10th Annual Sustainable Business Plan Competition

The William James Foundation's 10th Annual Sustainable Business Plan Competition is an excellent way to get professional and constructive comments on your business plan, as well as mentors, connections, and cash and in-kind prizes for your sustainable business. This year's entry deadline is November 5th, 2012.

The first round, "Summary Round" is open to the public.
The additional "feedback" rounds are by invitation only, and consist of:
The short-plan round (Via email, up to 8 pages, due December 17th, 2012)
The full-plan round (Via email, up to 25 pages, due April 8th, 2013)
The presentation round (In person, July, 2013)
Invitations to the short-plan round will be announced by mid-November, 2012.
Information on the feedback rounds will be provided to the companies who are invited to them.
Prizes (both In-Kind and Cash) are only available to teams that advance at least as far as the full-plan round, and are primarily distributed to teams that advance to the presentation round.

While no one format is strictly required, two options are included to make it easier if you do not have an existing document. If you decide to go with another option not listed here, you must keep to the two page limit, and include at least these three pieces of information: what your company does, how your company will get paid, and why your team is up for the task.

Option 1: The Business Model Canvas, as described here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Model_Canvas.
Option 2: The Gust.com (f.k.a. "Angelsoft") format, which is the series of questions listed below. Some of the questions at the bottom of this page concern financial information may not be relevant for companies that do not yet have revenue.
The Gust.com format:

ONE-LINE PITCH: Explain your venture in 140 characters.
COMPANY SUMMARY: Include what your company does, why it is important and who your customers are.
PRODUCT/SERVICES: What product(s) and/or service(s) does your business provide?
CUSTOMER PROBLEM: What is the problem that your business addresses? What pain point does your business solve?
TARGET MARKET: What is your target market? How large do you estimate this market to be?
MANAGEMENT: Describe your management team.
CUSTOMERS: What are your target demographics? Include market size, growth rate, customer segmentation and market structure where applicable.
SALES/MARKETING STRATEGY: How are you going to acquire and maintain customers?
BUSINESS MODEL: What is your business model? Where will your revenue streams come from? Are you selling products or services?
COMPETITORS: Describe the competitive landscape your venture faces. Every product has competitors.
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: What makes your solution unique? Do you have patents or other proprietary technology?
COMPANY INFORMATION: Location, Industry, Stage, Employees, Date Founded (if applicable)
INTERNET PRESENCE: Website, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and any other public presences (if applicable)
ADVISORS: Lawyer, Accountant, Previous Investors (if applicable)
Additionally, Venture-Phase companies or Idea-Phase companies with revenue may wish to include the following information:

Current Revenue Run Rate
Monthly Burn Rate
Capital Seeking: What will you do with this capital? How will it take you to a discernable next level?
Revenue Driver(s):
Annual Financials: Include the following information, by year, for all actual information. You may include future estimates as well.
No. of Customers
Revenue
Expenditure
Profit (Loss)

Eligibiity:

You must be an entrepreneur with a leadership role at a for-profit company (planned or existing) that has defined social and/or environmental goals built into how you make money. If you can imagine a non-profit with the same goals as your for-profit company, you will probably qualify.
You can be of any age or educational status, and you can be based anywhere in the world.
Your company must either still be in the planning stage, or you must be considering a significant change of direction in how your company operates. (The primary prize is feedback on your plans. Don't enter if you're not in a position to do something with that feedback.)
Application Details:

You must chose to compete in one of two categories: Idea-Phase or Venture-Phase. The primary difference between the two is that venture-phase entrants should be seeking professional outside investment.
Two page summaries will be accepted by the William James Foundation until October 10, 2012

William James Foundation Idea-Phase Category

This opportunity is for all qualified applicants to our competition who are competing as idea-phase companies. $5,000 in prizes have been committed so far for the 2012-2013 cycle. The top three idea-phase teams will be invited to present at our annual gathering in July. All entrants in our Sustainable Business Plan Competition must select either idea-phase" OR venture-phase.

Details: http://www.williamjamesfoundation.org/idea12.
Limited to: Companies that advance to the presentation round of the competition.

William James Foundation Venture-Phase Category

This opportunity is for all qualified applicants to our competition who are competing as venture-phase companies. $5,000 in prizes have been committed so far for the 2012-2013 cycle. The top three venture-phase teams will be invited to present at our annual gathering in July. All entrants in our Sustainable Business Plan Competition must select either idea-phase OR venture-phase.

Details: http://www.williamjamesfoundation.org/venture12.
Limited to: Companies that advance to the presentation round of the competition.