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| Business
Model Competition |
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INTRODUCTION
Business Models are the engine of a business or
organization. They describe, usually in graphical form on a single page, the
relationship between customers and clients on one hand and the business and its
suppliers on the other hand. They must also include an orthogonal dimensionthe
marketing dimension which shows how the enterprise acquires customers and
clients in a cost effective manner.
To better understand business modeling, read: The Complete Business Model.
Business models need to include:
a)
significant differentiated
value;
b)
emphasis on pre-sales
and building cashflow through early acquisition of customers and clients;
c)
focus on self-capitalization;
d)
involve smart
marketing to keep the cost of acquisition of customers and clients low;
e)
reverse out some of
the work to clients or suppliers*;
f)
design an enterprise
that creates
custom products (or services) from standard inputs;
g)
has a short or
negative cash conversion cycle*;
h)
provide an opportunity
that creates more value than a JOB and can outlive the Founder of the
enterprise.
All entries must have the following elements:
a)
a one page graphical depiction
of their business model;
b)
a one page spreadsheet
demonstrating the value proposition of the business for a single client or
customer;
c)
included with the
above spreadsheet should be1. an estimate of the size of the market
opportunity and the rate of growth (obviously a larger, faster growing market
is more likely to produce value beyond what you could obtain by simply getting
a JOB); 2. goals (expressed simply as N = ?) for the business for its first
three years in terms of, for example, the number of customers, the volume of
sales, the volume of sales per employee or other fundamental measure of
business success; 3. benchmarking your enterprise or organization against the
best in the space using, for example, your sales per employee per year and comparing
that to the best of breed in your industry or comparing the percentage of
revenues used for good works (as opposed to administration) for a charity
organization;
d)
a description of the
business model of not more than 400 words pointing out how your business model
can1. produce custom outputs from standard inputs; 2. become scalable; 3.
takes advantage of network effects, 4. reverses out some of the work to
suppliers or customers; 5. looks at how the business can become a part of the
business ecosystem thereby enhancing its survivability by examining not only
the relationships between the business and its customers and suppliers but the
suppliers to its suppliers and the customers of its customers (at least 2
dimensions on each side of the business model); 6. creates differentiated
value, controls a factor of production (labour, capital, management or land) to
create a defensible concession and uses pixie dust to not only differentiate
itself from the competition but deliver additional value to the client; 7. can
be bootstrapped so it has a relentless focus on acquiring customers and
cashflow and keeping costs down as well as keeping the founder(s) in control of
the business; 8. using smart marketing or guerrilla marketing techniques to
create low cost or even negative cost marketing campaigns that ensure the cost
of acquiring a customer is low enough that the business can sustain itself and
grow.
e)
a photo of each member
of the group (jpeg please) and their student status together with a brief bio of not more
than 80 words for each member and including a telephone number and email
address where each member may be contacted;
f)
a letter stating that
the
The description of the Business Model should take note of
and demonstrate some or all of the characteristics that are described above and
in related material. A panel of judges will rank the finalists,
one through six; these finalists will go on to compete for $8,000 in the University of Ottawa Wes Nicol Business Plasn Competition.
Sample Entry (2010): BadServer.ca
BUSINESS MODEL
COMPETITION PRIZES
There will be three prizes for the top business models:
1st placeGOLD MEDAL and $750
2ND placeSILVER MEDAL and $500
3RD placeBRONZE MEDAL and $250
4TH place, 5TH and 6TH
placesHONORABLE MENTION.
Prizes will be shared equally among team members.
SCHEDULE
FOR MORE
INFORMATION
Dr. Bruce M. Firestone, Entrepreneur-In-Residence, (613)
422-6757 ext 250 or bfirestone@partnersadvantage.ca.
www.Twitter.com/ProfBruce and www.EQJournal.org
http://dramatispersonae.org/EntrepreneurialistCultureFrontPage.htm
http://dramatispersonae.org/AssignmentsADM3396.htm
http://dramatispersonae.org/AssignmentsADM3396BusinessModelCompetition.htm
http://dramatispersonae.org/AssignmentsADM3396WesNicolBusinessPlanCompetition.htm