AdvantageWest and Verve Magazine Announce Business Plan Competition for Women
Date Posted: 1/31/2011
The VERVE-aciously BIG Idea
A Business Plan Competition for Women Sponsored by AdvantageWest & VERVE Magazine
Are you an established business that wants to expand? A would-be entrepreneur with a great idea for a startup? We want to hear your big idea! Enter the VERVE-aciously BIG Idea Business Plan Competition for a chance at $10,000 in cash, prizes, business support services and expert advice.
GET DETAILS HERE.
ELIGIBILITY
To participate in the VERVE-aciously BIG Idea Business Plan Competition, you must be a for-profit, woman-owned business located within the AdvantageWest region, which includes the following 23 counties: Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, Yancey.
The contest is open to businesses in any industry segment, though we encourage high-growth businesses or those that use technology in an innovative way.
Winners must consent to sharing non-proprietary information and being profiled and photographed for publication in VERVE Magazine and through AdvantageWest’s communication channels.
COMPETITION REQUIREMENTS
Please assemble a completed packet that includes the following information:
¤ Cover page that includes name, address, telephone and email address
¤ Executive summary of business, not to exceed three pages, which includes the following information:
o Brief description of company
o Product or service description/big idea
o Market analysis
o Intellectual property, if applicable
o Competitive advantage: the problem or need your company solves
o Financial highlights
o Management team, including advisory boards
¤ Written business plan limited to 15 pages of text, which includes:
o Product or service description, including beta/prototype and current stage of development
o Customer/market analysis
o Intellectual property status
o Your business’s competition and an analysis of the competition
o Management team and relevant experience
o Financial data, including cash flow, income statement and balance sheet. Also include projected annual financials for up to five years along with a monthly plan for Year 1.
¤ Use of funds: Indicate how you would use the award monies from the business plan competition. Please also let us know if you’ve received funding from another competition, or from other support service organization in the area.
NOTE: Please be ready to submit materials electronically. We encourage short video entries. Give us your best elevator pitch in two or three minutes.
SUBMISSIONS
Please submit completed documentation via email by April 1, 2011 to:
Have questions? Contact Pam or Jess at the above addresses.
WINNERS
A panel of judges that will include representatives of AdvantageWest and VERVE, as well as business and academic leaders, will review all submissions. Finalists will be chosen and must be available for personal or teleconference interviews.
Winners will be announced at the AdvantageWest’s Carolina Connect conference for entrepreneurs in Asheville on May 5, 2011 and profiled in VERVE Magazine in the June 2011 issue.
If you win, we’ll pair you with a business coach and check on your progress at the end of six months and one year.
PLEASE NOTE:
The business must be owned by one or more women. Businesses co-owned by men will not be considered.
You may not be an affiliate or employee of AdvantageWest, Mountain BizWorks or VERVE.
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Testimonial
In an effort to respond to the diverse economic development needs of North Carolina, then State Representative Martin Nesbitt introduced legislation creating the regional economic development partnerships. It was this extraordinary insight that allowed AdvantageWest to become one of the most innovative and nimble economic development programs in the state.
Gordon S. Myers
Founding Chair
AdvantageWest Board of Directors
Amanda Baranski
, Executive Assistant & Assistant Corporate Secretary
AdvantageWest
134 Wright Brothers Way
Fletcher, NC 28732
ph. 828-687-7234
fx. 828-687-7552
Email Amanda Baranski
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