BYU’s annual Business Plan Competition kicks off Thursday with an informational meeting at 5 p.m. in 3220 WSC.
The competition, which culminates in a final in March, will award $150,000 in cash and prizes to the winners of the Business Model and Business Plan Competitions. The competition is open to all BYU students.
“Our goal this year is to have 150 … business plans by the final competition,” said Lewis Gunther, director of marketing for the competition. “Our No. 1 goal is to help students with ideas that they want to turn into businesses to be able to do that, so we connect them with the talent, the mentoring, the team, and teach them how to run the business and find the money.”
The competition goes a long way toward achieving those goals, with the winner of the business plan competition receiving $50,000 and runners-up receiving as much as $30,000. For many student entrepreneurs, the money is a major motivator to enter the competition.
“I myself have some ideas of businesses I plan to maybe start in the future if I have the opportunity,” said Danilo Cruz, 28, a finance major from Brazil. “Maybe I can get some ideas from the meeting. Knowing that there is a prize like that, wow, that motivates me to come out and understand what they are expecting and see the ideas that I have and maybe get together with some other people and see if we can work something out.”
Last year’s winners include Kalood, QR Code City and AdViral.
