About the PLU Business Plan Competition

The PLU Business Plan Competition is designed to promote the development of businesses that provide positive social benefit and impact.  The competition is a unique opportunity for emerging entrepreneurs to gain valuable skills through a real-world process.  The competition will engage students and local community members (including alumni) interested in launching a new business or organization (for profit and not-for profit). The PLU Business Plan Competition will pose the following question to budding entrepreneurs: “How does your business encourage lives of thoughtful inquiry, service, leadership, and care—for other people, for their communities, and for the earth.”

Participants have a chance to simulate the steps needed to solicit start-up funds from early-stage investors.  The judges function as investors deciding on which business venture they would most likely fund.  The quality of the business concept, the organizational vision, and the clarity and persuasiveness of the written plan and oral presentation all influence the judges’ decisions.  Ultimately, the winning team will be the team in which the judges would most likely invest their money.  Thanks to support from the Herbert B. Jones Foundation and the Morken Venture Fund, the PLU Business Plan Competition offers real cash prizes for winners to use in the pursuit of their business venture.

Highlights of the competition include: