• Introduction
• Eligibility
• Contest Summary
• The Awards Banquet
• Competition

•
• The competition fosters and promotes business growth at the college by giving students a chance to organize, direct, and present a business idea to a panel of judges. This business plan competition provides teams with an educational forum to aid them in the creation and implementation of their business plan.

•
• This competition is open to all students enrolled at the
School of Finance and Business at Shanghai Normal
University.
• Entries can be submitted by individuals or teams but each participating team must be organized and directed by a full-time student at the School of Finance and
Business during the Fall semester of 2013.
• There are no restrictions regarding other team members and may include students, faculty, family, or professionals. Successful teams typically have a strong combination of accounting, finance, marketing, and technology skills.

•
• A cash prize of $5,000 will be awarded to the team judged to have presented the most plausible and promising business executive summary.
Secondary prizes will also be awarded including cash prizes of $3,000 and
$2,000 for 2nd and 3rd place teams respectively.

•
• Mr. Alan Hall
• The founder of Grow America, and president and director of Mercato Partners, a top performing growth technology company in the USA which invests in high growth companies that need additional funding and expertise in marketing and sales.

Dear Shanghai Normal Students
My name is Alan Hall, I love business. I enjoy finding solutions to problems and helping customers with exceptional products that meet their needs. For over forty years, I have started and grown several new companies. Many were failures and I learned several important lessons from numerous mistakes. I have made note of what works and what doesn't work in building and developing award winning enterprises. Fortunately, I have been able to learn from my errors and have built and developed several very successful companies.
Today, my personal goal is to teach students the basic principles of entrepreneurship so they will be successful business men and women. Last year, it was my pleasure to launch at SHNU via Weber State University. I was delighted to see the wonderful plans that were presented at the competition and marveled that they were as remarkable as any I had seen in America.
This coming year, I wish to repeat the competition at SHNU. I hope that even more students will participate in this activity and learn more about the fundamentals of starting and running a truly excellent company. I also look forward to returning to your campus to meet with you again. I wish everyone of you a great success.
Yours truly,
Alan E. Hall

• Organizers:
• Business Plans will be organized and evaluated by a board of corporate professionals and representatives from both Shanghai Normal University and
Weber State University.

• Each team must fill up the registration form and submit to the following email address:
• ddcyjbest@163.com
• The form can be download from
• http://fb.shnu.edu.cn/Default.aspx?tabid=11811&ctl=Details&mid=25
787&ItemID=143711&SkinSrc=[L]Skins/sxy_xx/sxy_xx&language=z h-CN
• The file should be saved as: leader name+Student ID
Additionally:
• Teams may present more than one plan, but each plan must be registered separately
• The business cannot be more than two years old as of 10/1/2013
• The business cannot have generated revenues in excess of
1,000,000 RMB
• The business cannot have any external equity funding.
• All Business Plan should be written in English.

• Round I: The Conceptual Business Case
• In this round, students need to clearly explain the business ideas and market opportunities for their given products or services. Judges from both universities will evaluate the cases and select the qualified business ideas based on specific investment criteria to advance to the second round.
• Due date for the proposal: December 1 st ,
• January 31 st announce the qualified teams to continue round 2.

 The Opportunity
 Your Idea
 The Target Market
 Strategy
 Timeline

The Opportunity:
Your Idea:
 Summarize the nature of the opportunity you are pursuing.
 Be specific as to why the opportunity is important.
 Explain what you propose to do.
 Who will benefit from your proposal?
 Describe your idea/concept
 Give details as to how you intend to develop/create the concepts.
 Provide specifics about the uniqueness of your submission.
 Give insight as to how your idea maximizes the opportunity.
The Target Market:
 Describe your target audience for your offering.
 How large is it?
 What is the anticipated growth potential?
 Explain the value proposition/benefit your offering provides?

Strategy:
Timeline:
 Describe the approach/strategy you intend to implement to reach your audience.
 Tell how you plan to develop your products or services (i.e., manufacture, outsource to another company, etc),
 Explain how you will sell/distribute your products or services i.e., retail, internet, wholesale, franchise, direct sales, etc.)
 Assess the profit proposition (potential) of your offering.
 Outline the major milestones and timeline for launching your new idea.
 Be specific with regard to how you will develop your products/ services.
 How do you expect to launch your new enterprise?
 What kind of financial capital need is required?
 How will you get the necessary funding?
 What key positions/roles will need to be in place to fully implement your plan?

• During this round, the teams need to test viability, do market analysis, prepare financial projections, identify customers, and write complete business plans for their ideas. The judge committee will choose again the 5 best teams to final present their business plan in front of the committee. The first, second, and third place winner will be selected based on the overall quality of the opportunity, management team strength, market dynamic, and other investment criteria.
• Due date of Written Business Plan: April 1 st
• April 20 th announce the top 15 teams to enter final competition

 Table of Contents
 Executive Summary
 General Company Description
 Products and Services
 Marketing Plan
 Operational Plan
 Management and Organization
 Implementation Milestones
 Financial Plan
 Appendices or Exhibits

Table of Contents:
Show only the section title, not subheadings.
Since new sections, subsections, or exhibits may be added at any time, it is suggested to not number pages.
Executive Summary:
1 – 2 pages - The summary should capture and briefly present the essence of the report.
It is, in effect a miniature version of the entire plan. The executive summary should be at the beginning of the document but should be written after the plan is thought out and completed.
General Company Description:
This section should begin with a general description of the company presenting the fundamental activities and nature of the business and should be no more than 2 pages.

Products and Services:
 Physical description of the product
 Use and appeal
 Stage of development
Marketing Plan:
 Market definition and opportunity
 Competition and other influences
 Marketing strategy and market research
 Sales forecasts
 It is also appropriate to attach support material such as industry studies, letters of support or articles related to the product or service.
Operational Plan:
 Product development – a summary of the development activities that the company will undertake.
 Manufacturing – discuss the process by which the company will produce its products.
 Maintenance and services – define the level of service and support the company will provide.
 External Influences – discuss regulatory restrictions that impact the manner of operation.

Management and Organization:
 Management Team/Principals – present the backgrounds of board members, key managers and employees
 Present succession planning and legal structure of the business.
 Organizational chart – provide either a brief narrative or organizational chart presenting the divisions of responsibility within the organization.
 Policy and Strategy – include planned additions to current management and provide a statement as to how they will be selected, trained and rewarded.
Implementation Milestones:
 Financing commitments
 Prototype development
 Initiation of production and sales
 Attaining break even performance
 Expanding operations

Financial Plan:
 Current funding requirements
 Funding requirements over the next five years
 Use of funds
 Long range financial strategies
 Historical financial data (if applicable)
 Prospective financial data
 Analysis of historical and prospective data
 Exit strategy
Appendices or Exhibits:
 Resumes of key managers
(condensed)
 Pictures of products
 Professional references
 Market studies
 Pertinent published information
 Patents
 Significant contracts

• At the conclusion of the competition, an awards reception for the winning teams, judges, and university representatives will be hosted by the
School of Finance and Business.
• The exact time and location will be determined
• The first-place winners will give a brief overview of their business plan.