The UNM Business Plan Competition is gearing up for its 12th year of turning students into entrepreneurs.
A meeting on Sept. 15 will kick off seven months of entrepreneurial “boot camps” and seminars featuring hands-on mentorship from experienced, market-tested entrepreneurs.
These camps will culminate in a March presentation-based competition with thousands of dollars in start-up cash at stake.
The two-track competition emphasizes the development of commercial and technology-based business ventures. Sponsors include the Technology Innovation Program, Lockheed Martin and Sandia National Laboratories, among others.
The first, second and third place winners in the technology ventures track are awarded $25,000, $20,000 and $15,000, respectively. On the entrepreneurial side, the award money ranges from $2,500 to $7,500.
Sul Kassicieh, chairperson for the Department of Finance, International, Technology and Entrepreneurship at Anderson, and founder of the competition, said one way to enhance a struggling state economy is to help students figure out ways in which they can start new businesses, “especially on the technology side.”
“National statistics basically indicate that new start-ups in technology are very important for this country’s creation of wealth and high-paying jobs,” he said. "For New Mexico to participate fully in the national economy, and help ourselves, and help the nation, this (competition) is an important activity.”
The opportunity to present a well-developed idea to investors should encourage students to participate in the competition, Kassicieh said, not to mention the educational experience that allows students “to get feedback and improve their business idea so they can succeed when they take it to market.”
Groups of two to five students, or eligible alumni, with an ownership stake in the proposed business venture can take part.
As of last year, the competition has been expanded to include CNM students, he said, and there are plans to expand even more.
“This year we’re going to try adding New Mexico Tech and New Mexico State, and obviously any (university in New Mexico) that wants to participate,” Kassicieh said.
By doing this, Kassicieh said he hopes the program might be able to benefit not only local higher-ed students, but those from throughout the state as well.
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Joshua Martinez, a junior mechanical engineering student, alongside his team, Obvious Engineering, placed third on the technology side of the 2015 Business Plan Competition.
After developing an idea for a novel wildfire fighting technology as part of an engineering design course, Martinez said one of his professors introduced him to Kassicieh, who invited him to attend the kickoff meeting in September of 2014.
“I was pretty interested,” Martinez said. “I like the idea of potentially pursuing an idea of my own as opposed to going to work for a larger company here in town, and just taking the typical engineer path, which is pretty boring as far as I’m concerned. You just graduate and then you go and you work on someone else’s project.”
Prior exposure to things like product research, market research, patent searches and financial calculation allowed Obvious Engineering to “hit the ground running,” he said.
Martinez and his future business partner sat down and discussed the opportunity.
"Let’s take this product, let’s enter the Business Plan Competition, let’s see how we do. If we do well, maybe we should try to start a business and see where it takes us," Martinez said. "If we do poorly, we’ll chalk it up to experience, part ways and figure out what to do from there.”
Martinez said it's not all about winning, either.
“If you don’t make one of the top four, and don’t get prize money, you can still meet people there who might like your idea and might be willing to help you out,” he said. "Failure is relative.”
