At an event last week, an audience member gave an elevator pitch for his company called Sweat EquiTees, which sells t-shirts with slogans like “Run LLC” and “Kiss me, I’m an Entrepreneur.”
Yes, entrepreneurship is in fashion these days. The Startup Florida event, which featured speeches by six Miami area startups and mentoring sessions, was just one of dozens of meetups, workshops and other programs planned this month — and every month — around South Florida. That’s a good thing.
Yet, the Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge has been an annual tradition since 1999. Now in its 14th year, the entrepreneurship contest has remained popular despite what’s going in the economy. Today, marks our call for entries, and you’ll find contest rules, judges’ bios and more starting on page 16.
And just like the startups we spotlight inside, the Business Plan Challenge is growing and evolving, with new opportunities and features offered with the help of community partners:
• We’re bringing back the Business Plan Bootcamp. The workshop will be led by Melissa Krinzman, a veteran Business Plan challenge judge and expert in business planning, and will be held March 6 at Miami Dade College. More details to come, but we’ll be putting a big emphasis on financials in this seminar, an area that was generally weak in entries last year.
• As a partner benefit from the Miami Innovation Fund, which invests in very early stage companies, at least three of the Business Plan Challenge finalists will have the opportunity to present in a Shark Tank-like event and could receive a term sheet for up to $20,000 in funding. The fund will choose the presenters from among the finalists in all tracks, based on its criteria. For Challenge contestants, this partner benefit offers another potential opportunity for exposure, connections and education.
• In coming days, we will be launching a blog called The Starting Gate. We’ll share news and views from entrepreneurial experts, shining a light on the rich resources our community offers. We hope you will find the blog useful and inspirational, whether you are running a company or just thinking about it.
• An entrepreneurship class at Florida International University will work with about 10 Business Plan Challenge contestants on further developing their business plans. Professor Martin Luytjes presented the idea after the Challenge last year, and in the fall class members worked in teams with entrepreneurs from the Challenge. Students got a real-world view of starting a company, and entrepreneurs received help from the students. Luytjes is making the offer again.
• And Feb. 23, together with Florida International University’s Eugenio Pino and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center, we’ll be hosting another Small Business Forum. Hear from entrepreneurs who have been in the trenches of Web-based and international-focused businesses. Learn about financing your company. More information is available at miamiherald.com/smallbusiness.
We’ll be telling you more about all these opportunities in the weeks to come, as well as sharing advice and resources on entrepreneurship. Keep reading Business Monday and MiamiHerald.com/challenge and follow me on Twitter @ndahlberg to keep up with the latest.
Let’s make this our best year yet.
Nancy Dahlberg is an assistant business editor and Business Plan Challenge coordinator.
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