General Rules
The Competition awards prizes to the business plans that show the highest, most integrated financial and social returns, i.e. blended value, as well as an award for Social Impact Assessment (SIA).
- To qualify for the Competition, a proposed venture must:
- Each entrant team must include a graduate business student from any business school in the world or an individual who has graduated from a graduate business program within the past two years (from the date that the plan is first submitted). The graduate business student must be actively involved in the venture (ie, actively participating in development of the business plan and presentation and actively working on the business). Teams are strongly encouraged to include seasoned entrepreneurs and professionals with relevant skills and experience.
- The proposed venture must not have been in operation for more than 3 years, with the start of the venture marked by first income or first patent, whichever occurred earlier.
- The proposed venture may not be a wholly owned subsidiary of an existing entity (either a for-profit or non-profit entity). The proposed venture must be seeking capital from outside sources.
- A business plan can not re-enter the competition beyond two consecutive years.
- The business plan must include a financial analysis as well as the following three items:
- The plan must include a statement on what the team would do with the prize distribution.
- To request a mentor, executive summaries must be received by the stated deadline. For more information, see Judging Criteria.
- All plans must be written in English.
- Plan to be financially sustainable or profitable;
whether it is a commercial business or a tax-exempt organization, it
must be self-sufficient on its earned revenue.
- Be scalable. This criterion will be unique for each business plan. Scalability will take into account the potential for growth of the business (and how well both the financial and social goals can be scaled).
- Have a quantifiable social and/or environmental bottom line incorporated into its mission and practices.
- Be scalable. This criterion will be unique for each business plan. Scalability will take into account the potential for growth of the business (and how well both the financial and social goals can be scaled).
- Have a quantifiable social and/or environmental bottom line incorporated into its mission and practices.
- The business plan must include a statement describing
the graduate business student's level of involvement.
- If the plan advances to the final round of judging, the business student must be one of the plan's presenters (including being available to answer judges' questions regarding the business).
- If the plan advances to the final round of judging, the business student must be one of the plan's presenters (including being available to answer judges' questions regarding the business).
1. Definition of the Social Value Proposition,
2. Listing of the top three Social Indicators,
3. Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis, all of which are discussed on the section Social Impact Guides, or the global GSVC website at www.gsvc.org. Additional SIA support may be found in the SROI Primer at sroi.london.edu.
2. Listing of the top three Social Indicators,
3. Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis, all of which are discussed on the section Social Impact Guides, or the global GSVC website at www.gsvc.org. Additional SIA support may be found in the SROI Primer at sroi.london.edu.
See "Guidelines" section for more detailed information on the submission guidelines for the executive summary and full business plan rounds of the competition.