What are the Judges Looking For?
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Questionnaire Guidelines
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The secret is to present a compelling discussion of your business idea. While assumptions are ok as long as they are clearly argued, supporting facts and figures are even better. In general, the judges will need to see that you have;
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- succinctly described your product/service;
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- analysed your market and competition;
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- established what advantage(s) you have;
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- presented the makeup of your team; and
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- quantified your business model.
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Don’t forget that the underlying purpose is to create a viable (profitable) commercial venture.
Giving the judges an indication of what you will do during the next stage of the competition and how you will develop your idea going forward will help them get a feel for how well you really understand your business.
“Don’t attempt to hide or gloss over issues. You are more likely to be rewarded for being up front and honest!”
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Section 1 – Concept Description
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1. What is the title of your concept?
What name have you given to your idea?What name have you given to your idea?
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2. Describe your idea in 300 words or less.
A description (brief!) of the idea and what you see as its key features differentiating it from similar/other ideas already in the market.
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A description (brief!) of the idea and what you see as its key features differentiating it from similar/other ideas already in the market.
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3. What is the value proposition of your concept?
What problem is it solving? How big or important is that problem to customers? (quantify if possible).
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4. Provide a brief history or background of the team and the concept.
A general interest question about:
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- How did you come up with your idea?
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- How and when was your team formed?
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- Is this operating currently as a business?
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Section 2 - Concept Marketing
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1. Describe the target customer and market for your product/service.
We are looking for evidence of market investigation and research:
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- Who are you planning to target? (Describe your target customer.)
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- What is your market segmentation based on: geographic, demographic, behavioural factors?
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- What do you estimate the market size to be and what you estimate to be your % capture.
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- Who are the main competitors in this market (important question) and why.
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- What are the barriers to entry of this market?
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2. Is this market expanding/growing?
It is difficult to achieve profitability in mature or declining markets (unless of course your idea will alter the market dynamics). We are looking for evidence of expansion or growth. How and why are these markets growing? Some common causes of growing demand include:
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- Discovering and converting non users in current markets.
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- Entering new market segments.
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- Improving product quality or features.
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- Introduction of complementary products.
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- Using new/more effective distribution channels.
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- Reduced opposition (winning competitor’s customers).
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- Increased usage of the product or service.
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- Overall size and size of market targeted, etc.
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If possible, provide an estimate of the market growth rate.
3. Describe your distribution strategy.
Explain how you intend to deliver you end product or service to your target market
4. Describe the competitive environment – (explore both direct competition from similar products and indirect competition from potential substitutes)
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Section 3 - Concept Analysis
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1. Describe your competitive advantage.
What is unique about your product that makes you think it will succeed.
2. How will this competitive advantage be sustained?
How do you plan to protect your intellectual property? Who owns the rights to the idea/technology? Can the idea/technology be patented, placed under copyright or trademarked?
3. What assumptions have you made in formulating your idea?
At this stage of the competition (pre Business Plan), you would have probably made several assumptions – list them.
4. Identify any weaknesses or risks of your current plan and describe how they will be addressed.
It is important to demonstrate that you are aware of potential problems that you may face in bringing the concept to fruition. Some of these weaknesses/risks may be associated with the assumptions that you have made.
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- What do you see as weaknesses in your current plan and what’s the plan to solve them?
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- How do you plan to counter your competition? (Important Question!)
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- Are there any other threats to the business? How can they be eliminated?
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Section 4 - Team Resources
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1. Describe your team resources
The judges are looking for a well balanced team with complementary skills and knowledge. In most instances, the team makes or breaks the entire concept.
2. What other skills/experience does your team need but does not currently have?
Consider the future steps you need to take (eg. When you bring the idea to market) and what ‘people’ resources you need to have to take you there.
This question will also help the Challenge organisers to allocate mentors and other assistance to teams that progress to the next round.
3. What is the current structure of your team?
(i.e. Incorporated, partnership etc.)
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Section 5 - Financials
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1. How will this business make money?
2. What are your estimated sales volumes, profit margins, overhead expenses, etc?
3. Identify capital and other expenditure items required to implement the idea and estimate the timing/milestones.
- What are your cash requirements and when do you plan to spend it (eg. When technology is finalised, apply for patent).
- Cash requirements take the form of capital items (eg. Purchase of assets) and operating costs (eg. Paying bills, paying for employees).
4. When will this business break even?
5. Are investors being sought? Has any funding been received?
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Section 6 - Concept Development
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1. How are you going to proceed with your idea?
It is also important to demonstrate that you “know what you don’t know” yet but have a plan to find out! :
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- What further information/input is needed prior to proceeding with your idea?
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- Describe any further development needed on the product/concept before market launch – what is the implementation plan?
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- Who will undertake this development?
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- How long is it anticipated to take?
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2. How do you plan to deliver your product/service to the market?
There are several strategies that can be used to put your idea to your customers. These include:
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- Acquisition of Opposition
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Section 7 - Other
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1. What aspects of your idea would you like to highlight?
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