• Who can participate in BAP?
  
  
  • Teams from only registered IT Companies can participate.
  • Companies must have been in operation in Pakistan for at least 3 years.
  • The average revenue for the past three years should be between US$ 0.1 to 3 Millions.
  • Teams including Organizers, Sponsors, Mentors/Coaches and/or Judges are not eligible.
    
    
• What is the Over all Process for the BAP?
  
  
  • Invitations will be sent out to the IT companies operating in Pakistan.
  • In order to provide IT Companies an introduction to BAP and its salient features three Introductory Sessions will be conducted at Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi
  • Teams from IT companies have to fill out the prescribed Application Form as best as they can and also prepare a 1-2 page Executive Summary(ES) that contains the following information: a) what markets are addressed, b) how big are these markets, c) what is unique about the company offering, d) what does the company like to get out of BAP, e) basic financial projections, f) contact info and g) basic statistics: # of employees, sales figures, channel, etc.
    A Business Acceleration Workshop (BAW) would be conducted to help the teams to finalize the BAP Applications Forms (AF) & Executive Summaries (ES). In the workshop firstly what is good a Business Plan, how to fill the AF, how to prepare a good ES and what the VCs/Judges are looking for will be presented. This will be followed by one-to-one mentoring of the teams. Teams using the knowledge gained in BAW should finalize their AFs and ES and email these along with undertakings.
  • A screening will be done on the applications to select candidate companies.
  • Local Mentoring/Coaching will be provided to team members from the selected teams at Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad.
  • The teams would then submit their Draft Business Acceleration Plan (BPs).
  • Foreign Mentors/Coaches would then be assigned to each team to come up with the final BPs. This coaching will be done through email/phone/chats/audio-video conferences.
  • The final BPs and draft presentations will be submitted for scrutiny and finalists will be selected based on this information.
  • The finalists will make presentations to the judges. A ceremony would be held in which the winners, runner-ups, other finalists and other selected teams will be given awards, shields and certificates.
    
    
• What is meant by Acceleration?
  
  A strategy that a company uses to double/triple its revenues in 3-5 years. This could include Innovative Products and/or Services, new Marketing/Sales Techniques, New Markets addressed, New Revenue and/or cost models, New delivery/distribution model, New operations model, etc., in fact a new business model.
  
  
• How do teams participate in BAP?
  
  Please download the Application Form and provide your Company’s and team details. Teams also have to fill in Executive Summary. The CEO and or a member of the BOD must be a member of the team.
  
  
• What Should the Business Acceleration Plan and Executive Summary cover?
  
  Some or all of the following could be covered:
  
  
  • Business Plan should address some or all of the following:
    
    
    • Cover page setting forth the name of the team and the team members
    • Table of contents
    • Executive summary (maximum two pages)
    • Description of the company background to date
    • Acceleration concept
    • Description of the market opportunity
    • Description of the products and/or services now being offered
    • Business model describing how the business will generate the expanded revenue and profits
    • Target audience and customer segments
    • Structure of the industry in which the business wishes to operate
    • Description of existing and potential competition
    • The new Operations/production plans
    • The new Distribution plans
    • The new Marketing plan & Sales strategy
    • New or old Technology and intellectual property issues
    • The new Management strategy and human resources plan
    • New and old Critical risk factors and contingency plans
    • The new or existing Exit or phase-out strategy
    • The new or existing Legal and regulatory considerations
    • The new Plan for raising venture or other capital
    • The new or existing Funding needs and anticipated use of those funds
    • Key assumptions used in the financial analysis
    • Financial highlights, including financial projections for a five-year period: monthly for year 1, quarterly for years 2-3 and annually for years 4-5; and break-even analysis.
    • Appendices containing the bios or resumes of the existing management team; trademarks or patents applied for; diagrams or images of prototypes, products or services; and sources of research and other documentation.
      
      
  • Executive Summary may contain some or all of the following:
    
    
    • A description of the existing company strengths and weaknesses, products and/or services and achievements and failures.
    • a description of the market opportunity available;
    • a viable business opportunity;
    • the values driving the business;
    • an overview of the industry in which the business will compete, including demand and competitive advantage;
    • a strategy as to how the business intends to accelerate in next 5 years;
    • a statement as to the management and other resources that are available or will be acquired to accelerate the business;
    • a general plan for capitalizing the venture;
    • and the identification of critical issues to be resolved as the business moves forward.

Please also see our resource page for more information:

• What are the file naming conventions for all the submissions ?
  
  

  Please email the various submission to bapsubmission@mitcef-pakistan.org using the file naming conventions given below:

  Application Form (Word Document)
  	Draft Version :	companyname_application_draft
  	Final Version :	companyname_application_final
  Executive Summary (ES) (Word Document)
  	Draft Version :	companyname_es_draft
  	Final Version :	companyname_es_final
  Undertaking (ut) (Signed & scanned copies on company letter head)
  	Undertaking BOD :	companyname_ut_bod
  	Undertaking Team Lead (tl) :	companyname_ut_tl
  Business Acceleration Plan (BP) (Word Document)
  	Draft Version :	companyname_bp_draft
  	Final Version :	companyname_bp_final
  Presentation (Powerpoint Document)
  	Draft Version :	companyname_presentation_draft
  	Final Version :	companyname_presentation_final

  Note : In all the file names replace "companyname" with your own company name, but keep the rest of the name as given above.
  
  

• How do I get help?
  
  If you have query is of general nature then email to bapinfo@mitcef-pakistan.org, if your query is related to submission of Application Form, Executive Summary, Undertaking, Business Acceleration Plan, Presentation then email to bapsubmission@mitcef-pakistan.org & if you have any issue then email to bapissues@mitcef-pakistan.org
  
  
• How is confidentiality of the Application/BP maintained?
  
  Application, Executive Summary and BP are handled by judges and Mentors/Coaches who are reputed experts, entrepreneurs and industrialists who believe in promoting entrepreneurship.
  
  All information provided by the participants will be treated with the utmost confidentiality. However, financial investment professionals such as venture capitalists and investment bankers seldom sign confidential non-disclosure agreements. Participants in the Competition can be confident that the organizer, sponsor, judges/mentors will respect the confidential nature of the submissions and honor the spirit of the program.
  
  
• Deadlines?
  
  Please see the section on Timelines.
  
  
• Can I get a copy of a Business Plan?
  
  All the Business Plans and the Applications of participants in BAP are regarded as extremely confidential. They are disclosed only to the Judges and Mentors/coaches. If any team permits brief summary of their entry will be provided on the web site. We encourage you to contact the teams directly to discuss receiving copies of the plans.
  
  
• What size should my team be?
  
  Teams can be of any size, but a typical team consists of 3 to 5 members. Each team should determine what expertise it needs to develop a successful business plan and build a team to meet those needs.
  
  
• How will the Application Information, Business Plan and Presentation are
  judged?
  
  
  • Initial Screening Criteria to select up to 20 candidate companies
    Judges for the initial phase of the BAP will provide feedback on the information provide in the Application Form and the Executive Summary submitted by the Participants based on the following guidelines:
    • Is the market big enough i.e. are the market/opportunity size estimates realistic?
    • Does the acceleration strategy have the potential to take the company from revenues of US$ 0.2-3 millions to US$ 0.4-6 millions in next 3 years?
    • Does the company have resources and ability to implement the acceleration strategy?
    • What critical issues need to be resolved as the business moves forward with its acceleration planning process and does the company have the ability and resources to address these issues?
    Judging will be based on a scale of 1 to 7 (1 = Very poor, 2 = Poor, 3 = Fair, 4 = Adequate, 5 = Good, 6 = Very Good, 7 = Excellent). Based on this all the applications will be ranked and the top 20 will be selected for the BAP.
    
    
  • BP Judging Criterion for selecting the 4 finalists and Winners & Runner-up:
    In evaluating the written business plans, the judges will again use a scale of 1 to 7: In rating each of the Critical Elements listed below on a 1 to 7 scale, the judges will consider the following:
    • Does the Acceleration Pan indicate an attractive and realistic business opportunity for the company:
      • Does the Acceleration Plan presents credible information about market size, timing and growth rate?
      • Does the acceleration plan offer sufficient differentiation to attract new customers and/or change the behaviour of existing customers.
      • Does the Acceleration Plan accurately present the competition and a good competitive strategy?
      • Does the Acceleration Plan present a profitable and scalable business model?
    • Are the products and/or services ready for the market:
      • How long has the products and/or services been in the market?
      • Has the products and/or services been extensively used in the market?
    • Are the revenue projections in line with the market opportunity?
      • Does the plan describe how the sales will be generated?
      • Are the adoption rates, sales cycles and selling costs realistic?
    • Are the financial projections in line with the business opportunity?
      • Is there a clear financial plan?
      • Is the business adequately funded or adequate funding planned?
      • Has the company planned adequately for cash flow management?
    • Does the company history support the plans claims?
    • Does the management team have breadth, balance and quality to execute the plan?
      • Is the management team in place or is it being built? Do members have relevant experience, skills and track record?
      • Will any current gap limit the company?
    • What risks does the business face and what remedies are planned to address these?
      
      
  • Oral Presentation
    The judges will use the same 1-7 rating scale described above to evaluate the oral presentations made by the four finalists.
    Formal Presentation
    • Are the materials are presented in a clear, logical, sequential and informative manner?
    • How well do the individuals function as a team?
    • Is the team persuasive in its key points?
    • Does the team maintain the interest of the judges?
    • Are the visual aids helpful in making the case for the business?
    • Does the team make good use of the time allotted?
      Questions and Answers
    • Does the team understand the judges’ inquiries and answer the questions posed?
    • Does the team show poise and confidence, and an ability to think well on their feet?
      
      
• What resources are available to help in writing my business plan?
  
  Please see our Resources & Download page. Twenty teams and the four finalists that will be selected will be provided coaching by local and foreign Mentors/Coaches so that they can develop a successful business plan and presentation.