2009 Business Team Competition is Closed

OWOB Business Team Competition Rules and Guidelines
“Helping student projects leverage relationships and resources for success."

OWOB Business Team Competition Requirements

  • Be at least a part-time student, enrolled at any university - international university teams are strongly encouraged to apply.
  • Register as a member of the OWOB network at  http://owob.org/user/register/student and then you will be able to enter the competition.
  • Post a team profile on the OWOB web site answering the questions listed under Phase 1.
  • Must have an international component to your submission (working with partners in another country, developing a business opportunity to be implemented in another country, or working with international teammates, or using resources from another country.)

Phase 1 - Posting Team Profile

After joining OWOB, log in and select Teams and post a team profile responding to the following questions.

  1. What is your idea and how does it address a developing sector in the US or other country through products, services and/or employment? We define a developing sector as an industry with customers having income levels below average (sometimes referred to as the Base of the Pyramid) or regions that have been declared developing due to below average income. (500 words or less)
  2. What are your overall goals and objectives? (250 words or less)
  3. What stage of the idea are you in? (Do you have a business identified? Have you completed any research? Have you developed a written business or implementation plan?) (250 words or less)
  4. What is the international component of your team’s idea? (Are you working with partners in another country, developing a business opportunity to be implemented in another country, or working with international teammates, or using resources from or for another country?)  (250 words or less)
  5. How will you use the OWOB global resource network to achieve your goals and objectives? (For more information on OWOB’s resources, log in as a member or guest and select Resources.)  (250 words or less)

* Please have all current team members register with OWOB at http://owob.org/user/register/student

Phase 2 - Finalizing your team and selecting team advisor

Following the phase 1 posting of the team proposal, OWOB will select the top 50 teams and invite them to participate in Phase 2 where the teams will:

  1. Finalize team members (gain members from the OWOB network if necessary).
  2. Select a university faculty or staff member advisor as your team advisor and have them join OWOB. Once they are a member they should indicate they have reviewed your team profile from their welcome screen after they log in.
  3. Update your team profile to include all team members and team advisor. Also indicate in your profile that you are no longer looking for team members.
  4. Confirm your school’s membership with OWOB and update your member profile to select your school from the list of member institutions.

* In order to pass onto phase 3 and be eligible for OWOB BTC awards, all team advisors must confirm their university’s official OWOB membership. Multiple teams may enter the contest under 1 university membership as long as all the teams come from that specific university.  (University membership is free for the first two years.)

To check if your school already has an OWOB membership click on "Who We Are" and select Our Member Institutions.

Phase 3 - Defining the project(s)

Your team will define the project(s) that your team will implement to achieve the goals and objectives specified in the team profile. Then you will post the project(s) on the OWOB web site under Project/Post Project. Once the project(s) have been approved by the team advisor and OWOB, you will be (1) eligible to compete against other teams for the grand prize of $5,000 (2) eligible to apply for OWOB resources to implement your project(s). Teams may apply for any resources needed even if they are not currently available on the OWOB network. The nature of OWOB is to leverage existing and future resources in our network to help you, the student team, become successful. Although the immediate prize for winning to competition is $5,000 towards your project, we also feel that your use of our expanding network of start-up resources will turn out to be extremely valuable.

What is the difference between my project and my business plan?

A project is an activity or a group of activities that will move you along in your business plan. This could be product research, market research, prototype testing, developing a fundraising plan, implementation plan or even ramping up operations. OWOB understands that some concepts are farther along than others and we hope to give support to projects throughout all the exciting stages of business development.

The submitted team projects will be evaluated based 8 criteria:

  1. Significant Impact: What is the significance of impact on a developing sector?
  2. Sustainability: Is the project financially, environmentally and socially sustainable?
  3. Team strength: Do team member skills align with goals and objectives of team and how well are they able to implement the projects posted?
  4. Definition: Is the project(s) clearly defined and does it show how it will lead to the achievement of the overall goals and objectives?
  5. Leveraging Resources: Does the team exhibit effective use of OWOB’s network and resources? For more information on OWOB’s resources, log in as a member or guest, and select Resources.
  6. Crossing Borders: Does the team exhibit effective use of the international component: working with partners in another country, developing a business opportunity to be implemented in another country, or working with international teammates, or using resources from or for another country?
  7. Monitoring and Evaluation: Does the project have tools and methods set up for monitoring and evaluating progress?
  8. Feasibility: Does the current concept or project warrant enough positive evidence of success to encourage moving forward?
Winners and Prizes

All winners and runners up will be invited to present via web-conferencing to a panel of entrepreneurs, business executives and fund managers to be considered for Grand Prize of $5,000 and the featured story on owob.org. Winners of each phase can be found under the What's New menu by clicking on Contest Winners.

* Final details regarding web-presentation requirements will be shared with winners and runners at a later date.  OWOB will make special arrangements for any teams who are unable to present via web-conference.

Thank you for your interest in the OWOB Business Team Competition. Please email us at contest@owob.org with questions or comments.