Eligibility
This competition is for Colorado-based companies which have been in business for less than 2 years and have not received any Angel or Venture Capital funding prior to the competition.
Each plan must include at least person on the management team who is a University of Colorado student or alum from any campus and program.
Previous business plan competition winners may only enter with a new business idea.
Business plans must be based on original work:
creating a new business or substantially improving an existing business. Finalists
must have an Employer Identification Number (EIN) to receive monetary prizes.
Key metrics used for scoring include potential viability of the company,
innovation, scalability and overall quality of the written plan.
Competition Timeline
February 13, 2013 5:30 PM - Orientation - An information session will be held at the Business School located at 1475 Lawrence Street, 5th Floor Laube Commons, Denver, Colorado 80202.
March 25, 2013 5:00 PM - Application Deadline - All companies interested in participating in the business plan competition must apply, agree to the competition rules and regulations and sign off on the competition waiver.
April 16, 2013 5:30 PM - Plan Improvement Workshop - Applicants will have the opportunity to participate in a plan improvement workshop where they can ask entrepreneurs and industry experts questions about their business plans. This event is not mandatory but is highly encouraged.
May 1, 2013 3:00 PM - Complete and Final Business Plan Submission Deadline - Applicants must submit a complete and final business plan on PitchBurner* and one hard copy to the Program Coordinator.
May 8, 2013 5:00 PM - Elevator Pitch Night - All competitors must attend. Community members will act as mock investors to which competitors will pitch their plans in an effort to raise hypothetical investments. The results of the evening will be calculated to represent up to 10% of the overall score for each plan.
May 30, 2013 - Finalist selection and announcement
June 18, 2013 8:00 AM - Final Competition Presentations - The finalists will publicly promote their businesses at the Business Plan Competition before a panel of judges for the final awards.
June 18, 2013 12:00 PM - Awards luncheon - All finalists must attend.
Following the competition the finalists are matched with mentors and in-kind sponsors and begin a one year incubation process designed to support the growth and success of their businesses.
Competition Prizes
Historically, all finalists have received cash prizes ranging between $10,000 and $1,000. Finalists can also win additional prizes for the best non-profit business plan (the Ward Family Non-Profit Prize) and for the best international business plan, if their plans meet the award criteria. In-kind services are also awarded.
Plan Suggestions
- Complete plan should be around 25 pages, not including appendices. Try to avoid exceeding 30 pages.
- Executive Summary should be 1-3
pages and should be the first section of the plan.
- Plan should include
these major sections: Executive Summary, Business Description
and Vision, Value Proposition, Market, Industry and Competitive
Analysis, Description of the
Products and Services, Organization and
Management, Marketing and Sales
Strategy, Financial Analysis
and Management
- Visit the SBA.gov website for more information on composing a business plan.
- Visit the Entrepreneur magazine website for examples of various business plans.
- Plan to attend the Plan Improvement Workshop on April 16th for in-person guidance.
*PitchBurner is the application and reviewing platform the Bard Center uses to manage all submissions.