Ivey Business Plan Competition

Eligibility and Competition Rules

Team and Venture Eligibility

1. All participants must be currently enrolled full-time students, including students in undergraduate, Master's or PhD programs
2. A team should consist of no more than six members
3. The presenting team must own a significant share (50% or more) of the equity in the venture
4. Licensing technologies from universities, research institutes, or labs, is allowed assuming there has been no previous commercialization. All teams licensing technology must submit the licensing agreement demonstrating the team has a unique utilization of the technology in question for an appropriate period.
5. Only ventures and business plans that are legal and ethical in our jurisdiction will be accepted into the competition
6. Faculty Advisors are recommended for each team, but it is not a strict requirement
7. Student teams are not allowed to compete at the Competition in multiple academic years using the same venture
8. Ventures not eligible for the competition include: buy-outs, expansions of existing companies, roll-ups, real estate syndications, tax shelters, franchise-based outlets, licensing agreements for distribution in a different geographical area and spin-outs from existing corporations
9. The host Institution reserves the right to disqualify any team that violates the rules, regulations or the spirit of the competition.

To seek clarification on any of these rules, or your venture's eligibility, please email iveyentre@ivey.ca

Executive Summary Deadline and Format

All applicants must provide a two-page executive summary by November 9, 2024. Executive summaries can be emailed to iveybpc@gmail.com or iveyentre@ivey.ca. Once received, a confirmation email will be sent to each team’s main contact.

• Maximum Length: 2 pages maximum of text and appendices
• Preferably Adobe PDF format (we will accept Microsoft Word documents)
• Typed, 12-point font, 1½-inch line spacing
• 1-1-1-1” margins

Each application must include the following:

• Executive Summary: Clear, exciting and effective as a stand-alone overview of the plan
• Company Overview: Business purpose, history, genesis of the concept, current status, overall strategy and
  objectives
• Products or Services: Description, features and benefits, pricing, current stage of development,
  proprietary position
• Market and Marketing Strategy: Description of the market, competitive analysis, needs identification,
  market acceptance, unique capabilities, sales/promotion
• Operations: Plan for production/delivery of product or services, product cost, margins, operating
  complexity, resources required
• Management: Backgrounds of key individuals, ability to execute strategy, personnel needs,
  organizational structure, role of any non-student executive, which students will execute plan
• Summary: Financials presented in summary form that are easy to read and understand. Consistent with
  plan and effective in capturing financial performance; Monthly for year 1, Quarterly for years 2-3,
  annually for years 4-5
• Viability: Market opportunity, distinctive competence, management capability, financial understanding

Business Plan Format:

Finalists selected for the Ivey Business Plan Competition must provide a business plan a week prior to the competition. This document should adhere to the following format:

Plans are to be submitted as a single, printable PDF file. Plans are limited to 15 written pages (not including the cover page, table of contents or appendices). Page format is double spacing, 12-point font, with 1-inch top, bottom, left and right margins. All pages must be numbered. The cover page must include the company name, team member names in alphabetical order and the degree they are pursuing. Appendices should be included only if they are referenced in the written plan and must print out in a font size that is readable.