Business Plan Writing Contests

Need capital for your business idea or established business? New and experienced entrepreneurs alike may find what they need with business plan competitions.

While researching and learning more about profiting from my mistakes, I read about a young gent that made a tidy sum from writing business plans. No, he's not a professional freelance writer, nor was he a business owner at the time. Instead, he entered a business plan contest that offered large sums of start-up capital and support to the winners.

I have to admit the of a business plan contest excited me, but I had little time to review the details. As a copywriter I've written several business plans for clients, assisted with teaching business plan writing courses and even gave advice to local business startups in Calgary while I still lived there. At no point however did I consider writing a business plan for profit, or as a way to garner startup capital or ongoing expense coverage for a fledgling and/or established business.

A quick search on the Internet found numerous business plan contests, which I've listed below for further reference. I was able to discern quite quickly that these contests weren't for the faint of heart, either: prize monies range from a thousand dollars to over a million, with additional perks, support, mentoring, technology and media attention to boot for the winners. Mind you, it would only be the largest of these winning sums that would finance the smallest of 'big businesses' but still - some of us do, and have, done it on a shoestring.

I am very interested in hearing more about the successes of those entering (and winning) these types of contests, especially established entrepreneurs who used their prize to further their long-term business goals. Feel free to discuss your experiences or contact me with your story.

Note: All business plan contests are listed by their 2007 entry dates or months, where known.

January Business Plan Contests

• Boomer Business Plan Competition open to students, entrepreneurs and current business owners.

February Business Plan Contests

• 12: Harvard Business School Business Plan Contest
• 13: The $100K Innovation Challenge at Case. Seed monies of not more than $100,000 required.
• 21: Big Bang! (affiliated with UC Davis)
• 23: IBK-Ivey Business Plan Competition for MBA of Canadian institutions only.
• 28: VenturePrize for all Albertan (Canada) residents.

March Business Plan Contests

• 11: Gwinnett Innovation Challenge 2007, "open to companies and business plan teams with ties to Gwinnett County and less than two million in annual revenues".
• 15: Melbourne University Entrepreneurs Challenge (30% of team must be registered at a Victorian university)
• 24-27: Rice University Business Plan Competition for "top collegiate" MBA students in the US.
• 26: First Capital Challengefor Kingston-based businesses (Canada).
• 27: Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Business Plan Contest, must have specific affiliation to the MBA school or program to enter.
• 29-31: Stuart Clark Venture Challenge for student teams from around the world. Winners receive a berth to the International MOOT competition in Asia.
• Venture Cup (Nordic countries only: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland)

April Business Plan Contests

• 5: LaunchPad $50K Venture Creation Competition
• 7: Brown University Entrepreneurship Program $50,000 Business Plan Competition
• 12-15: Minority Entrepreneurship Education OFC Venture Challenge
• Oxford University Business Plan Competition (no affiliation required)
• Megabucks (worldwide university students)

May Business Plan Contests

• 15: GSAS Harvard Biotechnology Club Business Plan Competition (no affiliation required)
• Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest WPI Venture Forum Business Plan Contest "is open to technology-based pre-start, startup, and on-going businesses located in New England."
• Primo Intel - Mexico Innavado (Mexico-based students)

June Business Plan Contests

• None listed at this time.

July Business Plan Contests

• Nanochallenge (nanotechnology-related businesses only)

August Business Plan Contests

• Eureka! at IIT Bombay. For entrepreneurs worldwide. Top prize consists of 250 thousand Rupees.
• Global Security Challenge, "to find and select the most promising security technology startup in the world".

September Business Plan Contests

• ASU Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge for ASU students only.
• S.E.E.D. Business Plan Competition

October Business Plan Contests

• Alabama Launchpad for people somehow affiliated with one of the six Alabama-based universities. Top prize is valued at over $100,000.
• Arab Universities Technology Business Plan Contest for 2-5 Arab nationals with at least 2 members of the team registered in an Arab university.

November Business Plan Contests

• None listed at this time.

December Business Plan Contests

• Bioscience Business Plan Competition (UK university-related)
• Enterprize at the University of British Columbia, Canada. For Canadian-based university students only. Prizes in excess of $250,000 CDN.
• Small Business BC (B.C., Canada only)