Start-Up Business Plan, or ESB, is easily one of the most popular events in the entire DECA competition. Not only is there no testing requirement, but it requires the least amount of pages in the entire written category! Doesn’t that sound great? There is one flaw though; a more popular event means harder competition. Not to worry, with some hard work and dedication, you can rise to the top of the competition.
As part of my DECA series, I’m going through some different written event types and sharing my two cents on them. As the chapter president, I was able to support a lot of members with their different written events. Here’s a guide for beginner DECA members. Remember to use your chapter officers as a primary resource for questions and advice on your project! This guide is intended to help you start your report.
Guidelines → Follow these or else you’ll get penalty points. The only way you’ll win in DECA is if you score more points than the other competitors in your category, so you don’t want to risk losing any points to avoidable penalties.
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In order to create an awesome start-up, you need an idea. If you already have that million-dollar innovation, you can go ahead and skip this step.
If you’re still trying to think of what to propose, try to come up with a list of 4-5 different ideas that you can play around with.
Here are some different topics to get your gears turning: Apps (calendar, navigation, specific games, etc.), online stores (clothing match, block chain, etc.), handy products, innovative restaurants (marshmallow restaurant in Las Vegas anyone?), and literally anything on the planet that you can market as a strong business plan.
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Think of THREE relevant problems for each one of your ideas; if you can’t think of three problems for a certain idea, cross it off your list.
From your brainstorm list, choose the idea that has the STRONGEST problems. You can start coming up with a cool name for the business of your choice and maybe even a snazzy slogan. If you want to really spice things up, consider creating a logo on Canva.
Now it’s time to start your report. I suggest using Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or Canva to format your report since those are the easiest to navigate and customize.
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Again, you want to make sure you follow the guidelines provided on DECA’s competitive event page and cover everything listed. The breakdown I have below is according to the 2019-2020 guidelines so be sure to review the new rubric for any changes.
Do the Executive Summary last. Here, you want to capture all the key points that you wrote in your plan. The best executive summary is one that allows the judge to understand your complete idea with a 5 minute skim. I like to use visuals in my executive summary but I know tons of top reports that have used block paragraphs instead. Use what works for you, but don’t bore the judge either.
Here we revisit the three problems you identified in the brainstorming steps. If you’re satisfied with those, move forward and write a very detailed description for each one. It’s best if you include examples and statistics (research, research, research!). You want to convince the judge that your business is essential. This is the base of your entire plan, so don’t mess it up. Nothing survives on a weak base.
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The Customer Segments section is where you introduce your target market. The more information you have here, the better. Essentially, you’re trying to answer this question: Who are you trying to sell to?
The biggest mistake competitors make in this section specifically is that they are too brief. A simple description is really not enough to score you full points in this section. Which description sounds better to you:
Obviously the second one is much more appealed. Although you, as the creator of your plan, completely understand who would buy your product, you have to assume the judges don’t.
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You might also want to have a secondary target market. Your primary target market will be your main customers but some businesses might see more than one customer segment. You can label that smaller customer segment the “secondary target market” and do the same description for them. For example, a new, healthy fast food restaurant might expect working adults who rely on fast food but are trying to eat healthier to be their primary target market and teenagers who need a cool place to meet up to be their secondary target market.
This is one of the more confusing categories since most people mix it up with the competitive advantage. The Unique Value Proposition is kind of like your slogan. The unique value proposition itself is a short and concise description describing what sets your business apart. You need to supplement this proposition with a paragraph or two that explains WHY your business meets that proposition. Here are some EXAMPLES.
If you can’t come up with a catchy proposition, a strategic method that I’ve used that has been successful in the past is the Three Key Word Alliterative. Basically, you come up with three memorable adjectives that describe your business and use that as your unique value proposition. An example of this is happy, healthy, homey or fast, fresh, fit. Under the Unique Value section, you’d describe why your business meets each of these three words.
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I never really understood why solutions didn’t come right after problems but I guess it’s always been that way and probably staying that way. This is where you explain how your business solves the three problems you previously proposed.
Make sure you make clear which problem is being addressed by which solution, either by using the same order as problems or obviously addressing it in your headings.
This is another section most competitors discuss too briefly. You want to make sure you’re as specific as possible so the judge can visualize your idea completely. Here’s some questions to address while writing this section:
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Here’s where you’ll explain where your cash flow will come from. There are several essential components to include so that the judge follows your entire idea:
Key Metrics are different tools you will use to measure the success of your business. You can google a list of key metrics and you’ll find TONS. If your business is a common niche, you can probably google “Key Metrics for [insert niche]” and find lots of examples. Pick and choose which you think are most important for your business (usually 4-5 is a good amount) and explain each metric. When explaining make sure to include how the metric will be measured and what a good/bad measurement would be. Some common examples of metrics include inventory turnover rate, occupancy rate, subscription lifetime, etc.
I feel like a lot of people lose points here because their advantage is too shallow. You need to describe how your start-up business plan is different from others like it. Be specific and have strong points that really impress your judge. It might be a good idea to include different competitor businesses and show the judge how your business is better than the competitor.
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Make a pitch for the amount of MONEY that you want from the judge. This can be in the form of a long-term loan or capital. Make sure to include the interest rate and why the judge should invest in your business. Ask for any amount of money you want as long as it’s reasonable to your business.
The Pre-Med That Could is an outlet for me to share my life experiences and advice as a college student at UCLA navigating the intimidating “pre-med” journey. Check out my posts for college admissions advice, tidbits on my life as a student at UCLA, and other random experiences I feel are interesting enough to share.
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