The Faulkner Challenge - An Annual Spring Competition
ELIGIBILITY
The Faulkner Challenge is made possible by the generosity of FHSU alumnus, Kevin Faulkner. It is a business plan competition for new, independent proposed ventures in the conceptual, seed or start-up stages. The competition is open to any student residing in Kansas. Student is defined as high school, technical school, trade school, community college, or university.
Generally excluded are the following: buy-outs, expansions of existing companies, real estate syndications, tax shelters, franchises, licensing agreements for distribution in a different geographical area and spin-outs from existing corporations. Plans which were presented in a previous Faulkner Challenge are not allowed to present again. Licensing technologies from universities or research labs is permitted and encouraged assuming the technologies have not been previously commercialized.
WRITTEN BUSINESS PLAN
General Guidelines: Written business plans are limited to 5 pages of text (typed, 12 point font, and 1" margins on all sides). The cover page and table of contents are not included in the 5-page limit. Detailed spreadsheets and appropriate appendices should follow the text portion of the plan but will be limited to 5 pages. Plans with fewer than 5 pages of appendices may not use the remaining pages to increase the size of their business plan beyond 5 pages. In total, the maximum number of pages is 12.
Information to Consider for Your Business Plan
Problem: Entrepreneurs Start with a Problem. How serious is it? What is the level of Pain experienced by those who suffer from this problem? How many people have this problem? How much money does it cost the average person experiencing it? How expensive is the problem nationally? Answer the previous questions to answer this question: Is this problem worth solving? The more desperate the problem, the more people are searching for a solution and the more likely they are willing to buy your product.
Customer: Who is the group of people experiencing this problem? Describe them (age range, gender, income range, etc.). The more fully you know the people with the problem, the better you can understand them and speak to them about their issues. It is necessary to learn from the people experiencing the problem. They are your future customers. You do not have a business until you have paying customers. It is important to focus on a particular target customer because not everyone needs your product or will be interested in it.
Solution: Describe the product or service you are creating. How does it solve the problem of your potential customers? Is it the right solution to address the problem? What are the features and more importantly, the benefits of the product or service? What is its value proposition, meaning to the customer: why is it worth the price you would like to charge?
Industry: In which industry will your company operate? How big is it in dollars? How many customers are in this industry? Is this industry growing or declining? How much is it growing? It is better to get into a growing industry because it increases the amount of time you can operate a business in it and grow as the industry grows.
Competition: If you claim you have no competition, you have not conducted any research. There are direct competitors and indirect competitors. Direct competitors are selling products similar to yours. Indirect competitors are trying to solve the same customer problem you are, but their products are not the same as yours. It is important to know who your competitors are in order to succeed in spite of them. It is important to know who your competitors are so you can be different and stand out from the others.
Marketing: How will your customers learn about your product or service? This will depend upon your product and your customers. Not all products or services are successfully advertised in the same manner. Radio, TV, billboard, newspaper, Google AdWords, Facebook, YouTube videos, of these which will work best for your product or service. Which of these do your particular customers pay attention to? Not every product will sell because of a Facebook ad. Not every target customer will watch a YouTube video. Learn about your customers. Talk to your customers to learn which types of advertising are important to them, for your product.
Operations: Explain how you will create your product. Will you make it yourself or contract a third party? From whom will you acquire necessary supplies (what supplier relationships have you developed). What kind of facility and equipment will you need? Explain your staffing needs. Where will the customer purchase the product (retail store, third-party website, your store or website, direct salesperson at customer’s location, etc.)? How will the product reach the customer (retail store, delivered UPS, delivered by you, etc.)?
Growth: After you have gained success with this first product or service, how will you scale (grow) the business for the long-term future? There are many ways to grow the company. You need to research and decide which is the best way to grow your company? This can be different for every company. Should you expand by creating additional products? Should you expand by selling to other areas of the country or world? Should you expand by targeting new groups of customers?
Team: What skills and experience do you need to make this product or service, start and run this company? Usually, more than one person is better because it is easier to acquire a wider range of skills. To operate a business, it is necessary to have people who know about accounting, finance, marketing, and operations. Depending on the type of products you are creating, you may need engineering, computer, and design experience. Once you know what skills you need, how do you get the right people to become involved in your company? How do you find advisors with these skills to offer advice to you for starting and running your business? Who have you acquired as advisors and what is their expertise?
Finances: It is necessary to understand how much money it will take to get your company started. It is necessary to know how you will acquire this money (from your savings, borrow from family, take a bank loan, have someone invest in the company, etc.). It is important to know how much customers will pay for your product and how much it will cost to manufacture your product. Can you sell it for a profit? Is this profit high enough to keep the company in business and pay yourself and other founders/employees? In order to know this, you need to understand all of the costs (manufacturing, supplies, marketing, distribution, labor, etc.). How many products can you sell each year? Can you increase the number of products you sell each year? Is your profit margin comparable or better than the standards in the industry you will operate? Be able to provide projected total: sales (revenue), expenses, and profits for an entire years (up to 3 years). And, what is the anticipated percentage of growth from year to year? It is important to understand and provide these numbers.
ORAL PRESENTATION
The competition will accept an unlimited number of business plans. Of all the submissions, the eight best business plans will be selected as finalists for oral presentations. Presentations can be performed by an individual or a team of up to five people. It is acceptable for more than five people to be involved in the team/company, but only a maximum of five are allowed to present their plan at the competition. Presentations must include visuals, such as PowerPoint slides or product demonstrations. Each individual or team will be given an uninterrupted 10 minutes to present the business plan, followed by a 5-minute question/answer session between the presenting team and the judges. TIME LIMITS WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED.