BMO Apex Business Plan Competition
November 30th - December 2, 2011
Early Bird Registration Prize!
Each team that registers prior to November 18th will be entered into a draw to win an iPod nano for each team member!
Got a great idea?
If you are an aspiring entrepreneur we have the opportunity you've been waiting for! Put together a top-notch business plan and bring it to the University of New Brunswick.
For two days every year, in conjunction with our major sponsor, BMO, UNB brings together budding entrepreneurs from across Canada and around the world to compete in the region's premier business plan competition.
Teams compete in a variety of events at either the undergrad or graduate levels in front of accomplished judges in the fields of marketing, finance and entrepreneurship. The competition is designed to challenge participants to think outside the box.
The plan
Each team will be required to present their business idea to a panel of judges with the aid of a PowerPoint presentation. The presentations are limited to twelve minutes, which will be followed by a twenty minute question and answer period. If these times are exceeded the team's total score will be reduced accordingly.
On the elevator to success
You are in an elevator with a business executive with whom you have been trying to arrange a meeting for months. The executive is not able to set up a meeting due to his/her busy schedule, but is willing to listen to you for the duration of the elevator ride. You must convince this attentive business leader to invest in your product or service in one minute. Absolutely no visual aids are permitted.
The Elevator Pitch Competition requires teams to deliver a one-minute verbal pitch of their business plan to a panel of judges. Each team should select one person to present the elevator pitch on behalf of the team. A panel of judges will evaluate the elevator pitches and award a cash prize based on the teams' ability to sell their product or service to the audience.
Please download and read the complete Elevator Pitch Guidelines.
Keynote
The entire event is capped off with a keynote presentation. Past speakers have included:
- 2005: Pete Luckett, of Pete's Frootique
- 2006: John Dunsworth, Mr. Lahey of The Trailer Park Boys
- 2007: Peter Mansbridge, of the CBC's The National
- 2008: Citizen Cope, Musician
- 2009: Gregg Overholt, Executive Director of Students Offering Support
- 2010: Marcel LeBrun, CEO Radian6
Susan Holt
President & CEO, New Brunswick Business Council
Susan Holt brings a diverse background and unique perspective to the New Brunswick Business Council. Raised in Fredericton, Susan's first jobs were scooping ice cream and ringing in groceries for local entrepreneur Richard Tingley and conducting environmental impact assessments on the Maritimes & Northeast pipeline project with the home-grown firm Washburn & Gillis. After completing a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and a BAH in Economics at Queen's University, Susan went on to sales, human resources and management roles with some of the world's most successful firms: Xerox, Manpower, HP, Cognos/IBM and Chalk/Research In Motion.
Having spent nearly a decade working around the world, from Toronto and Ottawa to Australia and India, Susan returned to New Brunswick in 2007 and has been committed to the province’s growth ever since. Recently serving as CEO of the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce, Susan has proven to be a savvy spokesperson, a strong relationship builder and a tireless champion for entrepreneurs in our province. Today, she leads 24 of New Brunswick’s foremost business leaders on the NB Business Council, working to make New Brunswick the best province to start and grow a company.
There are prizes, right?
This year, BMO APEX Business Plan Competition is proud to announce that there is over $20,000 in prizes available. Once again, a big thank you goes out to our generous sponsors. The following are some of the categories in which prize money will be awarded: A Grand Prize of $5000* will be awarded in each track (Graduate and Undergraduate) to the teams with the best overall Business Plan.
A prize will be awarded to the first and second runners-up in each track.
A prize will be awarded to the school worthy of the "Entrepreneurial Powerhouse" award.
A prize will be awarded to the team with the best elevator pitch.
All of the winners will be announced at the gala awards dinner following the competition.
*There are no restrictions applied to the use of these funds after they are awarded to the deserving participant. Amount is subject to change
Am I eligible?
The BMO Apex Business Plan Competition is open to all Canadian and International graduate and undergraduate students. Each applicant can register either individually or in a team consisting of a maximum of four members.
Teams are required to compete in the division dictated by the highest educational level in the group. For example, if a team consists of two undergraduate members and one graduate member, the team is required to compete at the graduate level.
Each team may submit only one business plan to the competition, and plans that have been previously submitted to the competition are not eligible. Teams are required to have personally conducted the business plan analysis and prepared all financial projections. Any business plans that are prepared in full, or in part, by an outside professional firm are not eligible.
Deadlines
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Registration Closes and Submissions Due: November 23, 2011 at 4:00pm (Atlantic Time)
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Submissions: 5-7 page summary (mandatory); full business plan* (optional)
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All submissions must be converted to PDF and sent to apex@unb.ca
To register, click here.
*Note: If you choose not to submit your full business plan at this time, you must bring ten hard copies with you to the competition.
How do we select the winners?
A panel of judges will evaluate business plan submissions in each track. Teams and business ideas will be reviewed by the judges and given a score of one to five on various criteria. The scores will then be averaged amongst the judges. The top score will be awarded the Grand Prize in that track, the second highest score with receive the second place prize, etc.
Please download and read the complete BMO Apex Business Plan Competition Guidelines. The competition organizers are not responsible for any issues that may arise due to ignorance of rules, regulations and requirements.
