2016 UNC Social Entrepreneurship Conference

RULES

  1. PLAN FOCUS
  1. Plans should focus on addressinga social challenge in your local community. “Local” may be defined as a campus’ immediate community, economic development region the state of North Carolina, though the business plan may eventually serve needs beyond that geography.
  2. Ideally, the plan should answer an unaddressed need or gap in service, but it may also be an idea that builds off an existing platform or extends an existing service offered by another organization.
  1. TEAM COMPOSITION
  1. A majority of any team must be UNC students from the team’s “home” institution, but teams may include community members as well. Students that graduate in the Fall semester immediately prior to the Conference may compete as “students.”
  2. Undergraduate teams should be made up of a majority of undergraduate students and graduate teams must be made of a majority of graduate students. The only exception is the team composition of the Special Category.
  3. The total number of team members should be no more than ten (10).
  4. Each campus may have up to two (2) undergraduate teams and up to two (2) graduate teams competing in the general categories.
  5. In addition, each campus may have up to two (2) teams competing in the “Special Category.” A plan submitted in the Special Category may not be entered in the general category.
  6. In 2016 the Special Category is Financial Literacy.
  1. TEAM COLLABORATION
  1. Teams should begin meeting in the fall semester to outline preliminary ideas. Teams are encouraged to both engage and invite members of the community to participate as part of the team or attend the Conference.
  2. Teams should work with their local Small Business Technology Development Center representative. The SBTDC is highly skilled at helping entrepreneurs and small business owners develop and refine their business plans.
  3. Teams should work with relevant faculty.
  4. Teams should work with community stakeholders to ensure that they are not duplicating an already-addressed challenge and are taking full advantage of existing community resources.
  5. Campus representatives may invite up to 25 individuals to attend the Conference from their campus. Teams should invite campus administrators (chancellor, provost, faculty and staff) as well community members. There is no fee to attend.
  1. PRESENTATIONS
  1. Only two (2) students are allowed to be presenters. Only UNC students are eligible as presenters. If a presenter is not a UNC student, the team will be disqualified.
  2. Only the student presenters and their team members (i.e. campus representative, faculty advisor, community member) are allowed in the presentation room during their team’s presentation time slot.
  3. No other observers except mentioned in 4b is allowed in the room during the preliminary round.
  4. In the preliminary round, each student will have 4 minutes for their presentation and 4 minutes for questions and answer from the panel of judges.
  5. If a team advances to the final round, the presentation time is the same; 4 minutes. The final judging panel will have 4 minutes of Q&A.
  1. BUSINESS PLAN FORMAT
  1. The body of the business plan must not exceed three (3) pages.
  2. Financial information, including projections or other appendices, must not total more than two (2) ADDITIONAL pages.
  3. The Team Information Sheet must accompany each plan.
  4. If the business plan omits or exceeds the above information, the plan will be returned to the campus representative.
  5. The body of the plan must follow the Business Plan Format provided by UNC General Administration.
  1. PRESENTATIONS
  1. The only form of visual aid in either the preliminary or final round is a 3’X5’foam board. The foam board may have information on the front and back and will need to be sturdy enough to be mounted on an easel. An easel will be provided.
  2. The use of handouts, props or any other visual aid is prohibited.
  3. There are no power point presentations allowed.
  1. JUDGES
  1. The decisions of the judges are final.
  2. The judges may provide comment sheets to the teams as a form of feedback but feedback is not a requirement from the judges for every team.