ANN ARBOR – The countdown has begun. Great Lakes Entrepreneur’s Quest contestants have just this week to complete their executive summary or business plan for the GLEQ Business Plan Competition. The deadline is Friday May 15 at 5 p.m.
Here’s some important information you’ll want to keep in mind:
Information guidelines are located on our website at GLEQ.Org Select Competition Details and you’ll see Submission Guidelines on the drop-down menu. Participants in the Emerging Company category will prepare a business plan with a no more than twelve pages. Participants in the New Business Idea category will prepare an executive summary with no more than five pages.
Page counts do not include the cover page, so you can add a cover page making the business plan a total of thirteen pages and the executive summary a total of six pages. Do not add any additional pages for any reason. Appendices and attachments are not allowed.
Upload your submission as a Microsoft Word document or a PDF.
Please do not password-protect your document or mark it ‘confidential.’ Only the judges assigned to read your plan or summary will have access to your document through the GLEQ website. Your document will not be visible to other participants or posted on the public pages of the website.
Next Step
Check on the website that I have your company in the appropriate category – New Business Idea (NBI) or Emerging Company (EC).
If you’re not assigned to the correct category, please respond to this e-mail with the correct information. If you’re uncertain which category best fits your team, please discuss it with your coach or contact me at [email protected] or 734-255-3183.
NBI teams
To compete in this category your venture must have less than $500,000 in cumulative revenue (excluding grant income) and have been in operation less than three years.
EC teams
If you plan to compete in this category, please review the qualifications on the GLEQ website. Some basic parameters – your venture must have less than $3 million cumulative revenue (excluding grant income) and less than $2 million in equity or convertible debt, none from institutional investors. NBI winners from previous competitions must compete in the EC category.
All teams
If your venture is an existing business, you must be based in Michigan. If your venture has not yet launched, one team member must live, work, or attend school in Michigan.
Submitting your business plan (EC) or executive summary (NBI)
Please ask your coach to review your document before it is submitted. Only complete documents will be reviewed by judges.
When you’re ready, your Team Leader can take the follow steps to upload your executive summary (only Team Leaders can access this section of the website):
1. Start on the GLEQ homepage at GLEQ.Org
2. Select the Participants tab
3. From the drop-down menu select Log In
4. Log In using your user name and password
5. Scroll down your record, past the coach information to the Upload Document section
6. Use the Browser to select the document you intend to submit
7. Click on the Submit button
8. Click on the Publish button (this is a required step for the system to complete the upload)
If you make changes to your document after it is submitted, you can follow the above steps and re-submit. You can re-submit until 5 p.m. on Friday, May 15. No new or updated documents will be accepted after 5 p.m.
Please keep these key dates in mind:
Submission Due Date- Friday, May 15, 5 p.m.
Awards Ceremony- Thursday, June 11, 5-8 p.m.
The Awards Ceremony will be held at the MSU University Club on the Michigan State University campus in Lansing. Details on the event and agenda will be posted on the GLEQ website this weekend. You must be present to win an award. If you won’t be able to attend, please try to arrange for someone to represent your team.
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