College students across the state are preparing themselves for the opportunity of a lifetime through John Pappajohn and his company Equity Dynamics Incorporated.

The Pappajohn New Venture Student Business Plan Competition gives students from Iowa State, the University of Iowa, the University of Northern Iowa, Drake University and the Northern Iowa Area Community College an opportunity to present a business plan for a chance to win $5,000 in start-up finances.

“The competition offers both encouragement and a cash incentive to support students who have a business idea. The competition provides the opportunity for a student to test their business idea on paper and receive valuable feedback,” said Judi Eyles, representative for the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship at Iowa State. “The $5,000 cash prizes, not to mention the opportunity to pitch your idea to a man like John Pappajohn serves as a pretty nice motivation to compete.” 

Lynn Allendorf, representative at the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center at the University of Iowa, said the competition gives students a chance to get out of their comfort zone.

“We want to encourage student entrepreneurship and teach students to evaluate a business opportunity and to be innovative,” Allendorf said.

To enter, students must submit an “Intent to Compete” form to the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship by Feb. 28, 2014. Information and a competition guideline packet are available at the Pappajohn Center website.

“The competition is open to anyone attending an Iowa post-secondary institution; undergraduates and graduate students. Participants can enter individually, or put together a team of up to five people. Teams must consist of at least one currently registered student,” Eyles said.

The ISU Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship is offering two free help sessions this semester for the competition this Thursday and Friday, Dec. 12 and 13, and another two Jan. 23 and 24. Students can get help and information on how to write a business plan, as well as hear how the competition process works. Students only need to attend one session to participate.

“Writing a business plan can be a cumbersome task. The process involves research, testing your idea, formulating your concept and describing it to the potential reader, understanding and defining the market opportunity, projecting revenues and expenses and putting all of this information together in an organized ‘story’ that will help sell the concept to the reader or investor,” Eyles said. “

“A good business plan takes some careful thought and analysis; business plans are not written overnight. Our best advice is to start early and give yourself plenty of time for reviewing and revising.”

The competition starts in a regional setting, where students from each school compete against each other.

At the first stage of the competition, students write and submit their business plan to be reviewed by a team of judges. Five regional competitions take place across the state, and each region selects up to three individuals or teams to advance to the final competition.

“At the final competition, students have the opportunity to sit face-to-face with John Pappajohn and his staff to explain their business idea and answer tough questions,” Eyles said. “After judging and deliberation, Pappajohn announces three top $5,000 winners. As an added bonus, the finalists have the opportunity to apply to the Entrepreneurs Organization Iowa Fellowship Program, where members of the Iowa Entrepreneurs Organization mentor student business owners for two years to help them grow their businesses.”

Eyles also said the judging process is quite simple.

“[We look for] content and viability,” Eyles said. “We are looking for well-written plans that clearly state the business opportunity. We are also looking for projects that have a good chance of succeeding.”

Eyles encourages anyone to participate in the competition and has seen many business plans in past competitions go on to be very successful.

“This is a great opportunity for a student to try out their business idea. We have seen a lot of students do well at the competition and then go on to successfully open and run their business,” Eyles said. “The competition offers a nice jump-start to launching [their business], with some helpful guidance along the way.”