The Newel K. Whitney Society Business Springboard

Rules and Application

Newel K. Whitney Society

Business Springboard

Open to All Brigham Young University - Idaho Students

Registration Deadlines 2006-2007:

Documents Due by 2:00 p.m.	Presentations
January 17, 2008	January 30, 2008

WHAT IS THE NKWS BUSINESS SPRINGBOARD?

Entrepreneurial students from BYU-Idaho are invited to prepare and submit student created business plans to the Business Springboard. This program's objective is to give students an opportunity to present their ideas and receive money through loans and/or grants to start up a business. Appreciation is extended to the Brigham Young University Center for Entrepreneurship in Provo, Utah for its permission to use its model in planning this Business Springboard.

THE REVIEW PROCESS

Students from any major are encouraged to submit an Application and Business Plan developed as provided on the Newel K. Whitney website at www.byui.edu/busandcomm/nkws/springboard.htm.

Business Plans must be submitted according to scheduled listed in the table above. The plans are initially screened for completeness and appropriateness, and if accepted, they are presented to a committee of business leaders for evaluation. Along with their business plan documents, students must also submit evidence that they have previously attended a Business Plan Workshop sponsored by SIFE. Two weeks later, students will make a 15-20 minute presentation before the committee and answer questions regarding the plan. The committee will then make recommendations regarding an award of up to $2,000 to be used solely for the purpose of starting the proposed company or growing a business which has been operating for six months or less. All such grants will be dispersed within a week following the presentation, and are not required to be paid back to the University or the Society. However, successful entrepreneurs are encouraged to donate back to the University, if and when the firm's profits can make that possible.

ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES

1. Composition of Teams:

a. Teams must be composed of those attending Brigham Young University-Idaho who are students, full-time, part-time, or off-track, and are pursuing degree programs at BYU-I. Students of other universities are allowed to be team members, but the sum total of such students may not exceed 50% of the number of actively participating members of the team.

b. A professional business adviser will not be required in order to submit a plan. Nevertheless, they may work with students as long as the students write the plan.

2. Ownership of the Idea:

a. The business plan must be the original work of at least one of the BYU-Idaho students, and not the work of a non-BYU-Idaho student.

3. Size of Team and Number of Entries Allowed Per Team:

a. No restriction will be made on the minimum or maximum number of team members although teams of 3-8 have historically performed well.

b. Each team will be allowed to submit a maximum of two business plans.

c. Any one individual may compete on no more than two teams. Exceptions may be made for faculty advisor's acting primarily in an advisory capacity.

4. Other Exclusions:

a. No plan will be accepted for any idea that has already been developed, marketed (presented, solicited, offered, etc.) to an investor, and already received funding or a promise of funding. No plan will be accepted from a student who has already participated and won any cash award in the BYU-Idaho annual Business Plan or Entrepreneur of the Year competitions.

b. Student administrators of the Business Springboard are not allowed to submit a plan.

5. Non-disclosure Agreements and Confidentiality:

Participants should be aware that neither administrators of the Business Springboard nor committee members will be required, nor should they be asked, to sign non-disclosure agreements. BYU-Idaho, instead, will ask all who view the business plans to abide by the University's Honor Code. Participants are encouraged to be selective about what they disclose, to label plans and contents with the words "CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY", and to seek legal counsel if they have any further questions regarding the legal protection of their ideas. The judges, experienced in the fields of venture capital, business management, consulting, and/or education, reserve and express their belief that ideas are only ideas until implemented. As a competitor, you are responsible to protect any information concerning your plan that you share with mentors, team members, and fellow participants or public observers of the NKWS Springboard. The Springboard directors take no responsibility for unwanted disclosure in these instances. Participants should be careful about disclosing information concerning patentable concepts. Although a patent application can be filed in the U.S. up to one year after the first public disclosure of an invention, many foreign countries do not allow patent applications unless they are implemented before any sort of public disclosure.

6. Report of Business Conditions

All participants who receive Springboard grants are required to present an income statement, cash flow statement, and balance sheet every three months for one year following the awarding of the funds. The Society is interested in knowing and understanding your business successes and challenges. Any additional information you can share about your business growth that would help other student entrepreneurs is most appreciated.

CERTIFICATIONS AND AGREEMENTS

By submitting a Business Plan ("the Plan") to the NKWS Business Springboard ("Springboard"), each Participant agrees to the following conditions:

Originality of Plan. The ideas and concepts set forth in the Plan are the original work of the Participants and that no Participant is under any agreement or restriction which prohibits or restricts his or her ability to disclose or submit such ideas or concepts to the Springboard.

Compliance with the Eligibility Guidelines of the Springboard. Each Participant has reviewed the Entry Eligibility Guidelines noted above and by his or her signature below certifies that this entry and the team or individual it represents complies with the Guidelines and agrees to abide by the Guidelines.

Waivers and Releases. Each Participant understands that BYU-Idaho, each of the co-sponsors, judges, mentors, co-organizers (the "Springboard Officials") and its directors, officers, partners, employees, consultants and agents (collectively "Organizer Representatives") are volunteers and are under no obligation to render any advice or service to any Participant. The views expressed by the judges, cosponsors, co-organizers, and the Organizer Representatives are their own and not those of BYU-Idaho or any other person or entity. Each Participant also understands and agrees that although the Springboard Officials have taken and will take the steps described in the Guidelines regarding confidentiality of the ideas and plans submitted by the Participants, the legal protection of the ideas and plans submitted by the Participants to the Springboard is otherwise the sole responsibility of the Participant. In consideration of the time, expertise, and other resources provided by the Springboard Officials and Organizer Representatives to the Springboard, each Participant hereby voluntarily releases each Springboard Official and each Organizer Representative from any further liabilities, responsibilities, and accountabilities relating to or arising out of such Springboard Official's or Organizer Representative's participation in the Springboard.

ENHANCING YOUR CHANCES

The judges will award funds to those businesses which understand their markets, provide detailed evidence of potential success, and have an experienced, motivated, and dedicated management team. The following are some of the ways to enhance your chances of winning.

Compete on technology and quality, not price.
Write clearly and succinctly. Catch the committee's attention quickly and prove that you are capable of superb communication.
Present realistic financial projections. Do not write your plan in the "best case scenario."
Know your market, what types of individuals comprise it, and what can you predict about potential changes.
Prove your company's ability to sustain a competitive advantage by understanding barriers to entry, proprietary technology/information, etc.
Build a strong team with both technical and business skills.
Gather advice from everyone around you including your family, neighbors, friends, professors, employers, etc.

JUDGING

The composition of the judging panel may be different for each Springboard. Judges may be comprised of BYU-Idaho faculty and students, and/or local professionals with venture capital, accounting, legal, or business consulting experience. It is possible that the same judge may view the business plan at more than one round of judging.

Submission - Each team will submit four hard copies of their application and business plan to Kerry Webb in Smith 107 by 2:00 p.m. according to the schedule listed above. Judges will not be affiliated with any team participating nor have taken part in their preparation or funding. All reversals of the judge's decisions must be a unanimous vote by the judging panel.

Presentation- Each team is required to make a 20 minute presentation before the judges on the date listed in the schedule above. Sunday dress is appropriate for this presentation. Power Point slides, product demonstrations or models are often helpful, but are not required. The presentations are open to the public. After the presentations have been made, questions from the judges or the audience will be allowed.

Judging Criteria- Each business plan will be judged on the following items, and each item will be given a grade of 1-10 based on the written Plan itself, and on the Participant's ability to explain and answer questions about the Plan. The judges will be looking for completeness and thoroughness of response.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Am I eligible to participate in the NKWS Business Springboard?

Any student, full or part time, attending any college at BYU-Idaho is eligible to participate in the Business Springboard. To do so, participants complete the Registration Application and then submit four (4) hard copies, each containing the following:

the application;
the resume of each partner/owner of the proposed business; and
the business plan, including: a) a full description of your company; b) the products or services you will offer; c) a description of your market and the marketing strategy; d) a description of your management team and experience; and e) a financial summary showing projected revenues, costs and returns for at least three years in the future.

Additional information on developing your business plan can be found at

http://www.byui.edu/busandcomm/nkws/business_plan_guidelines.htm

All documents must be submitted by the due date and time, or they will be retained for participation in the next Springboard.

Should I put a team together or do it alone?

It is recommended that you form a team between 3 and 6 people in developing your business plan. It is not required, however, that you have a team.

How will my intellectual property be protected?

The NKWS Business Springboard directors will take reasonable measures to ensure the protection of your intellectual property, in accordance with the stipulations of this document.

How does judging work?

Our judges will have the task of reading the submissions. All business plans will be read by all judges and ranked on a scale of 0-100 using the Business Plan Points of Inspection document. The scores will be averaged among the judges. Some, all, or none of the Business Plans submitted are eligible to receive funding.

Business Plan Points of Inspection

1-10 Points
	1. Innovative a. How will the product or service appeal to new customers? b. Has the idea been thought of and presented before?
	2. Demonstration of market demand or niche a. What market research have you done? b. What are the product substitutes or compliments for your product? c. How is your product different than anything currently available?
	3. Impact on local economy a. What benefit will the citizens of your town gain with your business? b. Who will you employ? c. Is the target economy healthy for employees and customers?
	4. Room for growth a. What is the opportunity for increased growth and sales? b. What are your plans for expansion, how soon, what are the requirements to expand? c. What extra people will need to be hired for the expansion?
	5. Sustainability of the company a. How would the business idea survive overtime? b. What barriers are there for others who want to start a similar business?
	6. Financial strength a. What other funding will be used for start-up costs? b. Have you included best case/worst case financial projections? c. Have you included all costs and all revenues in your plan?
	7. Exit strategy if things go wrong a. What is the greatest amount of money that you could loose? b. How easily can inventory and capital be sold to cover debts or loans? c. Do you have an alternative job or occupation to payback any loans?
	8. Non-business majors to explain their business experience a. Any relevant work experience or family business background. b. What interests you about running your own business?
	9. Discussion of entrepreneurial experience a. What entrepreneurial successes have you had in the past? b. What have you learned from your business failures?
	10. Overall Feasibility a. Do the plan and the presentation convince the judges of the on-going sustainability of the proposed business?
	Total Points

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Brigham Young University-Idaho

NEWEL K. WHITNEY SOCIETY BUSINESS SPRINGBOARD

REGISTRATION APPLICATION

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Please complete the entire form.

Registration forms must be submitted by 2:00 p.m. to Smith 229.

TITLE OF BUSINESS PLAN:

BRIEFLY DESCRIBE YOUR IDEA: ________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

CONTACT INFORMATION (List Team Members as applicable)

Name	E-Mail	Phone	Major/Date of Graduation