If you are an enterprising individual in Nigeria looking to
start a new business or expand your existing one, the idea of participating in
a business plan competition should not be a strange to you and for good
reasons.
What do you really stand to lose anyways? At the very least
your entry will come with plenty of training and networking opportunities so
that even if you are turned down it will be at no cost to you, at best you might
be among the lucky winners.
What is a
Business Plan Competition?
A business plan competition is a competition which allows
various business entries as part of a fundraising, business ideas pitching event
designed to identify potentially profitable, economically viable and empowering
business ventures especially the ones with strong growth potentials. By this
definition, they are designed mostly for startups or existing micro and small
business ventures.
A business plan competition will normally bring budding entrepreneurs
in contact with angel investors, business consultants, venture capitalists,
business development professionals and financiers. Companies like Google,
Facebook and Microsoft have benefited from business plan competitions in the
past.
What are
some of the things to expect from a Business Plan Competition?
If you attend a business plan competition there are several
processes and requirements which participants are expected to accept,
expectedly the include;
- Accreditation: typical
business plan competitions like to segment business entries into various
industries or sectors. For instance; ICT, Agriculture, Fashion and Manufacturing
to name a few. In the event that you are applying for one, don’t just know your
industry or the entire sector itself.
- Panel of
Judges. Business plan competitions usually have a panel comprising a
list of highly experienced investors and professionals (managers and business
leaders) in the various businesses or sectors that will be making entries and
presentations. The panelists will grill participants on their business ideas to
determine if the businesses are viable and have growth potentials.
- Guidelines.
The organisers of business plan competitions typically have guidelines
for participants and it is very important to follow those guidelines because
you could be disqualified or even be scored poorly thus missing out on the
prize money
- Entry
requirements. Every business plan competition has entry requirements. Some focus
exclusively a certain demographic e.g women between 20 and 40, youths under 35
or young business owners under 30 etc. While others are less specific on entry
requirements. Also some business plan competitions tend to focus on developmental
and socio-economic objectives such as; Africa Development Bank Business Plan
competition which strives to kick start SME growth in Sub-Sahara Africa or IsDB
which strives to promote Islamic Banking.
- Trainings. Business Plan competitions usually offer trainings and capacity building to participants. They would typically invite professionals to facilitate and train on key areas such as; Business Plan writing, Marketing and Sales, Business Development and Cost Accounting. They would also provide participants with training materials and tools to aid their business plan writing.
- Prize Winnings. This is the key part of the competition. Prize awards which vary from as little as $1,000 to as much as $100,000. The Abuja Business Plan Competition awarded N1 million to its first prize winner, YOUWIN usually awards N10 million while TEEP awards as much as $10,000
What are
the Benefits of a Business Plan Competition?
If you participate in a business plan competition what do you
really stand to gain? Let’s start with access to funding. Although not
everybody will be lucky enough to get funding from a business plan competition,
but it is still a possibility. Besides funding there is opportunity to benefit
from empowerment programs. Some of the people at this competition can mentor
budding entrepreneurs besides the training that comes along with the competition.
There is also opportunity to network with potential future business partners
and financiers.
List of Notable
Business Plan Competitions in Nigeria
If you are looking for some business plan competitions
available to Nigerians, here is a shortlist of some notable ones with targets
and entry requirements;
- Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES) Awards
- Abuja Business Plan Competition
- Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Program
- AYEEN Awards
- YOUWIN Awards
- She Leads
- IsDB Business Plan Competition
Should I
Participate in A Business Plan Competition?
Having outlined the benefits and expectations, the best
answer will be it depends on your situation. If it is favourable to you and
your business goals then that answer should be a yes and vice versa. Personally
I would encourage everyone to participate in a business plan competition.
If you are looking to raise funds for your intended business or need to prepare adequately for an upcoming business plan competition and need a well written business plan to achieve your goals, then send me an email: paulonwueme@gmail.com or call: 0803 206 4106 for details
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