Business Plan Competition

— May 24th, 2009 —

africa + business plan competition + entrepreneurship + ghana + non profits

I officially started my Business Plan Competition project today. Yes, I know how many of my projects end up, so I don't have extremely high hopes. Nevertheless, I believe there is something inherently different about this one.

Here are the basics:

• Re-occurring business plan competition in West Africa
• Starting in Ghana; specifically in Legon/Accra
• Marketing primarily to students at the University of Ghana, Ashesi University, and the GIMPA
• Multiple competitions each year, up to 4
• On-going entrepreneurship seminar / lecture series

The finances:

• Small ($1,000 - $1,500) cash prizes for up to 3 winners
• Money raised from online donations through 501 (c) 3  non-profit organizations
• Prize money and the award ceremony are the only expenses

Organizations:

• Non-profit with tax-exempt status and ability to raise charitable/tax-deductible contributions
• Such as 501 (c) 3 organizations in the United States
• Joins in a fund-raising effort
• Creates a Paypal account for donations

Sponsors:

• All other businesses and corporations fall into this category
• Can contribute by (1) donating directly to the Business Plan Competition, or (2) donating through a non-profit organization

Donors:

• Members with "donor" accounts
• Can contribute by (1) donating directly to the Business Plan Competition, or (2) donating through a non-profit organization
• Can track their donations towards upcoming competitions online

Entrepreneurs:

• Members with "entrepreneur" accounts
• Must pay a small fee of $1 USD / year for membership
• Fee ensures that they are truly serious about the competition
• Can start as many "business projects" through the site as they desire
• Can add others (not just entrepreneurs) to the business project to form a team
• Works with the team to build a complete business plan for the business project
• Can assign positions and titles to team member as they see fit
• Decides whether to enter a business plan into a competition; only for business projects they have started
• Can create a professional blog on the website

Team members:

• Members added to a business project
• Can access all content for their business project
• Can add images, notes, documents, and other content to the business project
• Can modify and edit the business plan
• Can track their activities and those of their team members

All members:

• Can view content marked as "public" on a business project
• Can access and download copies of business plans submitted to a competition
• Can add to their user profile, which lists their business projects and other related information

Rules:

• There must be at least one entrepreneur per business project / team / etc.
• Members can compete in as many competitions as they desire
• Members can join as many teams as they desire
• However, entrepreneurs cannot compete in back-to-back competitions; whether with or without the same team
• Business projects are expected to be carried out after prize money is awarded
• Not doing so will substantially reduce an entrepreneurs ability to win another competition
• Business projects DO NOT have to lead to new businesses; they may be projects to expand existing businesses
• Business projects DO NOT have to make money; they can be non-profit, social, political, academic, religious, etc.

Goals:

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