Business Plan Format

Entrants are required to submit the following:

  1. A brief description of the product/service and value proposition, along with Personal/team details at the time of registration;
  2. A 1- page Executive Summary and responses to a set of questions listed below;
  3. A Pitch deck (10 slides max.); and
  4. A video pitch of 60-90 seconds.

Executive Summary

(1-page max., 0.75” margins, min. 11pt, Times New Roman font, single-spaced).
 

The Executive Summary should summarize responses to the questions below. 

Business Plan Sections/Questions

Respond to the following questions in separate sections. Each section should be 1-2 pages max., 0.75” margin, min. 11pt., Times New Roman font, single-spaced (or 10 pt. font, 1.5 spacing). Support your statements with figures, tables, and images. These, as well as financial projections, may be included as appendices. Cite references for the information provided, as footnotes or endnotes. 

  1. The Opportunity/problem/need

Explain why you decided to pursue this business opportunity or solve this problem? Why now?

  1. The Product/Service and Value Proposition

Describe your solution and the benefits/value it provides to the customer, the specific problem it helps to solve.

  1. Market size and customer profile

What’s the market size and how fast is it growing? Who are your most important customers?

  1. Key Competitors

What differentiates your solution from theirs?
Present in the form of a competitive matrix.

  1. Business model and revenue model

What would customers be willing to pay for? How would they prefer to pay? If you have more than one revenue stream, how much would each revenue stream contribute?

  1. Go-to-market strategy

Who are your key partners? What tasks will they perform? What distribution channels will you use to reach customers, and why? What’s your business development and marketing strategy?

  1. The current status/stage of your venture

What are the major accomplishments to date? Do you have a prototype? How many potential customers have you interviewed/surveyed? What did you learn from their feedback?

  1. The Team

Provide names and experience/skills of all team members, including advisors. 

Why are you the “right” team to start/build this business?

  1. Major milestones for the next 3, 6, and 12 months

What are the resources required to meet those milestones?

Provide a table with dates.

10. Startup capital requirements

How much money do you need for the next 12 months? For what purpose? (Pro forma financial statements for the first 3 years are optional, and can be included in the appendix).

11. Finally

How would winning this Competition impact your plans?
Explain in a couple of sentences.

 

NOTE: Upload a file with the same name as your Entry name and the version date. E.g. SolarIceBP_April24.pdf . If you upload a revised version, call it SolarIceBP_May1.pdf