Why You Should Enter a Business Plan Competition

States, universities, colleges and even banks are beginning to advertise business plan competitions that offer large cash prizes to the winners. Essentially, a business plan competition is an opportunity for a business owner (or prospective owner) to show off his or her plan for success in front of judges and investors.
Most business plan competitions are held in the spring, which gives students and other entrepreneurs plenty of time to start preparing.

The prizes for winning a business competition vary depending on the host, the size of the institution and the level of competition. For example, the National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Carrot Capital hosts the annual Venture Bowl, a business plan competition that boasts a prize of $1 million in equity funding to competitors.

The Venture Adventure contest hosted by Colorado State University, however, has a comparitively low prize of $15,000 in cash and travel.

Some business plan competitions offer no cash or equity prizes and instead offer feedback and exposure to investors. "Even if you don't win, you still have an opportunity to benefit from the contest," says business plan expert Joseph Greene of BPE, Inc. "Securing venture capital from the dozens, even hundreds of investors who attend these events can make it well worth your time."

Unfortunately, however, business plan competitions can be nerve-wracking, and many people enter up to ten at a time in order to increase their chances of winning and exposure. They travel across the country to different universities and institutions, giving the same presentation and taking notes from the judges.

Some universities require that you be a student or alumnus in order to participate, while others host open competitions that will receive all applications.