The Chicago Lighthouse New Venture Competition–Rules and Rubric

The rules and requirements for eligibility are as follows:

  • The applicant must be legally blind and provide written proof of blindness from an eye care professional, agency for the blind, or vision Rehabilitation professional
  • The applicant must successfully complete the “Developing a Business Plan” non-credit course at Miami University of Ohio
  • The applicant must be a United States citizen, and at least 18 years of age
  • The applicant’s business must reside within the United States.
  • The applicant must play a significant operational role and have majority ownership in the business.
  • The applicant may only submit one Business Plan for the competition.
  • All applicants of the competition must participate in promotional activities of The
  • Chicago Lighthouse associated with this competition.
  • Applicants must be willing to share information about their business and the use of the award money towards developing the new business. Such promotional activities are necessary to support The Chicago Lighthouse grant commitments and funding of the future competitions.
  • Promotional activities and information sharing will continue up to three years beyond the completion of the competition.

Submissions:
We will acknowledge submissions via email notification, and participants may be asked to provide additional information subsequent to the submission deadline.

Business Plans are limited to ten pages, including a required one-page executive summary. Please submit all documents in either MS Word or Excel only. In addition, the applicant may submit up to five pages of supporting appendices.

Report a full one-year financial projection, including a cash flow statement, balance sheet and income statement on a monthly basis.

BUSINESS PLAN RUBRIC
The Business Plan should consist of the following sections:

  1. Company Description 5 Points
  2. Products and Services 10 Points
    List, describe and define your niche.
    Show that you evaluated how the product or service solves a problem or fills a need for the customer.
  3.  Market Analysis 10 Points
    Describe demographics and psychographics of customers (target market).
    What is the estimated size and growth potential of the market?
    How is the competitive advantage sustainable?
    What are the industry trends?
  4. Marketing Plan 15 Points
    What are the key promotional strategies to reach the target market?
    How did you arrive at cost, pricing and expected profit margin for the product or service?
  5. Operations Plan 20 Points
    What are the logistics of running the business?
    Indicate whether the product or service is based on technology.
    If based on technology:What is the status of the technological development and intellectual property?What is its protection and defensibility?
  6. Financial Plan and Capital Viability 30 Points
    What is the needed investment to reach the expected revenue goal?
    From what specific sources will you obtain capital to fund the unmet expenses of the business?
    What is the amount of capital you raised from each source to fund the unmet expenses of the business?
    What expenses will the cash award specifically cover?
    When will the business achieve cash break-even?
    What are the capital requirements needed to launch or expand the business?
    What is the plan to finance the business until it is profitable?
    What is the expected time to reach profitability?
    Describe the benchmarks with each level of capital to reduce risks and achieve business objectives.
  7. Management and Staff 10 Points
    Describe the key management roles at your company.
    What are the backgrounds, qualifications, skills and professional expertise of key roles of the team?
    What is the current level of effort and commitment to this new venture?
    Is reliance upon outside assistance (outsourcing) necessary for operation?

Plans will be judged on the likelihood of achieving a viable venture. The outcomes of the judges’ decisions as to award amounts and award recipients are final.

Cash Award: may total up to $25,000.

The following business models are excluded from the competition: buy-outs, real estate-related investments, tax shelters, franchises, or anything that could be considered a Randolph-Sheppard-related VR agency investment.

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