Everyone between the age of 18 and 35 can join, as
long as you are a citizen and resident of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
You can submit a Business Plan by yourself or together
with maximum 4 team members as long as they are under 36 years of age (a team
can have max. 5 members).
B.What can you win?
·The
best 30 plans are eligible for free registration and €2500 in consultancy
& advice (by consultants screened by BSCs based on actual plan).
·Out
of the best 30, the best 10 plans are eligible to receive micro-credit between
1,000 and € 10,000 (depending on conditions of local credit provider to be
selected in each BSC location)
·The
best 5 plans are eligible for Incubator space/services (depending on the
availability/rules of the incubator, to be approved by local Coordination
Committee -some incubators may be
targeted only to specific sectors - each incubator will have it’s own
rules/rates to be decided by the “owners” (local partners)). If the incubator
space is rejected by a winner, it will be offered to the next in line.
Each
BSC can decide on the date before which certain prices should be used. An
indicative time frame before which winners should have used their prize is
within 6 months (in the case of registration, micro-credit and incubation) and
1 year after winning the price (in the case of consultancy).
C. How to
participate?
Participants can submit their business plan in digital format only, and
submit it:
a.Online (preferred!)
b.By email
c.On a CD Rom
Each participant/team may submit 1 business plan. By joining the
competition participants accept our ‘Terms & Conditions’ through ticking a
box. IN the same way, participants accept a picture and a summary of their
business plan (without confidential information) to be published on the BSC
website (www.bsczenica.org).
What
criteria is business plans assessed on?
Business plans will be assessed by an independent
expert Jury. Our criteria aim to reflect the assessment criteria of potential
investors, like banks, microfinance institutions, venture capitalists, the
overriding criterion being fundability and likelihood of actually becoming a
viable business. The assessment criteria1 are:
1.Personal/Team Qualities and
Entrepreneurial Background – (Personal motivation, entrepreneurial qualities
and commitment to start the business, demonstrated knowledge of the product and
experience in the sector) – 30%
2.Strategic relevance of the
business idea - (Feasibility, market analysis, the potential for the idea,
spin-off effects for local economy) – 30%
3.Profitability and
(financial) sustainability – (Efficiency, revenues, innovativeness, payback
period, existing buyers and business partners) – 30%
4.Spin-offs on Local Economy
– (Contribution to local job creation and local knowledge and skills) – 10%
BSC Zenica does not accept business plans that involve in;
a.Production
or trade in any product or activity deemed illegal under Bosnian laws or
regulations or international conventions and agreements.
b.Production
or trade in weapons and munitions, radioactive materials, products
containing polychlorinated biphenyls (group of highly toxic chemicals) or ozone
depleting substances subject to international phase out
c.Activities
involving harmful or exploitative forms of forced labor/child labor.
d.Gambling,
casinos and equivalent enterprises.
Terms & Conditions
Business
Plan Competition 2008
Article 1 - The objectives of the competition
a.The
Business Plan Competition (BPC) aims to encourage entrepreneurship among young
people (< 35 years of age) in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
b.The
BPC contributes to achieving the objective mentioned under 1.a. by stimulating young people in the process of creating and
evaluating new business ventures and by supporting the best entrepreneurs with the
best plans in starting their business.
Article
2 - Participants
a.Participants must be individuals or a team of
maximum 5 individuals of which the official applicant and contact person must
be a citizen and resident of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
b.Participants
can work in teams of maximum 5 individuals, but the plan must be submitted by
one person. This person acts as the official applicant and contact person for
the organisation of the competition.
c.Each
participant is bound by these terms and conditions. The contact person or
official applicant is bound by these terms and conditions if the concept or
plan is submitted by a team.
Article 3 –
Participation
a.Participants compete for the best business plan.
b.Participants who enter the competition must submit
a complete business plan according the guidelines published at the website of
BSC Zenica, before the deadline as published on the website of BSC Zenica. The
BPC Selection Committee (see Article 7 below) does not evaluate business plans
that have been submitted after the deadline.
c.Participants must agree with the terms and conditions
of the competition, and declare to have read them and explicitly agree with
them via the business plan form.
d.By participating in the BPC, participants allow BSC
Zenica to present their executive summary including a photo, on the website of
BSC Zenica, after the deadline of the BPC.
e.Participants may submit only one business plan.
Additional submissions, even if submitted before the deadline, will not be
evaluated by the BPC Selection Committee.
f.Participation in the BPC is free of charge.
g.BSC Zenica and the BPC Selection Committee at all
times reserve the right to disqualify a participant, without the obligation to
state the reasons.
Article 4 –
Submissions
a.Participants must submit a complete business plan
of no more than 20 pages (including financial plan and annexes). The plan
should include all necessary ingredients of a business plan, as defined in the
guidelines on the website of BSC Zenica.
b.Submissions should have commercial value. A
commercial concept provides self-sustainability of the business in the long
term. The BPC Selection Committee will decide on the commercial value.
Additional information on the main selection criteria will be published on the
website of BSC Zenica.
c.Participants will not break any applicable
international property or patent law by a submitting their business concept or
plan.
d.Participants shall indemnify BSC Zenica against any
third-party cause of action based on the claim that ideas, names, and/or
knowledge used by the participant himself infringe an intellectual or industrial
property right.
e.Persons or organizations that have contributed
directly to the development and/or implementation of the submitted concept/plan
must be named in the respective submissions.
Article 5 –
Privacy
a.The BPC Selection Committee (see Article 7 below),
and Personal Coaches that are contracted during the BPC and are exposed to the
business concepts or business plans will sign a contract in which they declare
to treat all information in concepts and plans confidential. The template of
the declaration of confidentiality can be viewed on the website. It will be
signed by all members of the selection committee as an annex to their contract;
a signed version can be requested from the BSC Zenica.
b.All BSC staff and SPARK staff have signed a Code of
Conduct upon their employment for SPARK. In this Code is stated that they will
not make improper use of insider (confidential) information and will not risk
or bring any damage to the good reputation of SPARK. In conclusion SPARK staff
and BSC staff will treat business concepts and business plans confidential and
will only pass on information to third parties after express written consent of
the owner. Signed Codes of Conduct of BSC and SPARK staff can be downloaded
from www.bsczenica.org and www.spark-online.org.
c.Persons signing the “declaration of
confidentiality” will take the utmost care in handling the submissions, and
will guarantee the utmost confidence. However, the BSC does not accept
liability for misuse, theft, the annulment or the loss of the submissions,
except in the case of gross negligence.
d.Submissions remain the property of the participant.
Participants agree to accept that submissions will not be returned to them and
accept that their personal data will be available for statistical purposes. The
BSC will destroy submissions only after a written request from the participant.
e.Winners commit themselves to cooperate with the BSC
for the purpose of a press conference regarding the awards. Each participant of
the second round should be available to write a short summary for publicity
purposes.
Article 6 -
Organization of the Business Plan Competition
a.BSC Zenica will pre-screen all submissions before
evaluation by the BPC Selection Committee. The BSC reserves the right to
exclude submissions that do not meet the terms.
b.BSC Zenica retains the right to postpone or change
the length of procedures and deadlines for submissions.
Article 7 - Evaluation of submissions
a.An independent BPC Selection Committee, consisting
of business development experts, is fully and solely responsible for the
selection of winning business plans.
b.The BPC Selection Committee will evaluate all
submissions against criteria that will be established by BSC Zenica and
communicated to participants at the beginning of each round and published on
the BSC Zenica website.
c.The best business plans will be invited to present
their business plans in person to the BPC Selection Committee. By participating
in the BPC, participants agree to respond positively to such an invitation.
d.All participants will be notified of their
evaluation and comments from the BPC Selection Committee.
e.The BPC Selection Committee retains the right to
not award any of the participants. Such a decision will be followed by a
communiqué to all participants explaining the reasons for such a decision.
Article 8 - Prizes
a.Prizes are divided in 3 categories:
1.The 30 best business plans are eligible for free
registration and a 2500 Euro voucher for consultancy & advice, depending on
their particular needs and using services of consultants screened and approved
by the BSC, and according to the regulations established by the BSC.
2.Of the 30 best plans, the 10 best plans are
eligible to receive micro-credit reaching from € 1,000 to € 10,000 provided by
a credit institution selected by BSC Bar, depending on their capital needs and
according to the terms and conditions agreed between the BSC and the credit
institution.
3.The 5 best plans are eligible to for incubator
space/services, depending on their particular needs and on the
availability/rules of the incubator. Priority will be given to the first 5 best
plans, then to the second 5 best plans, etc.
b.Winning participants must appear in person for the
award ceremony. They will be notified of the date of this ceremony in due time.
Article 9 –
Liability and Conflicts
a.BSC Zenica will not be liable for any claims
regarding the procedure or selection of the winning business plans.
b.BSC Zenica will not be responsible or liable for
any perceived (loss of) business plans that may occur.
c.Both, the participants and BSC Zenica will try to
settle any possible dispute by mutual agreement. If impossible, the dispute
will be settled by the competent court.
Article 10 – Exclusion criteria
a.All participants must subscribe to the terms and conditions of the
competition before the submission of their plan.
b.A participant will be
excluded from the competition and further participation if s/he:
1.Is under 18 years old.
2.Does not meet the criteria for participation as described in Article 2.
3.Does not have a valid identification document.
4.Has been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means the
organization can justify.
5.Has been convicted of an offence concerning his professional conduct by
judgment which has the force of res judicata.
6.Is guilty of serious misinterpretation in supplying information under the
terms and conditions of this contest, such as withholding of information or the giving of
false or directly or indirectly offers
promises, gives or demands a bribe or other undue advantage in order to obtain
or retain business or other improper advantage. Participants will not be misleading
information which results in a misrepresentation of facts regarding his/her
participation in the BSC Zenica Business Plan Competition 2007.
7.Solicited or expected to render a bribe or other undue advantage.
c.Participants that have previously been awarded in a Business Plan
Competition organized by SPARK or SPARK supported BSCs may only participate
after written approval has been acquired from the BSC Zenica.
Documents 
