‘Enterprise Creation’ Success
Sara Fisher, Amy Liu, Barry Neal, BBA2 fishersk@umich.edu, liua@umich.edu, nealb@umich.edu
Issue date: 4/16/01 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
BBA Team of Sarah Fisher, Amy Liu, and Barry Neal receives Second Place at The Enterprise Creation Business Plan Competition by Sarah Fisher, Amy Liu, and Barry Neal, BBA2’s.
Last weekend (March 30 and 31) we were given the special opportunity to present The Buzz Corporation Business Plan at the ECC at Ball State. Thanks to the Zell Lurie of Entrepreneurial Studies, we got the chance to represent the University of Michigan Business School.
The Buzz Corporation will be established to create, market, and sell innovative alcoholic products. Our launch product is Spiked Ice. Similar to FlavorIce ™ Popsicles, they will be sold in four flavors (Margarita, Strawberry Daiquiri, Raspberry Daiquiri, and Chocolate Mudslide).
The format of the competition was an initial round that consisted of a business plan that was submitted to ten judges, followed by a semi-finals consisting of nine teams, and a Final where the last three teams faced off. Our plan was created in Len Middleton’s Entrepreneurial Studies Course in a team including Brandon Fenton, Sarah Fisher, Damon McLaughlin, Barry Neal, and Dan Schwartz and was selected as one of the nine semifinalists. On Friday, March 30, three flights of teams squared off, and one business was selected from each flight. The finals took place the next day, where the remaining three teams competed for the finals.
Each presentation period consisted of thirty minutes of presentation, followed by thirty minutes of Q&A. The Q&A questions ranged from testing of the financial assumptions, to discussion of distribution, brand mgmt., & operations. The fact that we were selling an alcoholic product gave us an advantage because the Ball State Entrepreneurial Students filled our presentation room to standing room only during our presentation in the hope of free samples! (We were sorry to disappoint them)
We ended up finishing second place, and getting a little bit of prize money in addition to some great advice and contacts for our business plan. One of the greatest things about the trip was meeting a number of other aspiring entrepreneurs & hearing about a range of great ideas that varied from the high-tech to the agricultural.
Ball State was a very gracious host, and in addition to introducing us to the school’s signature drink, car bombs at Fricks, we got to meet a number of exciting people. George Barry, The Midwest Head of NASDAQ, taught us the 10 Things to Never Say to a Venture Capital Firm (six of which we believe were included in our presentation), and Steven Beck, founder of The Venture Club of Indiana, invited us to come present at one of their meetings this summer.
Hopefully our success at this competition will only be the first in a long line of successes for the UMBS at the Enterprise Creation Competition, as the Zell Lurie Institute and Entrepreneurial Studies organizations continue to flourish in the BBA program.
Last weekend (March 30 and 31) we were given the special opportunity to present The Buzz Corporation Business Plan at the ECC at Ball State. Thanks to the Zell Lurie of Entrepreneurial Studies, we got the chance to represent the University of Michigan Business School.
The Buzz Corporation will be established to create, market, and sell innovative alcoholic products. Our launch product is Spiked Ice. Similar to FlavorIce ™ Popsicles, they will be sold in four flavors (Margarita, Strawberry Daiquiri, Raspberry Daiquiri, and Chocolate Mudslide).
The format of the competition was an initial round that consisted of a business plan that was submitted to ten judges, followed by a semi-finals consisting of nine teams, and a Final where the last three teams faced off. Our plan was created in Len Middleton’s Entrepreneurial Studies Course in a team including Brandon Fenton, Sarah Fisher, Damon McLaughlin, Barry Neal, and Dan Schwartz and was selected as one of the nine semifinalists. On Friday, March 30, three flights of teams squared off, and one business was selected from each flight. The finals took place the next day, where the remaining three teams competed for the finals.
Each presentation period consisted of thirty minutes of presentation, followed by thirty minutes of Q&A. The Q&A questions ranged from testing of the financial assumptions, to discussion of distribution, brand mgmt., & operations. The fact that we were selling an alcoholic product gave us an advantage because the Ball State Entrepreneurial Students filled our presentation room to standing room only during our presentation in the hope of free samples! (We were sorry to disappoint them)
We ended up finishing second place, and getting a little bit of prize money in addition to some great advice and contacts for our business plan. One of the greatest things about the trip was meeting a number of other aspiring entrepreneurs & hearing about a range of great ideas that varied from the high-tech to the agricultural.
Ball State was a very gracious host, and in addition to introducing us to the school’s signature drink, car bombs at Fricks, we got to meet a number of exciting people. George Barry, The Midwest Head of NASDAQ, taught us the 10 Things to Never Say to a Venture Capital Firm (six of which we believe were included in our presentation), and Steven Beck, founder of The Venture Club of Indiana, invited us to come present at one of their meetings this summer.
Hopefully our success at this competition will only be the first in a long line of successes for the UMBS at the Enterprise Creation Competition, as the Zell Lurie Institute and Entrepreneurial Studies organizations continue to flourish in the BBA program.
