Riata business plan competition to offer $40,000 in prizes
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
(Nov. 17, 2009 Stillwater, OK) – Oklahoma State University students have a chance
to win $40,000 in prize money by entering the first Riata Business Plan Competition.
The campus-wide contest is hosted by the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship and the
School of Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business.
“The top three competition winners – those who present the most viable businesses
and the best investment opportunities – will be awarded prize money,” said Nola Miyasaki,
Norman C. Stevenson chair and director of the Riata Center. “These will be the students
who have best outlined a new venture and can convince the judges that the venture
will be enormously successful. Importantly, the competition is open to all students
across the OSU campus, including the campuses in Tulsa, Oklahoma City and any other
OSU campus in the State.”
The first place business plan will earn $25,000, second place will earn $10,000 and
third place will earn $5,000. Students can enter the competition as an individual
or in teams. At least one member of the team needs to be an OSU student to compete.
The plans will be presented to a panel of judges who will critique the completed plans
on the strength of the concept, the marketability of the product, the economic feasibility
of the business, the planned business operations, the management of the team and the
ability of the plan to receive financing.
“This is a competition in which both the innovation of the business idea and the quality
of the plan are evaluated on a written basis as well as the oral presentation,” said
Michael Morris, N. Malone Mitchell, Jr. Chair in Entrepreneurship and head of the
School of Entrepreneurship. “The competition rewards creative thinking regarding
new markets, products and services, as well as the team’s strategy to implement its
plans. The prize money is offered as seed money to help the winners launch their businesses.
The business must actually be started, and prize money checks are written to the new
companies, not the individual team members.”
To enter the contest, students must complete an Intent to Compete form at http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/competitions
and submit it to 101 Business Building by December 15. The competition will begin
in January. The first deadline is in early February, when each team will submit an
overview of its plan. If selected to move on to the next phase of the contest, each
team must complete the business plan in March.
Teams will receive support from the Riata Center and the School of Entrepreneurship
through assigned mentors and coaches, as well as a Business Plan Writing course that
will take place each Wednesday evening. The Business Plan Writing course can be taken
for credit or can be audited by teams in the competition.
To learn more or to enter the Riata Business Plan Competition, visit http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/competitions.
If you are interested in collaborating with others but do not have a team, call the
Riata Center for Entrepreneurship at 405-744-7552 or email entrepreneurship@okstate.edu.