Business Plan Competition
- 1st Place $2,000
- 2nd Place $1,000
- 3rd Place $500
- 4th Place $250
Stu Clark New Venture Championships: High School Edition
This competition is for high school students across the Province of Manitoba compete at this fun filled 2-day competition. Up to 16 teams will be selected and required to participate in an Elevator Pitch, and Business Plan Presentation for exciting cash prizes!
On this page
2021 Championships
Dates
May 27 & 28, 2021
Location
Delivered virtually via Zoom
Overview
The Stu Clark New Venture Championships: High School Edition is a competition for
high school students across the Province of Manitoba with over $6,000 in prizes to be won!
This competition exposes students to important life skills such as public speaking, and writing skills and creative thinking in anentertaining and safe way. Along with winning great prizes, students will gain insight and feedback from our judges.
Ventures can be anything students are highly passionate about! We’ve seen unique concepts such as a public speaking virtual reality app, a mobile car detailing service, gourmet homemade hot sauce and spray-on grip that improves the performance of athletic shoes! This is an exceptional experience for high school students!
Important dates
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Deadline to apply (11:59 PM CST)
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Teams advised of acceptance
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Business plans due (11:59 PM CST)
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Elevator pitch due (11 p.m. CST)
Prizes
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Elevator Pitch Competition
- 1st Place $500
- 2nd Place $250
- 3rd Place $100
- All prizes are in Canadian dollars.
Schedule
May 27 & 28, 2021
Note: All 16 teams are competing in the semi-finals on Thursday, however this round is not open to the public to watch. Teams will find out live Friday morning at 9:30 am who the final 4 teams are. Format for the live presentations are: 15 minute presentation then 10 minute Q&A from a panel of expert judges.
Thursday, May 27, 2021
*All activities on Thursday are closed to the public. All times in CST.
- 8:00 AM — 10:50 AM Semi-Final Round Track 1
- 10:50 AM – 1:40 PM Semi-Final Round Track 2
- 1:40 PM – 4:30 PM Semi-Final Round Track 3
- 4:30 PM – 7:20 PM Semi-Final Round Track 4
Friday, May 28, 2021
*All activities on Friday are open to the public. All times in CST.
- 8:30 AM – 8:45 AM Welcome & Introduction of Teams
- 8:45 AM – 9:30 AM Elevator Pitch Competition & Finalists Announced
- 9:45 AM – 12:05 PM Championship Round
- 12:05 PM – 1:05 PM Judges Deliberation
- 1:05 PM – 1:30 PM Awards Ceremony
- 1:30 PM – 1:45 PM Winners Circle
Sign up to watch the elevator pitch competition and championships round by clicking here
Eligibility
Presenting Team Composition:
- Individual students qualify as a team entry
- Elevator Pitch: Up to 2 students can participate
- Business Plan Presentation: Up to 5 students participate
- It is required for teams to participate in both events of the competition
- Students must be enrolled in a high school in the province of Manitoba
- If the business is a joint venture, the competing student must be a significant contributing factor to the business and not just a spokesperson
Other:
- Entries cannot duplicate or copy an already existing/recognized business of franchise
- All teams must attest to all rules & guidelines
- This document sets out guidelines to capture these goals and not every circumstance can be anticipated. The Competition Director reserves the right to disqualify or penalize any team that violates the rules, regulations or the spirit of the competition.
How to apply
Steps
- Fill out application
- Create a 1-2 page executive summary
- Submit application form by Friday April 30, 2021 (11:59 PM CST)
Application requirements
Executive summaries should include:
- an outline of the magnitude of the problem
- an outline of the solution
- market validation
- financial projections
- scalability
Executive summaries should be:
- 1 - 2 pages in length
- PDF format
- 1.5 spacing with 12 point font
Rules and guidelines
This competition is for high school students across the Province of Manitoba.
Business plan presentation rule
- Application and executive summaries are due Friday May 21, 2021(11:59 PM CST)
- Presentation format:
- 10 minute presentation with a hard stop
- 10 minute question & answer from the judges
- 10 minutes of feedback from the judges
- Only team members who present are able to participate in the Q & Aportion
- Teams will be required to send Lindsay.friesen@umanitoba.ca their complete PowerPoint presentation by Friday, May 21, 2021 (11:59 PM CST)
- Props (prototypes, iPhone apps etc.) are allowed in the presentation
- Only members who actively present are able to participate in the Q & Adiscussion
Elevator pitch rules
What is an elevator pitch? One presenter pitches their business venture in a concise but thorough and engaging way.
- 2 minute pitch hard stop
- No visual aids, cue cards or props are allowed
Written business plans rules and guidelines
Rules
- 16 teams will be chosen and notified by Friday May 7, 2021 regarding their acceptance
- Written business plans from accepted teams are due to lindsay.friesen@umanitoba.ca by Friday May 21, 2021 (11:59 PM CST)
- Must be submitted in PDF format
- Submitted in PDF format
- Number all pages
- Cover page to include venture name, student name(s) and High School
- Cannot be longer than 12 pages following these limitations below
- 1 page – Cover Page
- 1 page – Table of Contents
- 1 – 2 pages – Executive Summary
- Up to 5 pages – Main Report
- Up to 3 pages – Appendices & Citations
Guidelines
- Executive summary
- Standalone overview of the business plan
- Magnitude of the problem
- Is this a major problem?
- Is it local, national or global?
- Outline of the solution
- Does the product solve the problem
- Is the product protected (IP)
- Status (proof of concept / prototype)
- Market validation / competition
- Is there a clear market need?
- Will customers pay a premium?
- Competitive landscape
- Operational plan
- Actual intent to set up operations
- Viable plan to set up operations
- Ongoing operational capability
- Marketing and distribution
- Effective marketing strategy
- Effective advertising strategy
- Clear distribution channels / strategy
- Management team
- Is team experienced and capable?
- Able to overcome risks and changes
- Proper board or advisory board
- Financial viability / scalability
- Attractive revenue / expense margins
- Realistic start-up costs
- Scalable product or service
- Financial projections / returns
- No cash flow or balance sheet issues
- Realistic funding / capital structure
- Attractive investor returns
- Others
- Intellectual property
- Timeline for implementation
- Realistic
- Professional
- Convincing strategy
Privacy disclaimers
As this competition is open to the public, data or information discussed or divulged throughout the competition is considered information that can enter the public domain therefore teams requiring non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) should not participate.
Any footage of the event will be used for marketing, PR, promotional materials.
Contact us
Lindsay Friesen
Program Coordinator
Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship
Room 212 Drake Centre
181 Freedman Crescent
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Canada
204-371-1069