The Small Business Division is open to non research campuses, two-year colleges and private regional universities. Teams will compete for $40,000 in cash prizes and scholarships.
While you can still compete in the High Growth Division, the Small Business Division offers the opportunity to write business plans around any business concept, such as a high growth opportunity or more traditional small business opportunities such as a retail operation, a service business, a restaurant, a custom welding shop, etc., provided the approach to the business concept is innovative and/or unique. In other words, the approach to the business needs to be original or demonstrate strategic creativity, versus a simple replication of an existing proven business model.
Eligibility discretion is up to the competition management and can be determined at any point during the competition- including any business models that are changed for the oral competition submission that do not meet the aforementioned criteria.