Albers-SJIM Virtual Competition

Each team has about a month to formulate a seven- to 10-page business plan. 

First round

For the first round, the business plan should be submitted in Word or PDF files. All submissions will be passed through anti-plagiarism software. Word documents should use Times New Roman 12-point font with one-inch margins all around. The length of the document must be a maximum of 10 pages, excluding any appendices. Judges will read, but not evaluate, appendices. The required structure of the business plan is below:

• Cover page: Include the name of the proposed company and the names of the team members.
• The Idea: One page dedicated to explaining the idea (or your solution) in brief.
• The People: The individuals who will be starting and running the venture, their roles, and details about any outside parties providing key services or important resources, etc.
• The Opportunity: A profile of the business itself—what it will sell and to whom, whether the business can grow and how fast, what its economics are, and obstacles standing in the way of success.
• The Context: The bigger picture—the regulatory environment, demographic trends, technological trends and developments, and any other factor that will inevitably change your offering but cannot be controlled by you (the entrepreneur). How will you be prepared to deal with the inevitable change in the environment?
• Risk and Reward: An assessment of everything that can go wrong and right, and a discussion of how the entrepreneurial team can respond.
• Appendices: Optional.

The structure listed above is adapted from an article by William Sahlman, Baker Foundation Professor of Business Administration (Emeritus) at Harvard Business School. All teams are highly encouraged to read this short article about writing a business plan.

Final Round

The business plan for the final round should be submitted as a Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt/.pptx) file. The structure of the presentation will follow the broad structure of the written plan. Each team will have 15 minutes to present their plan. After all teams have presented their plan, the judges will give each team a set of questions to answer. All teams will get 10 minutes to discuss between themselves, including the overseas team members, online. The last step will be for the teams to provide their answers to the judges.

In addition to virtual infrastructure, students will need to be able to commit about five hours a week to the completion of the program, with one to two of those hours dedicated to meeting with the team.

Teams are encouraged to establish protocols on communication guidelines, internal deadlines, and assignment of roles and responsibilities. 

Remember time zones. Bangalore will be 13.5 hours ahead of Seattle! If you email your teammates at 10 a.m. PST, it will be 11:30 p.m. IST (Indian Standard Time) for them. If they respond the next day at 10 a.m. IST, you will receive it at 8:30 p.m. PST. Committing to timely communications and setting expectations for response times are essential for success in working with team mates across time zones.