{"id":138502223,"date":"2010-03-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-09T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acccapital.com\/obu-inaugural-business-plan-competition-offers-practical-experience\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T13:09:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:09:13","slug":"obu-inaugural-business-plan-competition-offers-practical-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acccapital.com\/hi\/obu-inaugural-business-plan-competition-offers-practical-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"OBU Inaugural Business Plan Competition Offers Practical Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ouachita Baptist University\u2019s Hickingbothom School of Business recently held its inaugural Business Plan Competition. Participating students formed teams or worked individually under the supervision of a faculty member to create a start-up company for rewards of up to $4,000.  \u201cThese students submitted \u2018real\u2019 business plans, the same type of plan that one would produce prior to seeking funds from a private investor or banker,\u201d said Bryan McKinney, dean of OBU\u2019s Hickingbothom School of Business.  Creating these business plans involved producing a financial profile of a business from scratch, building a market research profile and creating the framework for a startup business and much more.<!--more-->  Many of the teams began working on their business plan last October for a few hours each week.\u00a0 Before writing the plan, they had to research their company, thoroughly analyzing the industry and competitors as well as possible opportunities for their company. With the help of the faculty advisors, they prepared both a written business plan that ranged from 20 to 80 pages and an oral presentation.  \u201cIt was a good experience. I learned a lot from it that I would not be able to learn any other way.\u00a0 Taking classes is one thing, but gaining experience is another,\u201d said Tyler McCarley, creator of <a title=\"My Work Shift - Scheduling Made Simple\" href=\"https:\/\/myworkshift.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MyWorkShift.com<\/a> and a freshman business administration major with an emphasis in management from Little Rock, Ark.<!--more-->  This competition also helped students prepare for the Donald W. Reynolds Governor\u2019s Cup Business Plan Competition that takes place each Spring which awards nearly $200,000 in prizes to business students. McKinney said the OBU competition offered students a \u201ctrial run\u201d for their businesses, allowing them to get feedback from judges and make any necessary changes to the plan before deciding to enter in the larger competition.  Three of the four OBU teams that submitted to the Governor\u2019s Cup have advanced to the semi-final round. There were 49 entries in the Cup, and the next round of presentations will take place April 8 and 9 in Little Rock.  \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to see OBU students succeed,\u201d McKinney said.  The faculty advisors were vital to the various teams in answering questions and reviewing their plans. This close work between students and faculty members was one of the main goals of the competition.  \u201cI\u2019ve long admired how our science professors and their students work together on various research projects,\u201d McKinney said, \u201cand I hoped to create something in business that offered similar opportunities for students to interact with professors.\u201d  The faculty advisor for Communityspot.com was Dr. Chris Brune, assistant professor of finance.\u00a0 Daniel Graham, a member of Communityspot.com and a senior accounting and business administration double major with an emphasis in management from Richardson, Texas, said, \u201cDr. Brune went above and beyond with the help he offered. In addition to giving invaluable advice on wording, format and information to include, he also opened his house and made himself available at nearly all times of the day.\u201d  Although students earned valuable experience\u2014as well as cash prizes, in some cases\u2014from the competition, building a business from scratch was not without its struggles.  \u201cIt\u2019s easy to come up with an idea, to find some people to get excited about it and to talk with friends and faculty and get suggestions,\u201d Graham said. \u201cThe hard part is sitting down three times a week for a few hours and figuring out how to communicate that plan on paper or project your expenses for your income statement and cash outlays for your cash flow statement, and doing all this while everything else in your life is still going on.\u201d  The businesses were judged based on both the written plan and the oral presentation. They used extensive guidelines, the same requirements for the Governor\u2019s Cup competition, for judging every component of the business but also the overall business concept.  Four local businessmen judged the competition \u201cCollectively, our judges have owned and been involved in a myriad of businesses from convenience stores to web-based businesses and lumber companies,\u201d McKinney said. \u201cThey brought a wealth of insight and experience to the competition and invested a lot of time into it.\u201d  The judges included Ouachita graduates Curtis Arnold and Bentley Blackmon. Arnold is the founder of CardRatings.com and is the author of <em>The Complete Idiot\u2019s Guide to Person-to-Person Lending<\/em>. He is a nationally recognized expert on consumer credit card issues and has been interviewed by many sources including NPR, MSNBC and the <em>Wall Street Journal<\/em>. Blackmon is a senior vice president and senior financial consultant with Stephens Inc. He is a CFA, CPA and CFP and serves on the Hickingbotham School\u2019s Business Advisory Board.  Other judges included Lewis Lamb and Herb Daily. Lamb has owned convenience stores throughout southern Arkansas during the 1960s and 1970s and has experience in the real estate sector. Daily is the managing partner of Daily Lumber Company Partnership, an investment company for timberland, rental property, subdivisions and monetary holdings. He has served as president of Daily Lumber Company, Inc. and as vice president of DLC Logging, Inc.  According to the students and faculty involved in the competition, this first year has been a success. Some of the businesses that were developed even have the potential of becoming more than just a plan.  \u201cI thought our students did a fantastic job, but it never surprises me to see our students realize their potential,\u201d McKinney said. \u201cI saw several business plans that I believe could become viable businesses.\u201d  For one group, this competition truly was the creation of a company that they plan to bring to life one day. According to Graham, Communityspot.com is a site that their group wants to build.  \u201cSeveral of the highly successful businesses in the last decade have been created by college students,\u201d McKinney said. \u201cUltimately, I\u2019d love to sit back and watch as one of our students becomes the next great college entrepreneur.\u201d  This year\u2019s competition has set the basis for what is hoped to become a yearly tradition at Ouachita in which students can test their learning through experiences.  \u201cI think these students set the bar very high, and I\u2019ll be eager to see if we can rise above that bar next year,\u201d McKinney concluded.  The five businesses and team members participating in the OBU competition were:  MyWorkShift Corp., which won first place and $4,000, was developed by Tyler McCarley, a freshman business administration major with an emphasis in management from Little Rock. At the Governor\u2019s Cup, MyWorkShift is one of teams selected to compete for the most innovative award. It is a web-based business that simplifies the process of scheduling employee work shifts.  Communityspot.com, which tied for second place and won $3,000, was developed by Ryne Dubach, a senior accounting and business administration double major with an emphasis in management from Marvell, Ark.; Daniel Graham, a senior accounting and business administration double major with an emphasis in management from Richardson, Texas; and Chris Norcross, a junior business administration major major with an emphasis in finance from Arlington, Texas. At the Governor\u2019s Cup, it was one of 12 teams selected to compete in the semi-finals. It is a web-based business designed to connect communities rather than individuals.  Southern Arkansas Biodiesel, LLC, which tied for second place and won $3,000, was developed by Reuben Cash, a senior accounting and business administration major with an emphasis in finance from Springfield, Tenn.; Brandi George, a senior biology major from Malvern, Ark.; and Kendra Pruitt, a senior business administration major with an emphasis in finance from Newport, Ark. At the Governor\u2019s Cup, it was selected to compete for the agriculture award. It makes biodiesel from vegetable oil waste produced in OBU\u2019s food services operation. OBU\u2019s diesel-powered maintenance vehicles are currently operating with this product.  PlotIdeas.com was developed by Nathan Peace, a junior mass communications and Christian studies double major with emphases in Christian ministries and Biblical studies from Bedford, Texas.  Rosko\u2019s Greek Gear, LLC, was developed by Damien Roberts, a senior business administration major with emphases in management and finance from Lexa, Ark.  <a title=\"OBU\u2019s inaugural Business Plan Competition offers practical experience\" href=\"http:\/\/media.obu.edu\/2010\/03\/obu%E2%80%99s-inaugural-business-plan-competition-offers-practical-experience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>By Rebecca Stone\u00a0<\/em><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ouachita Baptist University\u2019s Hickingbothom School of Business recently held its inaugural Business Plan Competition. Participating students formed teams or worked individually under the supervision of a faculty member to create a start-up company for rewards of up to $4,000. \u201cThese students submitted \u2018real\u2019 business plans, the same type of plan that one would produce prior [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138502223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-entrepreneurship-foundation-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>OBU Inaugural Business Plan Competition Offers Practical Experience | ACC Capital<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/acccapital.com\/hi\/obu-inaugural-business-plan-competition-offers-practical-experience\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"hi_IN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"OBU Inaugural Business Plan Competition Offers Practical Experience | ACC Capital\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ouachita Baptist University\u2019s Hickingbothom School of Business recently held its inaugural Business Plan Competition. 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