A guide to winning the Seedcorn competition – Part 4

Posted by Ronan on Aug 26, 2010 in Seedcorn, cauwill, comment, innovation, ireland, startup | 0 comments

This post concludes the series.  Grab the Business Plan template [here] (word document) which has all three previous posts plus extra comments from the IntertradeIreland Cube document.

To summarize:

  • Make every statement count – be clear, be precise
  • Don’t be technical (after all it’s a business plan)
  • Make the job of reading the plan easier,  visually alert the investor to things they want to see
  • (Early Stage/Startup Companies) If you have paying customers this is a big deal..
  • Really make the executive summary stand out. Give the investor the motivation to read on.It really should be a self contained document that you can extract and it makes sense by itself.

Checklist:

  • Business Overview (what you do and why)
  • Size up the market opportunity
  • Industry Analysis
  • Describe the team
  • Explain the business model
  • Show Financial projections
  • Show Funding sources (and usage)
  • Exit
  • Appendices/Schedules

Personally, I want to wish all entrants for the InterTradeIreland Seedcorn competition the best of luck and cannot wait to see who gets selected this year both as regional finalists and overall finalists. Winning the investment really has helped Cauwill. Financially it helped out but the PR and confidence it gave was worth than the money – as a result we’ve had a great year, signed more customers and are now looking to take our 1 year old company to the next level!

Finally, if any one entering the competition wants to get in touch please feel to do so.

Regards,
Ronan.

read more

Enter Seedcorn 2010

Posted by Ronan on Aug 8, 2010 in Seedcorn, comment, startup | 0 comments

InterTradeIreland All-Island Seedcorn Business Competition 2010

ONLY 6 WEEKS TO GO!

The countdown begins… take action and REGISTER NOW!

Are you an early stage/high growth company?  Do you need new equity funding to help your business take off?  Then this is the competition for you.

Don’t miss out on the chance to win a share of the €280,000 cash prize fund.  InterTradeIreland’s Seedcorn is the largest business competition for early stage/high growth companies in any sector on any part of the island.

Click here to register for the competition.  After registering, entrants are required to submit their business plan by1pm on Friday 17th September 2010.

For more information visit www.intertradeireland.com/seedcorn or contact us on 028 3083 4113 (048 from Ireland).
read more

Seedcorn 2009

Posted by Ronan on Jun 30, 2009 in innovation, ireland | 0 comments

Seedcorn is open for applications..!

You’ve dreamed it. You’ve built it.  Now give your business lift-off with the 2009 InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Business Competition.

Get the funding to give your business lift-off.  This year the competition is offering the biggest ever cash prize fund of €360,000 spread across 9 cash prizes to help the brightest new business stars across the whole island.

And that’s not all………..

Enter and you’ll get expert help on becoming investor-ready, make valuable contacts and get expert help to become investor-ready.  We provide online support and workshops, so you’re all set to impress with your business pitch.  Because the Seedcorn Competition is all about matching businesses with investors the BENEFITS are more than the cash prize: -

  • Accelerate the development of your business idea
  • Learn how to pitch your business plan to investors
  • Gain exposure with venture capitalists and other investors
  • Get feedback on your business plan
  • Increase the profile of your business

In every way, it’s a top-flight opportunity!

read more