Overview

Open to all majors

Welcome to the fourth annual WV Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition hosted by the West Virginia University Entrepreneurship Center. The competition allows students, working as individuals or teams, the opportunity to submit a business idea to be evaluated by a panel of professors, venture capitalists, experienced entrepreneurs, high-tech industry leaders, CPA's, and business lawyers.

Entries are divided into two categories:

  • Innovation (The introduction of something new and useful, for example, introducing new methods, techniques, or practices, or new or altered products and services. This usually involves some type of new intellectual property.
  • Lifestyle (These products or services are already a part of daily life) Each team must select the category in which they will compete.

The same entry may not be submitted in both categories.

The process extends through the entire academic year, culminating in April. The competition consists of three rounds. Feedback and instruction are given for each round so it is not necessary to have any business background to enter. It is helpful to have team members with different areas of expertise. Click on Tips and Tools for advice on team building. Then use the Team Builder function to find team members.

Round 1:
Requires a 3-5 page summary of your business idea. These will be scored by a panel of judges using a scoring rubric and up to ten teams in each category will be selected to advance.

Round 2:
Consists of three levels.  First each team will submit a written feasibility study. The tips and tools section of the website will provide instruction. Next. each team must travel to the West Virginia Entrepreneurship Initiative Conference where they will present a two minute elevator pitch of their business idea to the conference attendees who will score the ideas. Then each team will participate in a series of interviews with business professionals to discuss their ideas. The top five teams in each category will advance to the final round.

Final Round:
Finalist teams are provided with comprehensive instruction and support in developing a complete business plan for their idea. They are provided al business coach to mentor their team and receive a stipend of $1,000.00 to work on their business. Each finalist team submits a 20 page business plan to a panel of judges and then makes an oral presentation to the panel.