Please also visit the Resources Page for the Competition

The Competition Rules

Agreement of Contestants – By submitting a business plan to the competition, the student contestant(s) agree(s) that the ideas, concepts and the entry itself are the original work of contestants. Contestants also agree that no one included in the submission is under any agreement or restrictions that prohibit or constrain content disclosure and that St. John’s University is not liable for the disclosure of plan content through the contest itself, its promotion or public relations efforts thereafter.    Further, contestants agree that the team and every individual member of the team will comply with the rules and guidelines of the competition and certify that the team is eligible to compete according to the stated rules of the competition or university. You may submit only 1 plan as an individual or as a group.

Eligibility of Students ‐ The business plan competition is open to all St. John’s University students who are registered at St. John’s University at some point during the academic year of the competition (Summer of 2023 through the Spring of 2024).   Full and part-time undergraduate and graduate students are eligible. Students do not have to be registered at the time of the final competition, as long as they were registered and active students in one of the semesters of that academic year. Contestants can enter individually or in groups limited to 5 or fewer contestants.   

Types of Business Plans ‐ The business plan competition accepts for-profit business plans only.  Franchised business models of any sort are not eligible for the competition.  Existing businesses may present growth strategies for new lines of business provided that at least one of the contestants is an equity owner in the business submitting the plan. Please do not submit horizontal growth business plans, for example, a lawn service on Long Island that wants to do exactly the same service in Queens.  Plans not deemed sufficiently original may be rejected at the sole discretion of the competition.

Plan Structure ‐ Business plans must be 15 pages or less.  All entries should be single-spaced with not less than one inch margins on all sides.  Use a font of 12 points in size for text and not smaller than 8 points in size for spreadsheets or tables.  The plan should substantially cover the outlined sections below. Please submit plan as a MS Word file format or PDF on the submission website:  2024 Business Plan Submission Website

1.0   Cover Page  

o          Business Name
o          Member names, X Numbers, email, cell phone

2.0    Executive Summary

o          Type of Business and Goals
o          Value Proposition/strategy (What you are offering)

3.0 Target Market

o          Problem worth solving
o          Product/Service Offer
o          Target Market
o          Competition

4.0 Execution over 3-Years

o          Marketing and Sales (promotional approach)
o          Operations (activities business performs successfully)
o          Milestones (each of the next three years, 2024-2027)
o          Key Metrics (measurable indicators plan is on target years 1, 2, and 3)

5.0 Company

o          Form of Corporation (filed with state or intending to file)
o          Team Member Biography (1 paragraph each member maximum)

6.0 Financial Plan

o          Profit and Loss Statements (next 3 years, 2024-2027)
o          Financing (needs and method of obtaining startup money)
o          Repayment plan for investors

Appendix

o          Additional information, images, drawings

Contest Rules

• Each contestant may submit only 1 business plan and may not contribute to a second business plan.  It is recommended but not required to use LivePlan.com online Business Plan writing software.
• Contestants can seek outside advice to support the development of the plan, but this assistance should be acknowledged in the plan executive summary and should not constitute concept development or substantial work on the plan, or plan will be disqualified.  
• Contestants may re-submit a business plan that was entered in a prior year’s contest only after substantial modifications (at least 25% new) otherwise it will be disqualified. Please state so in the executive summary section of the plan and email the prior plan to weissmar@stjohns.edu. 
• By entering the competition, contestant acknowledges that the contents of their business plan may be released to employees and faculty of St. John’s University and external judges for the purposes of running the competition, judging the plans or educational reasons and no release will be construed as violating any/all intellectual property or non-disclosure rights of the contestants. Contestants agree that photos and video of the competition, interviews or spoken words of contestants may also be freely used by the competition for communication and promotional purposes.
• Prizes ‐ In order to receive an award, contestants must present or if backup is used on Microsoft Teams Thursday (6-8 pm) April 11, 2024.
• Plans that are illegal business concepts or are interpreted by the plan director(s) as unethical or which pursue topics that are not in keeping with the Mission of St. John’s University or policy governing appropriate student behavior will be disqualified from the competition. The university reserves the right to disqualify, in its sole and absolute discretion, any team from the competition at any time for any reason. Reasons for disqualification may include, but are not limited to, plagiarism and any other form of academic dishonesty, misappropriation or infringement of the intellectual property of others, and any failure to comply with these rules and regulations. Disqualified teams shall forfeit any and all prizes awarded to them. These rules cannot cover every circumstance. Consequently, the director reserves the right to modify these rules in any manner for the good of the competition. 
• Any claim of a violation of the rules of the contest must be filed in writing to weissmar@stjohns.edu.  Individual(s) making a claim of violation of rules must state the reasons in writing and provide full contact information of the claimants for the claim to be investigated. Claims of violations must be received within 30 days of the date of the competition.

Submission Dates and Categories of Finalists

• All submissions must be uploaded to the contest website link: 2024 Business Plan Submission Website by Wednesday, March 6, 2024. You will need to create an account with the submission site, Reviewr. One person only should create an account from each business plan. Enter all registration information required.
• 5 Business Plan Finalists will be selected and announced on March 18, 2024. Finalists will be assigned a professional mentor to guide their final presentations. Finalists meet with an assigned mentor to practice the completed PowerPoint slide deck (5 minutes maximum). Final PPT for 5 Business Plan Competition is Due by email on Monday, April 8, 2024. Email to weissmar@stjohns.edu. The competition director reserves the exclusive right to decide on the top plans for participation in the competition in the event of scoring ties in faculty evaluations.
• 5 Pitch finalists will be announced on Monday March 18, 2024.  Pitches finalist teams will make a 3 minute video presentation which needs to be submitted to the Competition Director (weissmar@stjohns.edu) no later than March 21st at 12 pm. The Pitch Finalist videos will be posted online from 3/22 to 4/10 during which time all current St. John’s students will be eligible to vote for the one plan they believe to be the strongest business proposition. In the video Pitch Finalists will have 3 minutes to present their value proposition, target market and marketing strategy, financial needs and 3-year projections. 5 winners will be determined by the vote totals from the student voting – 1-vote per current St. John’s student. All Pitch finalists must attend the final event on April 11th to learn the winners and to be awarded their prizes.
• The 2024 James and Eileen Christmas Business Plan Competition will be held on Thursday, April 11, 2024 from 6-8 pm in person or as a backup on Microsoft Teams. 

Prizes

• Business plan finalists will receive a monetary prize of $5,000, $2,000, $1,000 for placing first, second, third, respectively.
• Pitch Event winners will receive a monetary prize of $500, $400, $300, $200, $100 for placing first, second, third, fourth, fifth, respectively.
• Distribution of prizes will be completed after April 11th, 2024 as soon as finalists and pitch presenters provide requested tax and other forms which are subject to any/all applicable local, state, federal laws/regulations.

Contact Information for Questions:

Professor Roy Weissman
Competition Director
weissmar@stjohns.edu