| CONCURSOS PUNTOLATINO DE PLANES DE NEGOCIO | SUIZA-BRASIL |
Call to Participate in the IV «PuntoLatino»
Business Plan Competition 2016-17 Switzerland-Brazil
Purpose of the Competition
Following the success of previous year editions of the yearly Business Plan Competition between Switzerland and various Latin American countries, PuntoLatino convenes the IV Competition: Switzerland-Brazil. The aim of PuntoLatino’s Competitions is to stimulate commercial interest and to encourage the participation of small business owners and young entrepreneurs in projects that strengthen–in the framework of existing agreements–the relationship between Switzerland and Latin American countries.
— Spanish Version, See more …
— Einglish Version, See more …
1. The Nature of the Competition
1.1 Participants: participants must be 18 years old or older, interested in the business world, with or without an academic background, holder of any nationality, residing in Switzerland or Brazil.
1.2. Theme and Action Plan: the participants are to propose a Business Plan that is innovative and within Switzerland and the aforementioned countries’ standing legal framework. The Business Plan cannot propose business activities only in one country, for example only in Switzerland or only in Brazil. A relationship between Switzerland and Brazil must exist (See questionnaire form).
– The business considered in the Business Plan can deal with imports or exports. If it is import into Switzerland, the product must come entirely from Brazil.
– The Business Plan can be about a new business or an existing business to be developed or transformed (See questionnaire form).
– The proposed project must contain an executive summary (abstract) as an initial document, a participant’s (or participants’) CV, and a profile of the existing or prospective business (See questionnaire form).
1.3. Languages: the Business Plan may be written in Portuguese, English, Spanish, German, or French.
1.4. Length: the Business Plan may not exceed 20 pages, preferably written in the Times family fonts, size 12 points, line spacing 1.5 (approx. 50,000 characters, including spaces). If the participant finds it necessary, annexes should not exceed 10 pages. The Business Plan must be presented in a single PDF document.
1.5. Individual or collective authors: If the proposed Business Plan is submitted collectively, one of the authors must assume the role of official representative.
1.6. University students must propose a real business: university students shall aim to propose a real business and not merely offer an academic exercise that proves their professional competencies. We make a calling for Business Plans destined to be put into practice. We do not work in a purely theoretic level.
1.7. Other requirements: the Business Plan must be unpublished, but it is possible to reuse previous work. In reference to academic work, these must have the Dean’s permission or the relevant university authorization and it must absolutely be destined to the setting up of a business. It cannot solely be an academic work. PuntoLatino members cannot be participants nor members of the Qualifying Jury.
2. Working Calendar, Dates and Deadlines of the Competition
– Registration is not mandatory or binding: September 01, 2016 to April 30, 2017.
– E-mail address for the non-binding registration: luis.velez@puntolatino.ch
– Please also copy: info@puntolatino.ch
Registration has the sole purpose of giving the organizers an idea of the number of participants, and so that information can be sent to them throughout the course of the Competition.
– Deadlines for receipt of documents (See section 1.2.): September 01, 2016 to April 30, 2017 (closing date). You can send the Business Plan and documents directly, without previous registration.
– E-mail address to send the Business Plan and relevant documents: luis.velez@puntolatino.ch and info@puntolatino.ch
– Final communiqué from the Qualifying Jury informing who won the Competition: May 30, 2017. All participants will receive the communiqué.
– The awarding of prizes will be held either in the University of Zürich or the University of Bern in June 2017.
3. Sponsoring Committee and Jury
– As in previous Competitions, the Qualifying Jury is composed of experts stemming from the fields of academia, business, and consultancy. If too many Business Plans are received, the number of Jury members can be increased at the Jury’s request. The Jury will function with complete independence from PuntoLatino and the Sponsoring Committee.
– The Jury will have the competency to declare the Competition void if it judges that no proposed Business Plan merits being prized. The Jury can also create the prize «Honorable Mention» (only a certificate) if there are many commendable proposals.
– The Sponsoring Committee will consist of a representative of each sponsoring institution or its delegate. PuntoLatino counts on (or is requesting) the support of SECO, Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE), SIPPO, AVINA, FUNDES, SwissCham Brasil, Startups.ch AG, rubio consulting, the S-GE HUB in Brazil, the HSG’s HUB in Brazil, the Swiss Embassy in Brazil and the Brazilian Embassy in Switzerland, and the Latin American students at the following Swiss Universities: Zürich, ETH, St.Gallen, and Bern.
4. Prizes
– First Prize: CHF 3,000 in cash.
– Prize in expert business consulting worth CHF 1,200 from Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE) if the project is in exports, or SIPPO or another institution if it is in imports.
– A Certificate and Diploma from the Qualifying Jury.
– An advertisement voucher for one year worth CHF 400 from PuntoLatino.
– Second Prize: Minimum of CHF 2,000 in cash.
– Prize in expert business consulting worth CHF 1,200 from Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE) if the project is in exports, or SIPPO or another institution if it is in imports.
– A Certificate and Diploma from the Qualifying Jury.
– An advertisement voucher for one year worth CHF 400 from PuntoLatino.
– Third Prize: Minimum of CHF 1,500 in cash.
– Prize in expert business consulting worth CHF 1,200 from Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE) if the project is in exports, or SIPPO or another institution if it is in imports.
– A Certificate and Diploma from the Qualifying Jury.
– An advertisement voucher for one year worth CHF 400 from PuntoLatino.
5. Prizes in Expert Consulting
– Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE) offers 3 consulting prizes worth CHF 1,200 each, to give expert advice to the winners in the fields of Importing and Exporting. Prizes have been described in section 4.
– Startups AG offers a «startup» consulting prize worth CHF 1,000 if the winner is a Swiss resident. The expert advice will focus on the setting-up of a business.
– rubio consulting offers 2 consulting prizes worth CHF 1,000 if the winners are Swiss residents. The expert advice will concentrate on Marketing and Strategy to introduce the product in the Swiss market.
6. Evaluation Criteria
– IDEA 35% — Is it an innovative and original idea or was it already previously used? What is the added value? The Business Plan must fall under the framework of existing legal rules in Switzerland and the other countries mentioned in this Call to Participate in the IV PuntoLatino Business Plan Competition Switzerland-Brazil.
– BUSINESS PLAN (CONTENT) 30% — Is it complete? Have all the required topics and sections that belong in a Business Plan been fulfilled? Good Executive Summary (abstract), Business Team, Product/Services, Market and Competencies, Market and Sales, Benefits and Profitability, Organization, Infrastructure and Human Resources, Financial Plan, Risks and Opportunities, Social and Environmental Impact, Planning Schedule, Annexes, etc.
– IMPLEMENTATION / FEASABILITY 35% — At what stage is the execution of the project? What has already been accomplished? Is it doable? If it is only an idea, what do the feasibility studies reveal?
More information: As in previous years, PuntoLatino will publish a special section on models, etc., in Portuguese, English and Spanish.
Comisión de PuntoLatino para el IV Concurso
Comisarios:
— Rodrigo Ruiz Céspedes, jurista, UNIL, directivo PL
— Mauro Mondonça Kato, jurista, UNIL, coordinador PL Romandie
— Un tercer comisario se añadirá de SG o de ZH
Directivos involucrados en el IV Concurso:
— Luis Vélez-Serrano, MA y Dipl. EHS, Coordinación general
— Alexandre Ramos, Dr. Math. UNI BE, ex-Comisario
— Juan-Fernando Palacio, Dr. DES HSG
— Rocío Robinson Wiedemann, Dr. Phil. HSG
— Claudia Gafner-Rojas, Dr. iur. HSG
Colaboradores:
— Daniel Ortiz-Grassi, MA HEC LA, Revisión textos portugués, ex-Comisario
— Raphael Widmer, MA HSG, Revisión textos alemán e inglés
Form for Submitting the Business Plan
– It is essential that you add this Form to your Business Plan –
– Use additional paper to respond, if needed –
Thank you for participating in the IV PuntoLatino Business Plan Competition. In order to participate, the following is necessary:
1. Accurately fill out this form
2. Send your Business Plan, preceded by an Executive Summary (abstract)
3. Send a professional curriculum (CV) of each participant(s)
4. Send a profile of the existing or prospective business project
Complete name:
Complete mailing Address:
E-mail address:
I am a resident of Switzerland, Brazil, or both:
Name of the Business Plan:
Area or business sector (food, pharmaceutical, IT, services, etc.):
Product (briefly describe):
It is a Swiss product to be introduced in the Latin American market (please specify precisely which countries)
It is a Latin American product to be introduced in the Swiss market
Business:
For the moment, my business is only an idea
My business already exists and I want to expand or develop it further.
What is mainly missing or lacking in order to develop your already existing business?
If the business already exists, in which countries is it present in? If it does not already exist, what is missing to implement it?
My Business Plan was an academic project, but it can be turned into a real business. If this is the case, how have you studied the market? What are the competency results?
Business Plans shall aim to propose a real business and not merely an academic exercise that proves professional competencies.
– In what measure is your Business Plan’s idea innovative and original? In a scale from 1 to 7, what grade would you give yourself?
– Is your Business Plan a complete work? (Executive Summary (abstract), Business Team, Product/Services, Market and Competencies, Market and Sales, Benefits and Profitability, Organization, Infrastructure and Human Resources, Financial Plan, Risks and Opportunities, Social and Environmental Impact, Legal Framework, Planning Schedule, Annexes and Statistics). In a scale from 1 to 7, what grade would you give yourself?
– How feasible is your Business Plan? Has it been implemented? If so, to what degree and at what stage is the execution of the project? What has already been accomplished? What needs to be done to be in business? Is it doable? If it is only an idea, what do the feasibility studies reveal?
Additional Questions:
– How did you find out about PuntoLatino’s Business Plan Competition?
– What motivated you to participate in the Competition?
Thank you for filling out this Form! Please don’t forget to include it with your Business Plan!
info@puntolatino.ch
Once filled out, please send this Form in PDF format.
Use additional sheets of paper to answer the questions adequately!
Best regards from PuntoLatino.
— Versión en español, VER …
— Versión en inglés, VER …
PuntoLatino Profile
PuntoLatino.ch is the meeting point for all the Latin American and Spanish cultural and economic activity in Switzerland. It was founded 14 years ago, it self-finances through advertisements, and is completely independent from all political, financial or religious commitments. PuntoLatino counts on the volunteer contributions from 51 writers, 12 of whom are Members of the Board. They are all professionals or students in Swiss universities. Additionally, PuntoLatino has 10 contributors who are former members or persons who do not have the time to be writers. All first-year writers must also be contributors upon beginning.
The Website had 22,000 visits per month in 2013. PuntoLatino offers two newsletters: one is cultural in nature and is distributed weekly, free of charge to more than 4,600 subscribers; the other newsletter specializes in financial and business news and has 900 subscribers. Both newsletters cover all of Switzerland.
PuntoLatino has many institutional partners, among them are Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE) and the Latin American Chamber of Commerce in Switzerland. It counts on the support of SECO (State Secretariat for Economic Affairs), CCIG (Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services), and several other private and public organizations. PuntoLatino also works and contributes working and collaborating with the Latin American Student Organizations at the University of Zurich, the ETH, and the Universities of Bern and St.Gallen.
PuntoLatino works primarily in the fields of CULTURE (Film, Music, Opera, Ballet, Literature, books, Photography, Art, museums, libraries, etc.), ECONOMICS, ECOLOGY, UNIVERSITIES, ASSOCIATIONS (Migration, Integration), etc.
We have two annual meetings: one in the University of Zurich or the ETH, and the other in the University of Geneva, University of Bern, or in a Chamber of Commerce as the one in Geneva.
PuntoLatino regularly participates in cultural events such as the Film Festivals of Locarno, Fribourg, Geneva, St. Gallen, Zürich, and Solothurn. We also actively cover jazz and classical music festivals, as well as economic conferences akin to the S-GE’s Forum for Swiss Foreign Trade, the Swiss Green Economy Symposium, Latin American Day at the University of St.Gallen, and several cultural events at the United Nations in Geneva.
Since 2012, PuntoLatino has an annual Business Plan Competition to encourage and support small business owners and young entrepreneurs in Switzerland and Latin American countries. Competition I was aimed towards Colombia and Peru. Competition II was earmarked for Mexico, while Competition III was jointly devoted to Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, and Uruguay. The IV Competition is allocated to Brazil.
www.puntolatino.ch PuntoLatino.ch
info@puntolatino.ch Postfach 1081 / CH-8048 Zürich
Entrega de premios del I Concurso «PuntoLatino» de Planes de Negocio Suiza-Colombia y Suiza-Perú. 25.05.13. Universidad de Zúrich. Presentes dos de las ganadoras.
El Embajador del Perú, Juan Carlos Gamarra, la Embajadora de Colombia, Beatriz Londoño Soto, el Ministro Philippe Nell y autoriades e invitados en la Entrega de Premios.
El Embajador de México, Jorge Castro-Valle; el Ministro Philippe Nell, autoridades e invitados a la Entrega de Premios del II Concurso «PuntoLatino» Suiza-México.
Miembros de PuntoLatino y «partners» de las asociaciones universitarias de UZH/ETH, UNI BE y HSG.
info@puntolatino.ch
www.puntolatino.ch
