achieve the following objectives:
§ Make it possible for all business minors who wish to participate to do so.
§ Involve business professionals willing to judge the competition and provide feedback to students.
§ Involve a multiple-step process for giving some constructive feedback to all participants while promoting a small number of teams (8-12) to the final round.
§ Include prizes for the best plans and, perhaps, an opportunity for funding.
§ Provide a way for students to support one another and build a sense of community in the midst of competition.
§ Be cost effective.
§ Provide positive exposure for the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship across campus.
4. ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS
Alternative solutions exist, but do not offer the same advantages as our proposed business plan competition for business minors.
4.1 Alternative #1: Create a new, required course in business planning for all business minors.
This alternative could serve as a capstone class for the program and would extend knowledge about business planning to all 1,000 students who minor in business. The disadvantages to this plan, though, outweigh the advantage. First, while many students have an interest in entrepreneurship, not all business minors do. Other students have very legitimate interests in other areas, such as accounting or marketing. One size does not fit all in this case. Second, curricular models often circumvent the expertise of the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship. This center has the most expertise in entrepreneurship, and UO business minors would benefit greatly from the center’s extra-curricular focus. Third, adding a seventh required course for all business minors would probably reduce the number of students in the minor. These students focus mostly on their majors and a 7th requirement would present an extra burden to many.
4.2 Alternative #2: Add several more sections of the elective course, BA410: New Business Planning.
This alternative would retain the focus on voluntary interest. Implementing this plan, though, would be very costly and may not produce the desired outcomes. The faculty members who teach the two sections of BA410 the LCB currently offers teach only part time. They also operate a highly successful, international business, Palo Alto Software. To staff any additional sections, the LCB would need to hire new faculty members. Additionally, the numbers for BA410 suggest that the additional sections may not fill. The number of business minors who would participate in an extra-curricular business plan competition exceeds the number of students who could take an entire course.
5. PROPOSED SOLUTION
Establish a New Venture Competition for Business Minors
I propose that the minor program and the LCE work together to sponsor an annual business plan competition at the end of each spring term beginning this spring, 2003. The event would be called the New Venture Competition for Business Minors.
5.1 Place and Atmosphere:
As with existing competitions, we would schedule a room in the EMU and invite judges, presenters, other business minors, and other interested people to attend. We would offer refreshments and a friendly, professional atmosphere.
5.2 Business Plan and Team Structures:
Since minor program students have fewer business courses than either business majors or MBA students, we will encourage participants to write a short business plan (12-15 pages + appendixes) rather than a full-scale business plan. The short business plan will provide all of the essential information, including market projections and financial analysis, but will not include lengthy financial statements. Students will be encouraged to develop their plans in teams of no more than four persons. Individual plans would also be accepted.
5.3 Curricular Support:
As previously stated, each of the courses in Path 1 of the business minor currently includes at least one section on entrepreneurship. To offer additional curriculum support, we will expand the focus on entrepreneurial topics in each of the six courses in Path 1 of the minor program. Minors will be encouraged to complete all six courses before entering to competition. Beyond taking these courses, interested students will also be encouraged to take BA410: New Business Planning.
5.4 Extra-Curricular Support:
Some students who minor in business may not have room in their schedules to take an additional course. These students will need extra-curricular support. Rather than send these students to your office for assistance, I recommend the following steps:
1) Invite them to attend the extra curricular workshops you put on each term.
2) Create a new workshop focusing on making financial projections.
3) Require that participants to attend the Basic and Advanced PowerPoint Workshops offered by the Knight Library if they are not familiar with the software.
4) Invite participants to attend the MBA business plan competitions held in December of each year.
5) Prepare tutors in the B.E.S.T. program to provide individual help to students.
6) Establish an agreement with Doug Wilson and Tim Berry, who teach BA410, to provide a free copy of Business Plan Pro to each student who participates in the project.
5.5 Marketing:
The business minor program has developed an extensive marketing network, and we can use this network to help inform student about the event. The information network currently includes a webpage, mailings, email lists, in-class presentations, peer advising, and general undergraduate announcements. The LCE would need to create a new website devoted to this competition and link that website to the Business Minor webpage.
5.6 Process and Quality Check Points:
For this first year of the New Venture Competition for Business Minors, I recommend that we limit the number of final presentations to a maximum of 8-12 teams, depending upon the quality. That way, we can keep the competition to a single day with a preliminary and a final round. In the morning session, each team would present in two or three separate sessions for different judges and audiences. The top 1 or 2 teams from each session would go to the final, afternoon round. To ensure maximum participation in the preparation stages yet limit final presentations to 12, we will need to create a preliminary selection process. Therefore, I also recommend the following:
1) Each team or individual submits a form showing their intent to participate.
2) Each entrant, at different stages in the process, will submit:
§ an outline of their business plan.
§ a rough draft
§ a final draft with Powerpoint Slides
§ a practice presentation (in person or by videotape).
3) Each submission will be evaluated for its effectiveness, and the best plans will be forwarded to the next step until 8-12 teams remain.
4) To build a sense of community throughout this competitive process, we will find ways to involve students in other aspects of the event as well, including the judging.
6. TECHNICAL PLAN
To successfully offer this New Venture Competition for Business Minors, the Business Minor Program and the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship must begin immediately to accomplish specific tasks according to the following timeline:
Tasks Timeline
Phase 1: During Fall Term
Schedule the EMU Nov. 1
Meet with Doug Wilson and Tim Berry Nov. 4
Create the Intent to Participate Form Nov. 6
Create the Short Business Plan Outline Nov. 11
Meet with the B.E.S.T. Tutors Nov. 13
Determine the Prizes for the Competition Nov. 19
Create Marketing Materials Nov. 25
Announce the Event to Business Minors Dec. 2
Phase 2: During Winter Term
Continue Marketing / Class Visitations Jan. 6-10
Respond to Interested Students/Explain Process Ongoing
Conduct Workshops Jan. 13-20
Contact Business Professionals / Judges Jan. 27-31
Receive and Evaluate Initial Outlines for Plans Feb. 3-7
Receive and Evaluate Initial Business Plan Drafts Feb. 24-28
Notify Students of Initial Selections March 5
Arrange Ways Other Students Can Participate March 6-11
Phase III: During Spring Term
Arrange Food Services April 2
Begin Second Track / Wilson/Berry Class Ongoing
Receive Revised Business Plans April 25
Notify Students Selected for Event Presentation April 28
Receive Oral Presentation Plan May 5
Hold Practice Presentations May 12
Receive Final Materials May 19
Hold Event May 26
Management Plan
Bob Renieke, Business Minor program GTF, working together with Kristin Gilbert, Assistant Director, Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship, will be responsible for coordinating all marketing efforts, infrastructure (physical space, food, documents, etc.), and all communications with students related to the selection process. They will help organize student volunteers to help conduct the event.
Ron Severson, Director of the Business Minor Program, working together with Randy Swangard, Director of the LCE, will be responsible for coordinating all communications with external audiences (business professionals, judges, distinguished attendees, etc.) They will also design and conduct the workshops on writing and presenting effective business plans and provide initial training to B.E.S.T. tutors who will work with participants on an on-going basis. Finally, they will be responsible for budgeting and for finding a sponsor who will donate the $1,000.00 prize money.
Doug Wilson and Tim Berry will teach the New Business Planning course to student participants who register for the course. They will also provide Palo Alto Software (Business Plan Pro) to all participants free of charge. Finally, they will consult with the four persons above on all aspects of planning and implementation of this event.
B.E.S.T. tutors will provide additional feedback to students on all phases of their writing and on oral presentations. Once the new building opens, tutors will provide videotaping and feedback on presentations.
All of the above persons will share responsibility for evaluating the outline draft and the first full drafts of business plans to determine which student groups will advance to the final event.
COSTS
It will be important to conduct this event in a cost effective manner.
Room Rental…………………………$400.00
Food………………………………….$400.00
Marketing (printing costs)………… $200.00
Honorarium for Judges………………$450.00 ($75 gift certificate/restaurant X 6)
Prizes……………………………….$1,000.00
Total:……………………………….$2,450.00
Funding Method
The Business Minor Program and the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship both have discretionary money available in their accounts for this year. This money will take care of the $1,450.00 associated with all costs other than prizes. To cover the remaining $1,000.00 prize money, Ron Severson and Randy Swangard will find a local company or entrepreneur willing to make a donation in exchange for the campus wide advertising they will receive for having their name on the event itself and on all of the marketing materials for the event.
CONCLUSION
The Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship now successfully offers two business plan competitions, one for MBA students and the other for LCB business majors. Both of these competitions have attained local, regional, national, and in the case of the MBA competition, even international acclaim. It makes sense that the LCE, until now, has staked its reputation on developing these two, excellent programs. During the same period of time, the UO minor program has grown to become the largest single program offered by the UO. More UO students now graduate with business minors than any other major or minor program, including the entire UO Honors Program. Now is the time for the LCE to extend the entrepreneurial service to this increasingly large group of intelligent, deserving customer. The benefits gained for the LCE, for the LCB, for the UO and, most importantly, for our students will far outweigh the costs.
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