Thursday, August 30, 2007
This fall business students at the University of Kansas will have the opportunity to compete for more than $7,000 to help them start their own businesses.
Undergraduates will compete for the Mark L. Morris Jr. New Venture Development Award, which was named in honor of the 1952-54 KU student and entrepreneur who died in January. The award program is being funded by a $250,000 donation from Morgan Creek Capital Management, Morris’ financial consulting company.
Students will compete individually or in teams of three. They must prepare a three- to five-page business plan summary that details information such as the kind of business they are proposing, why customers would purchase the product and various financial aspects of running the business like managing costs and profits.
Wally Meyer, director of entrepreneurship programs, helped develop the competition and said the contest was unique because very few schools had a similar program for undergraduates.
“This is an opportunity for all those KU undergraduates who have ever had a dream of starting a business,” he said. “They capture that dream in form of a business plan, submit it, and they may well earn over $7,000 to start the business.”
The top 10 winners will receive $200 and will be invited to a dinner where the final four business plan winners will be announced. Those four winners will receive $2,000 and the winning individual or group will win an additional $5,000, for a grand total of $7,200.
Winners can spend the money on whatever resources they need to start the business. Meyer said that could be anything from research to purchasing real estate. Meyer said student response has been high.
“Students are now motivated to prepare business plans, and some of them have indicated they plan on entering the contest and starting their businesses after graduation, thereby providing themselves with their own employment,” he said.
Meyer said the key to a successful business started with good planning.
“Execute the business plan,” he said. “They’ll have two things that they need to give them the best chance for success: No. 1, they’ll have a business plan, which is absolutely critical to achieving success and No. 2 is they’ll have a start at the money they need to raise.”
Jason Bentley, Olathe senior, will take part in the competition. He’ll work on his own.
“I have always been interested in starting my own business,” he said. “This competition is a great opportunity to take another positive step toward making that goal a reality. It is free to enter, the guidelines are simple and the awards are very generous.”
Brooks Morgan, Overland Park senior, also said he planned to enter the competition. He wants to build his business from the ground up.
“I am interested in entrepreneurship because it gives you the chance to start with something as small as an idea, and that single idea can fuel the creation of something great,” he said.
Business plans should be submitted no later than Nov. 29. The KU Center for Entrepreneurship will be available to assist students with their business plans throughout the semester. A review panel will select winners at a dinner Dec. 6. For more information on the competition, go to www.business.ku.edu/FacultyResearchCenter-Competition.
— Edited by Amelia Freidline
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