B U S I N E S S P L A N C O M P E T I T I O N

G U I D E L I N E S

C O M P E T I T I O N

O V E R V I E W

K E Y D A T E S

The BMO F inanc ia l Group Apex Bus ines s P lan

Compet i t i on i s hos ted and organ i zed by the

Unive r s i t y o f New Brunswick ’ s I n te rna t iona l

Bus ines s and Ent repreneur sh ip Cent re . We a re

exc i ted f o r the   10 th yea r f o r th i s compet i t i on

and we a re p leased to announce ove r $20 ,000

ava i l ab le i n cash pr i zes f o r the succes s fu l

teams

S e p t emb e r   4 t h – R e g i s t r a t i o n o p e n s

D e c emb e r   6 t h – D e a d l i n e t o r e g i s t e r

D e c emb e r 1 3 t h   – D e a d l i n e t o s u bm i t

b u s i n e s s p l a n

J a n u a r y 2 3 r d   & 2 4 t h – C omp e t i t i o n

O B J E C T I V E

E L I G I B I L I T Y

The BMO F inanc ia l Group Apex Bus ines s P lan Compet i t i on c rea tes an a tmosphere f o r

ent rep reneur i a l -minded pos t - secondary s tudent s to promote and encourage ent rep reneur sh ip as

a v i ab le opt ion . Apex gathe r s the bus ines s communi t y to ce leb ra te t a l en t and he lp prepare

s tudent s f o r the cha l l enges o f a vo la t i l e g loba l marketp lace and , most impor tant l y , to immerse

them i n the bus ines s communi t y .

Par t i c ipant s wi l l deve lop , d i rec t , organ i ze and present a bus ines s p lan , e leva to r p i tch and

presenta t ion to a pane l o f j udges . Judges wi l l eva lua te the th ree components and the most

p laus ib le and promis ing bus ines ses i n each t r ack wi l l be awarded cash pr i zes .  

The compet i t i on i s open to a l l underg raduate and graduate s tudent s a t tend ing pos t - secondary

i n s t i tu t ions . Alumni s tudent s who graduated f r om a pos t - secondary i n s t i tu t ion with in a yea r

f r om the compet i t i on a re a l so e l ig ib le to r eg i s te r .

Teams must cons i s t o f one to f ou r team members , not i nc lud ing f acu l t y or adv i so r s . Each team

must r eg i s te r by December  6th and submi t a bus ines s p lan by December 1 3 th , 2019 . Fa i lu re to

r eg i s te r and submi t a bus ines s p lan by the dead l ine wi l l l ead to your team be ing d i squa l i f i ed .  

B U S I N E S S P L A N P R E S E N T A T I O N

Each team wi l l be r equ i red to present the i r bus ines s i dea to a pane l o f j udges with the a id o f a

PowerPo in t presenta t ion . Th i s i s an open ses s ion with the team members , j udges , t imekeeper s ,

coaches present and poss ib l y othe r teams . Equ ipment necessa ry f o r the presenta t ion wi l l be

prov ided .

Presenta t ions a re to be ema i l ed to abpcpresenta t ions@unb .ca us ing naming convent ion

Groupname_ve r# , a t l ea s t 30 minutes pr io r to present ing . I f they a re not r ece i ved by the r equ i red

t ime , we cannot guarantee tha t v i sua l s wi l l be ava i l ab le , which wi l l negat i ve l y impact your sco re .

Teams wi l l have 1 2 minutes to present the i r bus ines s p lan f o l l owed by a 1 5 -minute ques t ion and

answer per iod . I f these t imes a re exceeded the team ’ s to ta l sco re wi l l be r educed acco rd ing l y .

The presenta t ion i n fo rmat ion does not have to be i n any par t i cu la r orde r . I t i s impor tant tha t you

f i r s t bu i ld enthus ia sm f o r your i dea and then prove tha t you can be succes s fu l i n the market .

Organ ize your presenta t ion to emphas i ze the most impor tant f ea tu res o f your bus ines s i n the

t ime a l l o t ted . Be se lec t i ve about what i n fo rmat ion you prov ide on your s l ides as they a re meant

to augment the presenta t ion . Presente r s shou ld know the i r mate r i a l r a the r than r e l y on the i r

PowerPo in t s l ides .  

NOTE : Not a l l team members have to present ; each team may se lec t one or more members to

r ep resent the team f o r the presenta t ion

E L E V A T O R

P I T C H

Each team must present a one minute l i v e "E leva to r P i tch " to a pane l o f j udges and l i v e

aud ience . Only one member o f each team wi l l present the e leva to r p i tch , and i t must

summar i ze the bus ines s tha t your team submi t ted .

The bes t way to prepare i s to imag ine tha t you have j u s t f ound your se l f i n an e leva to r with an

i nves to r and you have one minute be fo re the e leva to r makes i t to the top f l oo r .  

The pane l o f j udges wi l l eva lua te the p i tch based on the teams ' ab i l i t y to se l l the i r

product / se r v i ce to the aud ience . Judges wi l l be l ook ing f o r enthus ia sm , c rea t i v i t y , per suas ion ,

and pub l i c speak ing ab i l i t y .  

C O N F I D E N T I A L I T Y

& A G R E E M E N T S

Compet i to r s a re aware tha t ne i the r the

organ i ze r s nor j udges wi l l be r equ i red to

s ign a non -d i sc lo su re agreement (NDA ) .

Por t ions o f the compet i t i on a re open to

the pub l i c , and par t i c ipant s shou ld be

se lec t i ve with the i n fo rmat ion they sha re

dur ing these ses s ions .

I t i s the r e spons ib i l i t y o f the compet i to r s

to pro tec t any i n fo rmat ion sha red with

mento r s , team members , and f e l l ow

par t i c ipant s o f the compet i t i on . UNB ’ s

BMO F inanc ia l Group Apex Bus ines s P lan

Compet i t i on t akes no r e spons ib i l i t y f o r

unwanted d i sc lo su re i n these i n s tances .

Ul t imate ly , protec t ion of sens i t i ve

mater ia l s i s the so le respons ib i l i t y of the

teams par t i c ipat ing i n the compet i t ion .

C O M P E T I T I O N

G U I D E L I N E S

To qua l i f y f o r the BMO F inanc ia l Group

Apex Bus ines s P lan Compet i t i on , teams

must have the f o l l ow ing documents

submi t ted on or be fo re December  6th ,

2019 :

1 . Team r eg i s t ra t i on f o rm (des ignate one

member to comple te )

2 . Par t i c ipant r eg i s t ra t i on f o rm (a l l

members must comple te )

3 . Bus ines s p lan (December 1 3 th )

Teams a re s t rong l y encouraged to submi t

the i r r eg i s t ra t i on f o rms i n advance o f the

bus ines s p lan .  To submi t the bus ines s

p lan , ema i l the f i l e to apex@unb .ca .

Teams wi l l compete i n the d iv i s i on

d ic ta ted by the h ighes t educat iona l l e ve l

i n the group . Fo r example , i f a team

cons i s t s o f two underg raduate members

and one graduate member , the team i s

r equ i red to compete a t the graduate l e ve l .

B U S I N E S S P L A N C O N T E N T

Each team must submi t on ly one bus ines s p lan to the

compet i t i on . Bus ines ses prev ious l y submi t ted to the

compet i t i on a re not e l ig ib le . Teams a re r equ i red to have

per sona l l y conducted the bus ines s p lan ana l y s i s and prepared

a l l f i nanc ia l pro jec t ions f o r up to two yea r s .

I t i s encouraged to keep bus ines s p lan ' s conc i se and they can

not exceed 25 pages to ta l . Th i s page count i nc ludes one t i t l e

page , one page f o r the t ab le o f content s (opt iona l ) , a max imum

o f twenty pages o f tex t f o r the bus ines s p lan and r ema in ing

append ices . Bus ines s P lans wi l l be pr in ted i n black and whi te

f o rmat and d i s t r ibu ted to the j udges .

Te l l the s to r y o f "who , what , where , when , why , and how so the

r eade r c lea r l y under s tands the bus ines s .  

The Bus ines s P lan shou ld i nc lude :

• Execut i ve summary

• Bus ines s desc r ip t ion

• Marke t ing p lan and s t ra tegy

• Opera t ions and suppor t

• Management team

• F inanc ia l p lans and pro jec t ions

• Ri sks and oppor tun i t i e s

• Append ix  

S C H E D U L E O F

E V E N T SThursday , January 23 , 2020

• V ideotap ing o f E leva to r P i tch

• Prac t i ce rounds / mento r ing

• UNB Teams Qua l i f i e r – Underg raduate and  

Graduate t r ack

• E leva to r P i tch Compet i t i on

• Ki tchen Par t y

Fr iday , January 24 , 2020

• Apex Underg raduate L i ve F ina l s

• Apex Graduate L i ve F ina l s

• Ga la Awards Dinner

The f i r s t day o f the compet i t i on wi l l cons i s t o f

v ideotap ing , prac t i ce rounds prov id ing

mento r ing with exper i enced bus ines s

pro fe s s iona l s , UNB Underg raduate and Graduate

Qua l i f i e r s , welcome r ecept ion , e leva to r p i tch

compet i t i on and k i t chen par t y .

We encourage teams f r om away to a r r i ve the

day be fo re as th i s i s a f u l l day o f prac t i c ing ,

mento r ing oppor tun i t i e s , network ing and

compet ing .  The second day o f the compet i t i on

wi l l cons i s t o f the , Apex L i ve F ina l s and the

Ga la Awards d inner .

COMPELL ING OPEN

ARGUMENT

CONNECTS WITH

THE  AUDIENCE  

COMPET IT IVE

ADVANTAGE

COMPET IT ION

VIAB IL I TY OF YOUR

PRODUCT

F INANCIALS

UNDERSTANDING OF

THE MARKET  

PROBLEM & SOLUT ION

CLEAR

E V A L U A T I O N C R I T E R I A &

J U D G I N G

The pane l o f j udges cons i s t s o f ventu re cap i ta l i s t s , ent rep reneur s , and othe r succes s fu l and

knowledgeab le bus ines s l eade r s . Judges wi l l not be a f f i l i a ted with , or i nvo l ved i n the

prepara t ion or f und ing o f , any par t i c ipa t ing team . The dec i s i on o f the j udges wi l l be f i na l and

wi l l not be sub jec t to appea l . The ove ra l l se lec t ion o f winner s i s based on the v i ab i l i t y and

l i ke l y succes s o f the bus ines s . Be r ea l i s t i c prepar ing f i nanc ia l s by i dent i f y ing expenses and

r evenue pro jec t ion . The key i s to demons t ra te tha t you wi l l s ta r t mak ing money as a r e su l t o f

the ac t i v i t i e s out l ined i n your market ing s t ra tegy  

0

10

20

30

40

50

Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Item 4 Item 5

BY FA I L I NG TO PREPARE , YOU

ARE PREPAR ING TO FA I L

B E N J A M I N F R A N K L I N