East 2 West: The Nebraska New Venture Competition

Posted on | November 4, 2009 | No Comments

The first annual “East 2 West – The Nebraska New Venture Competition” will be held in Lincoln on December 11th, 2009.

Entrepreneurs and business owners will have the opportunity to submit full business plans for new ventures, or significant new market business expansions, and compete for an investment prize. Prize money can be used to purchase equipment, inventory or begin business operations. Business plan submissions will be accepted from any Nebraska resident or one that intends to start/locate the business in Nebraska.

Competition Information
The 2009 East 2 West: The Nebraska New Venture Competition will be a one round competition. Those wishing to participate must provide necessary submission materials by 11:59pm, Friday, November 27th, 2009. For more detailed information see the Submission Information tab.

Judges will then evaluate the business plans submitted to determine who will be invited to present. Each plan received will be read and reviewed. Judges will select the six best business plans to be invited to present at the competition on December 11th, 2009. All submitters will be notified via email on or before Thursday, December 3rd if they will be invited to present at the competition. Those invited to present on December 11th will also be contacted via phone.

The competition is open to the public and will be held on December 11th, 2009 at the Del Ray Ballroom in Lincoln’s Haymarket (817 R St; Lincoln, NE 68508). Business plan presentations will begin at 12:30pm and conclude at 5:00pm. Each presentation will be limited to no more than 15 minutes, which will be followed by 10 . 15 minutes of a Q&A session with the Judges. Only judges will be allowed questions. 5 – 10 minutes for transition to the next presenter is allowed. A thirty minute break is scheduled to begin at 2:30pm.

A reception, sponsored by the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce will begin at 5:30. The winner of the competition will be announced at 6:30pm.

Sponsors
Special thanks to each of the sponsors that are making this competition possible. Information on each of our sponsors will be coming soon.

Business Plan Guidelines
There is not a specified business plan format which is required. Note that business plans may not exceed 40 pages in length – including financial projections.

There will be a number of issues that any good business plan, regardless of format, will include; and judges will be looking for these concepts. These would include an executive summary, an operational plan, a detailed market analysis, a marketing plan, description of the managing team, required start-up funds, and a full set of financial projections.

Financial projections include 1) cash flow statements 2) income statements and 3) balance sheets. It is strongly recommended that cash flow statements and income statements be detailed (reported monthly) for the first 2 years and annually for additional years. Balance sheets submitted should be at least reported annually.

The “Business Plan Evaluation Form – Written Plan”, which will be used by the judges, is available on the “Competition Evaluation and Judging Criteria” tab.

A free business resources guide and business plan writing guide is available from the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development and the Nebraska Business Development Center.

Go to https://www.lincolnecdev.com/portal/form to download your free PDF copy. The business plan writing guide begins on page 61.

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