Congratulations to all our competitors!
Screeners will be reviewing plans through May and we'll be announcing our finalists by the end of the month.
Final presentations and awards ceremony will be June 9 at Lethbridge Lodge.
Thank you to all of my readers and good luck competitors!!
:)
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
It’s the Final Countdown!!
Weeks have turned in to days and the submission deadline TOMORROW!!!!
Lots of participants have been asking if they can get help with the finishing touches of their plan, they want expertise to add that final polish. By all means, bounce your idea and plan off people who will give you quality information, especially those who will take you to task on difficult points.
Call now to see if your local Community Futures office has a Business Analyst who can help you hammer out any of the final business details.
Questions about your competition submission? Contact the project coordinator at 403-320-6044 or info@chinookchallenge.com
GOOD LUCK TO ALL COMPETITORS!!!
2:00pm SHARP
Lots of participants have been asking if they can get help with the finishing touches of their plan, they want expertise to add that final polish. By all means, bounce your idea and plan off people who will give you quality information, especially those who will take you to task on difficult points.
Call now to see if your local Community Futures office has a Business Analyst who can help you hammer out any of the final business details.
Questions about your competition submission? Contact the project coordinator at 403-320-6044 or info@chinookchallenge.com
GOOD LUCK TO ALL COMPETITORS!!!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The Pre-Screen
May I be honest on here?
So far, we’ve received business plans early this year. GREAT JOB TO THOSE WHO SUBMITTED ALREADY!!
This is the first time I’ve seen competition submissions before the training wrapped, so kudos! But let these early birds sing a cautionary tale, for not one would have passed the pre-screen!
Good thing they were in touch with the office early and I could get back to them about what was missing.
In most cases, it’s as simple as the submission date on the info page or not having the business/concept name in the header or footer. I can tell you that a common snag is missing an entire section of the plan. Technically, we’ll still accept your submission if it’s missing a section, however, you will score ‘0’, ultimately points you WILL need in order to become a Finalist.
Chinook Entrepreneur Challenge is a dynamic program, but the underlying structure is that this is a competition and we need to adhere to strict rules to ensure fairness to all participants ...that’s why we’ve gotta be so strict!!
Make it easy for organizers and screeners by titling your section headers to coincide with business plan elements found on page 17 -18 of the Participant’s Handbook.
DON’T FORGET THE IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE!!
Here’s a copy/paste of the checklist we’ll be using to pre-screen:
o Participant Agreement (signed original received by 2:00p.m. April 29)
o Non-Disclosure Agreement (signed original received by 2:00p.m. April 29)
o Plan Submission Checklist (signed original received by 2:00p.m. April 29)
o Info Page: business name, first & last name of team member(s), address, phone, email, list of employees, submission date
o Table of Contents
o Business Plan: Executive Summary, Product/Service, Market Analysis, Marketing and Sales, Management Team, Manufacturing/Operations Plan, Implementation Schedule, Opportunities & Risks, Financials, The Offering
o Formatting: Arial font, 11pt, letter-sized paper, 1” margin, less than 20 pages, contact info
You can set up a time to come in to your Community Futures office and chat with us about your business plan or competition submission any time!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Session 8 Part 1
Session 8 featured business plan tips from Gillian Nish, President of Execuserv Plus.
Fitting in those financials
Oh boy! How are we going to fit all that financial information in to just 4-5 pages of your submission?? There is a way!
First of all, I'll tell you that the formatting requirements loosen up in this area. You don't need to follow the "Arial, 11pt, 1" margins, etc" guidelines.
Next, I've taken winning submissions from the past couple of years and pulled out some tips I can give you from their plans:
- On the first page of your financials, introduce what the reader is about to see. Write a summary about the type of statements that will follow, the timelines, the balances and justifications.
- Outline numbering will help you keep the readers thoughts focused. For example, 9.1 Cash Flow, 9.2 Income Statement, etc...
- Use footnotes or denote remarks with justifications where possible. For example, “*B: Salaries-$$$” or “*H: Calculated @ 5% of receivables”
- Be honest with yourself and plan for contingencies.
- Common terms for titling your statements:
o Pro Forma Monthly Cash Flow Analysis for year ending: [Date]
o Pro Forma Monthly Cash Flow Analysis for year ending: [Date, next year]
o Pro Forma Income Statement for years ending: [Date, 3 years]
o Pro Forma Balance Sheet for years ending: [Date, 3 years]
o Break Even Analysis
- Graphs, charts and tables are great tools.
- Use appendices. There’s no guarantee that a screener will review them, but if they see that you’ve included back-up to anything that might pique their interest, they’ll dig deeper. There is a 10-page maximum on appendices.
If you have any tips you’ve used that you think will help out, don’t be afraid to post them here! We love comments from the readers!!
First of all, I'll tell you that the formatting requirements loosen up in this area. You don't need to follow the "Arial, 11pt, 1" margins, etc" guidelines.
Next, I've taken winning submissions from the past couple of years and pulled out some tips I can give you from their plans:
- On the first page of your financials, introduce what the reader is about to see. Write a summary about the type of statements that will follow, the timelines, the balances and justifications.
- Outline numbering will help you keep the readers thoughts focused. For example, 9.1 Cash Flow, 9.2 Income Statement, etc...
- Use footnotes or denote remarks with justifications where possible. For example, “*B: Salaries-$$$” or “*H: Calculated @ 5% of receivables”
- Be honest with yourself and plan for contingencies.
- Common terms for titling your statements:
o Pro Forma Monthly Cash Flow Analysis for year ending: [Date]
o Pro Forma Monthly Cash Flow Analysis for year ending: [Date, next year]
o Pro Forma Income Statement for years ending: [Date, 3 years]
o Pro Forma Balance Sheet for years ending: [Date, 3 years]
o Break Even Analysis
- Graphs, charts and tables are great tools.
- Use appendices. There’s no guarantee that a screener will review them, but if they see that you’ve included back-up to anything that might pique their interest, they’ll dig deeper. There is a 10-page maximum on appendices.
If you have any tips you’ve used that you think will help out, don’t be afraid to post them here! We love comments from the readers!!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Bad Plans
I've posted some examples of plans that would not meet pre-screen criteria.
Check them out at http://chinookchallenge.com/seminar.php (scroll to the bottom of the page).
Sample Plan A
There are so many things wrong with this submission. Basically, before the screener reads your plan, they'll see your plan. Even though the competition structure is somewhat rigid, you can still present a polished, great-first-impression business plan.
This plan does not make a great first impression.
Here are a couple of things this participant missed:
- no Non-Disclosure Agreement or Plan Submission Checklist
- Participant Registration is not original signed copy
- no info page or table of contents
- section headings not aligned/formatting doesn't match
- section numbering mismatched
- font is not inconsistent and not all Arial
- font is not all 11pt
- more than one plan section on each page
- NO CONTACT INFO! <-- this is a personal pet peeve. Please make sure you have contact info on your business plan somewhere. Date everything too, please!
Sample Plan B
- Non-Disclosure Agreement only signed by one team member
- no table of contents
- At first it appears that the plan is more than 20 pages. Upon closer examination, the overage are actually appendices. Please help the pre-screeners out and make sure you have your table of contents in your submission and don't miss crucial information.
Check them out at http://chinookchallenge.com/seminar.php (scroll to the bottom of the page).
Sample Plan A
There are so many things wrong with this submission. Basically, before the screener reads your plan, they'll see your plan. Even though the competition structure is somewhat rigid, you can still present a polished, great-first-impression business plan.
This plan does not make a great first impression.
Here are a couple of things this participant missed:
- no Non-Disclosure Agreement or Plan Submission Checklist
- Participant Registration is not original signed copy
- no info page or table of contents
- section headings not aligned/formatting doesn't match
- section numbering mismatched
- font is not inconsistent and not all Arial
- font is not all 11pt
- more than one plan section on each page
- NO CONTACT INFO! <-- this is a personal pet peeve. Please make sure you have contact info on your business plan somewhere. Date everything too, please!
Sample Plan B
- Non-Disclosure Agreement only signed by one team member
- no table of contents
- At first it appears that the plan is more than 20 pages. Upon closer examination, the overage are actually appendices. Please help the pre-screeners out and make sure you have your table of contents in your submission and don't miss crucial information.
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