I wanted to share the following information from Denver's Office of Economic Development.
The City and County of Denver is looking for the best and brightest ideas in small business to support through the JumpStart Biz Plan Awards. Offered through the Denver Office of Economic Development, this business plan competition will honor the most promising business plan with investment capital, office space, mentoring resources and more. JumpStart Biz Plan Awards (www.denvergov.org/oed)
Who can apply? Awards competition is open to start-up businesses, as well as established Denver businesses with up to 25 employees that have been operating up to five years. Awards are open to Denver businesses, Denver residents and/or individuals with plans to have a Denver-based business.
Awards: Grand prize winner will be awarded all the tools to take their business to the next level, including:
§ $50,000 cash prize
§ Office space – One year of membership and office space in the Galvanize G1.0 building (up to five staff members)
§ Legal counsel – 35 hours of legal services provided by Polsinelli Shughart
§ Tax/Accounting services – 60 hours of tax and accounting services provided by Deloitte
§ Marketing services – 60 hours of strategic marketing advisory services from Dovetail Solutions
§ Social media services – WideFoc.us
The top ten business plans selected will receive: Recognition as Innovation Award winners, access to mentoring and a business consultation program.
Apply Early! Make sure to apply early – awards program is open to the first 150 entries. Business plan applications will be accepted July 17 through Sept. 14, 2012 (or until the registration cap of 150 entries has been met). Winners will be announced during Startup Denver Week (Oct. 22-26).
Selection Process: The JumpStart Biz Plan Awards program is designed to benefit all companies that go through the application process, not just the ultimate winner. To accomplish this, the program uses an online mentoring platform, the Business Catapult, to receive and review applications. If you use all the capabilities in this platform, you’ll gain new insights into your business and new ideas to consider.
To maximize the businesses that can benefit from this process, the JumpStart program will review applications through a two-phase process.
Phase I: Initial Selection All entrepreneurs will need to register on the Business Catapult, complete a business profile and submit it to the JumpStart Business Plan Awards group on the site. This will be the first level of review. The top ten business profiles will be selected via Business Catapult’s web site and invited to participate in Phase II.
Phase II: Final Selection (Full Business Plan Review) The top ten finalists will be invited to submit a complete business plan to OED in PDF format for additional review and judging. The full business plan must include the following components:
About The Company Cover page Business name Stage of development Industry sector
Product or Service Product or service description
Market Definition Target market Need in target market for company product/service Demographics Marketing strategy SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)
Capital Formation Amount of outside capital needed Capital source and structure 3-year projections, including assumptions (cash flow analysis) Exit strategy
Management Ownership structure Owner/officer resumes
Executive summary
Applicant Instructions
§ By clicking on the above application link, you will be directed to the Business Catapult website.
§ Applicants must first complete a professional profile on the Business Catapult site.
§ Applicants must then complete and submit a business profile to be reviewed and scored by multiple reviewers on the Business Catapult site. (We recommend that you print a copy of your profile for your records.)
§ Please only submit complete business profiles for review and do not make any edits once the business profile has been submitted until the top ten profiles have been identified.
§ Entries will be accepted July 17 – Sept. 14, 2012, or until the registration cap of 150 entries has been met (apply early to help ensure participation).
§ All entries will receive valuable feedback and comments from experienced business profile/business plan reviewers.
§ All entries will be reviewed as they are submitted. Judges are standing by so get your business profile entered early for the best feedback and comments.
§ Top ten finalists will be notified by Oct. 5, 2012.