Blah Blah from The TeaBreak Team.

Through the years we have heard of various organizations and universities running Business Plan Competitions. Things have come to such a stage that now when someone mentions they are holding such a competition, all I find myself doing is shrinking back and hoping I won’t be asked to be part of it.

The reason for feeling this way is that, to my mind, these events do not really accomplish very much. A few weeks of putting together a theoretical plan which the youngsters are not planning to take any further, results in an ‘unreal’ exercise - much like most final year projects at Universities. No real passion goes into it because the end objective seems to be to win, not to end up with something that is going to be a solution to an existing problem that will be implemented, and will be sustainable. Yes sure some of the mentoring and coaching is probably retained by them but not enough. It is still theoretical/academic. Both of these generic activities need to be thought through. Why can’t we do something more useful, I keep asking myself? Something that will result in real businesses being formed and real products being developed.

Obviously Jawwad Farid read my mind and has come up with the beginnings of a solution for the Business Plan Competition part of the above problem. Here is what he says.

This cup of tea was served by: In the Line of Wire