University of Montana Business Plan Competition – Tried in the Fire

The John Ruffatto Business Plan Competition offers contestants a chance to present ideas for their companies before a panel of experts – with $10,000 in prizes on the line

By Robert Struckman of the Missoulian http://www.missoulian.com

Midway through the presentation of his business plan, Don Lundby of Great Falls fielded questions Thursday morning from judges in the semifinal round of the John Ruffatto Business Plan Competition http://www.business.umt.edu/made/programs/biz.asp .

The judges sat scattered in auditorium-style seats in a classroom at the University of Montana Business School. Lundby’s project is actually a startup, which he runs with his wife. His goal is to grow and then franchise the company, called Meditation Works!

Lundby and representatives from eleven other teams, weeded from a field of 37 entrants, gathered at the school from around the state to vie for $10,000 in prizes at the 16th annual competition. It’s a small purse, as business plan competitions go, but the contest is growing under the energetic leadership of Jeff Shay, an instructor at the school.

The entrants were students, but that’s where the similarities ended. The businesses were all over the map. A crew had come from Billings with an idea to start a health cookie company called BreakFAST Cookie. T name a few, there was a self-storage company, a wine-tour-and-tasting concern, an oil drilling firm and a manufacturer selling archer and other outdoor equipment.

The competition was pretty stiff, and the judges asked tough questions.

In Lundby’s presentation, judge Mary Ann Cusenza, a board member of an investing firm (http://www.Garage.com) wanted to know how he would market the firm to couples getting divorced and where the company could go for other clients.

“What else can enhance your business growth?” Mary Ann Cusenza asked.

Immaculately dressed in a business suit and vest, Lundby said maybe his company could offer mediation services to employers and even whole communities to solve neighborhood disputes.

Then Steve Grover, head of small business development at the Montana Community Development Corp, http://www.mtcdc.org/ fired a question about the costs of adding employees. Another judge wanted to know about competitors. One after another, the questions relentlessly continued for the better part of an hour.

The judges included successful entrepreneurs from the area as well as venture capitalists, executives, bankers and business analysts.

At the end of his presentation, Lundby retired to a quiet corner of another room with Cusenza, who gave him some feedback.

“Your presentation needs to deliver the concept that you’re going to bring your service to the market better than anybody else,” she said.

Cusenza had plenty of other advice, too, about marketing and honing his business pitch. Lundby nodded and absorbed.

Later, at a lunch for the contestants, Lundby said, “I lost it at the front end. I just got too nervous.” But he was happy for the critique.

Near the rear of the room Rory Minjares of Mazdog Archery http://mazdog.com/ looked a little flustered. His company is all but off the ground, but the questions from the judges about investors interested in his company caught him off guard.

At the next table, Jim Guy and Rita Brown of BreakFAST thought the hardest questions were about some of the nuts and bolts of cookie transport.

“We knew we were weak on packaging,” Guy said, shaking his head.

But Brown felt as if they had answered another question about lagging revenues with more aplomb.

“It (slower sales) would push out our break-even point for six months,” Guy said.

Some of those in the room wondered aloud what factors there were being judged on. For instance, Mediation Works! Is already a viable business, although smaller than it might be. Minjares and his wife, Theresa, are planning a European sales trip with the Montana World Trade Center July 2-10 http://www.matr.net/article-14253.html .

But all said they planned to start their business regardless of who won the competition.

Meanwhile, in a classroom on the other side of the building, the judges graded, ranked, argued, hashed and contemplated the various business plans.

All pretence that this was an academic exercise was gone. The bankers were bankers, the marketers hammered the marketing plans.

After a solid two hours, the group settled on four finalists. Then the judges began to wander from the room. They had a few hours until the final round.

One of the judges was Bjorn Nabozney, co-founder of Big Sky Brewing Co. http://www.bigskybrew.com/

“I almost wish I could have (been in the competition),” he said. “but it might have been discouraging.”

As a college student Nabozney had written a business plan for a finance class at the school.

“I don’t think I got a very good grade on it,” he said. He and his friends knew how to brew beer, he said, but had no practical business experience. But a brewing company seemed like fun.

And they kept after it. After another 30 drafts or so, Nobozney’s business plan became the blueprint for Big Sky Brewing’s success.

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Business plan awards

First place – $5,000 Great Northern Auto Finance. Offers financing to independent automobile dealers.

Second place – $2,500 Mazdog Archery. Develops archery and outdoor equipment.

Third place – $1,000 Summit Manufacturing. Wholesale and retail manufacturer of roof trusses.

Fourth place – $500 BreakFAST Cookie – Balancing Health and Life. Makes and markets wholegrain nutritional treats.

People’s Choice – $1,000 Mazdog Archery

Brandon Speth Charisma Passion and Poise Award – $1,000 Joel Robinson of Financial Transaction Group.

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Reporter Robert Struckman can be reached at 523-5262 or [email protected]

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Great Northern Auto Finance Takes $5,000 First Prize in the 16th Annual John Ruffatto Business Plan Competition

Source: Dr. Jeff Shay – [email protected]

More than 250 people gathered at the University of Montana School of Business Administration on Thursday night to see the team of Nels Pearson, Camila Hoff, Erica Nottingham of Billings, Montana win the $5,000 first prize in the 16th Annual John Ruffatto Business Plan Competition.

The award completed a business plan competition that included judges from the Montana Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs (MADE) and executives from the national and international business community. Thirty-five plans were submitted for the competition and twelve were invited to compete in the semifinal round held earlier this morning. The judges then narrowed the field to four teams that were selected to compete in the finalist round.

Full Story: http://www.business.umt.edu/news/newsmanager/templates/template.aspx?articleid=88&zoneid=3