Business plan contests

Hello. This is Irino, a strategy consultant.

I have realized how similar business plan contests and M1 grand prix are. M1 means “Mansai No.1” and Mansai are Japanese traditional comedians. Today, I will compare the two and explain about business plan contests.

Commonality 1: Judges know your level more than you thought

It is really difficult to properly assess how good comedies or business plans are for sure. In M1 grand prix, judges seem to give the different scores. However, the decisions on who gets the first, second, third place and so on are very similar. This is also the case with business plan contests. Even if there are 10 finalists, judges can tell the ranking of these people. The reason is because

judges have seen a great many business plans

judges have been players themselves

the gap between the top class and the rest is so vast

they can almost always precisely tell the ranking. Most players who blame the judges when they lose in contests are not aware of their inadequacy. I believe these people don’t really know their current levels. If you see a hundred business presentations, then you will be able to tell the difference between the 5th and the 55th place for sure.

Commonality 2: Winner will not necessarily succeed immediately

When it comes to M1 grand prix, there is a slight difference between getting a good evaluation in M1 and having a successful TV career. In the same way, just because you do great in business plan contests; it is not a guarantee of your company’s success in the real business world. Venture capitals don’t always necessarily invest in business plans that get the first places. Some business plans that got invested by venture capitals didn’t even make it through the first round. This is because plans are evaluated more on their sociability rather than profitability in many business plan contests. Especially in Japan, business plan contests tend to be like festivals with strong entertainment elements rather than being precious opportunities for investors to see new business plans. Even if you get high rankings, it doesn’t really secure you a successful career.

Commonality 3: The prize money is not enough expensive

The prize money for M1 is 10 million yen. For those comedians, 10 million yen might be a big amount. But if they are a pair, they get 5 million yen each. If they become famous, they can easily use it in a year. The brand effect of winning M1 grand prix will bring more works and guarantees to them. This is rather more important than the prize money, I believe. So is the case with business plan contests. In Japan, The prize money is about 1 million yen at most. This amount has no real meaning in real business. Even a company of 10 employees can spend it all up in just half a month or so. What’s more important than the prize money is to make use of the opportunity to establish good business alliances or get capital affiliation. Becoming the finalists, small companies can stand at the start line of business alliances or get capital affiliation. So, when you give your business plan presentations, you should find people who will be interested in giving you business alliances or capital affiliation rather than winning the prize itself.

Announcement

The biggest business plan contest is going to be held this year as well. I heard the closing date for application is January 19th. Those who are thinking about participating should do so.
Business plan seminar for experienced entrepreneurs

That’s it for today.

Irino

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