Every year Kean offers students a chance to win their annual Business Plan Competition. The competition is an opportunity to validate a business idea and help forward the idea by offering participants support and constructive advice throughout the duration of the competition.
This year's registration for the Business Plan Competition began Nov. 26, 2019. Participation in the competition is not limited to just Kean students. High school students participating through DECA, Inc. will also be able to register their business plan. Students from other universities may join the competition as well.
Business plan idea submissions may be made as an individual or as a team of, at most, 3 members. Kean University recommends that participants should have enrolled or completed some sort of entrepreneurship course, although it is not mandatory to participate in the competition.
To register, students will need to use the link on Kean's web page about the competition. In addition to registering online, competitors must email the executive summary of their business plan to bizplan@kean.edu.
Some important dates for the Business Plan Competition are as follows:
- Feb. 21, 2020 - Registration ends
- March 6, 2020 - Semi-Finalists notified
- March 16, 2020 - Deadline for submission of full business plan
- March 27, 2020 - Finalists notified
- April 9, 2020 - Final event
There are a variety of reasons students may be interested in participating. Other then the opportunity to win $10,000 in combined prizes, the competition is also a valuable learning experience. Students will be able to fine tune their business ideas with feedback from the competition. Further, students will be able to network with investors and learn what investors require. Students can also develop their public speaking, financial skills and professional skills through interactions with banks, entrepreneurs, alumni and angel investors.
The Business Plan Competition was first created in 2014 by the School of Management and Marketing. The event is sponsored by the Office of Provost and the New Jersey Small Business Development Center at Kean University. Since then, the competition has run annually and has seen many interesting business plans.
Some examples of notable business plans from previous years are: Trauma, an app solution for first-aid, created by Frankie Louis and E-Cards, digital business cards on phones, by Michael Kapotis and Jenny Caruso.
"Many business plans are impressive. It is not easy to come up with a smart solution to existing problems and craft a well-developed plan covering all different aspects of a business," said Kai Wang, Ph.D., assistant professor of management.
Students are highly encouraged to participate in the competition and try their best. Good luck to all competitors!
