Every year at Augustana, students have the opportunity to compete in the $10,000 business plan competition, where they identify a problem, propose a solution and develop an in-depth business plan. Submissions are due in January, where the top five plans are chosen to be judged by a panel of entrepreneurs, business owners and other professionals from the area. From there, plans are ranked, incorporating aspects like which plan is most realistic, convincing and marketable.

Dr. David Thornblad, professor of business administration, created the $10,000 business plan competition to give students a chance to think creatively. $10,000 refers to the total amount of prize money given out to the top five groups at the end of the competition.

“There’s a lot of research,” Thornblad said. “You really have to work through all the parts of your product. Sometimes students overestimate how many people would buy their product, without doing surveys or interviews.”

He said that students frequently pick issues that are important to them.

“Students come up with problems that college students have,” Thornblad said. 

In the past, students proposed a mental health app, a healthy smoothie and salad restaurant and a clothing brand. Thornblad said students can propose a nonprofit, that business plans don’t always need to be profit driven, though finances need to be considered.

Augustana offers two entrepreneurship classes in the fall, one for business majors and one for non business majors. There, students learn about maintaining a business. 

Senior Megan Frost took this class last year and said it was a learning experience. Her group proposed an app that would allow students to help other students buy textbooks, furniture or exchange services.

“Financials was a really hard thing for us, which made us have to change our plan,” Frost said. “But we really believed in our idea.”

In this class, students have the opportunity to meet business owners, who can give advice and share experiences they had in the business world.

“The woman from Cool Beanz, specifically, was really, really cool,” Frost said. “It was really inspiring to hear from somebody that was, you know, 20 years old and able to do something like that.” 

Cool Beanz was started by Annette Hutto in 2009 during her senior year at Augustana.

“It was about just talking to them as people,” Frost said. “You got to see the startup side, more than like the Fortune 500 side of the business world.”

Last year, her group placed second in the competition. Grant Reuter, a senior at that time, was in her group as well. He highlighted that the competition is for anyone of any major, and that it gave him an understanding of the outside world.

“Presenting in front of executives can be very stressful,” Reuter said. “But they are just people at the end of the day. Being confident through the process and really trusting yourself and the people you worked with helped us.”

He said the process tested his critical thinking skills.

“There’s so many things you’ve got to look into,” Reuter said. “But you really get to see how it comes together. It’s rewarding.”

Business plan submissions for this year’s competition are due at midnight on Jan. 8. Interested students can reach out to Dr. Thornblad as well as to the EDGE center in Olin. A template as well as frequently asked questions are available on the school website.