Schedule of Events

Mini-Business Plan

The Mini-Business Plan is a brief document that should address the fundamental issues that would be of interest to potential investors. You should highlight the most important and interesting points of the business, which should give potential investors a general understanding of why your venture will succeed.

You might want to outline it like this:

Overview

  1. What is the need in the environment?
  2. What does this business provide that fulfills that need?
  3. What makes this idea valuable to the consumer?

Target Market

  1. Describe the size and composition of the market.

    • Maturity
    • Demographic
    • Geographic
  2. Who or what is the ideal customer for this business?
  3. What need do they have?

Business Idea

  1. How does this idea fulfill the need?
  2. What, in particular, makes this idea unique?
  3. Why is now the best time to create the business?
  4. What proprietary advantage does this business have?

Competitive Analysis

  1. Who are the main competitors in this industry?
  2. What are their competitive advantages?

Implementation

  1. Where will the business be located?
  2. What are the key management positions within the company and who will occupy them?  If no one, what does the ideal candidate look like?
  3. Approximately how much start-up capital will the business require?

Be sure and check out the Official Competition Packet for all the details pertaining to the Mini-Business Plan.

Oral Presentation

The oral presentation information does not have to be in any particular order.  It is important that you first build enthusiasm for the idea and then prove that it can be successful in the market.  Each finalist gets FIVE minutes to present the business followed by a brief period where the panel of judges will have the opportunity to ask questions.

You can’t use a PowerPoint presentation during the oral presentation, but you can use other visual aids.  However, you should note that the five-minute period begins once you enter the presentation room.  Therefore, we suggest that any visual aids that you do use are of the small, hand-held variety.

Be sure and check out the Official Competition Packet for all the details pertaining to the Oral Presentation.

Poster Session

The poster session is a time that we’re reserving for all our participants in both categories, whether they were finalists or not, to be allowed to show off their ideas.  It will start an hour before the Awards Dinner and we assure you that members of our esteemed panel of judges (check them out under the Judges tab!) and other notable people will be walking around, so it will be a great time to gather advice (or maybe start-up capital!) from industry and academic leaders.

The poster session will take place in the Teague Special Events Center, and participants will get table space to present their business.  Unfortunately, that’s all we can provide, but we encourage you to make your area eye catching.  Feel free to bring your laptop with a PowerPoint presentation cycling, a prototype of your product, or perhaps a tri-fold displaying your idea.  Remember, we promise that our VIP’s will be walking around; whether or not they stop and talk to you is your decision!

Please note that if you are planning on using electronic devices at your table, you are responsible for bringing any extension cords and/or power strips.  Table space will be given on a first-come, first-served basis, so there’s no guarantee that you’ll be close to an electrical outlet.

The poster session will be open for presenters to set up at 4p.m.

Awards Dinner

The 2008 SpringBoard Ideas Challenge Awards Dinner will be held at 6p.m. at the Teague Special Events Center.  The Awards Dinner will feature great food, a guest speaker, and perhaps most importantly, the presentations to the winners!  Prizes will be awarded as follows:

Total prize money = $30,000

Don’t forget – even if you’re not a finalist, we want you to be at the Awards Dinner too!  Your registration fee guarantees you a seat!  Also, if you chose not to compete in SpringBoard this year, but you still want to come and check out the poster session and Awards Dinner, you can come too!  Just send us an email at and we’ll provide you with the details on how to get there.