Undergraduates, graduate students and professionals are invited to submit new venture plans
for review by a panel of entrepreneurs and experts
DOHA, QATAR – Under the support of Enterprise Qatar, Carnegie Mellon University and a Qatar-based consortium of higher education institutions and business development agencies announces the launch of Al Fikra – the National Business Plan Competition. The competition will start on March 2 and is open to all undergraduates, graduate students and professionals. It will be the largest business plan competitive event hosted in Qatar to date. Finalists will be asked to present their plans in May, with the winners announced at a gala event at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. Applications can be made via the official website www.alfikra.me.
The consortium includes leading universities such as Carnegie Mellon University, College of the North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q), Qatar University, Stenden University and Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. Besides backing from Enterprise Qatar, it also includes the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR), the Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA) and Qatar Development Bank (QDB). These organizations joined forces to develop a platform for identifying and nurturing entrepreneurial talent in Qatar, and together they are developing ways to increase awareness of entrepreneurship through holding business plan competitions, organizing networking events, incubation, and providing ongoing support to entrepreneurs.
Al Fikra directly supports the objectives of Enterprise Qatar, an initiative intended to promote and sustain small and mid-sized enterprises in Qatar. For Enterprise Qatar, organizing a business plan competition serves as a mechanism to attract entrepreneurs and beneficiaries of the services it offers. Ms. Noora Al Mannai, Deputy Project Director of Enterprise Qatar said: “Enterprise Qatar empowers young and dedicated entrepreneurs by removing obstacles and barriers for doing business and creating an environment where entrepreneurs can begin and thrive. It is envisaged that this business plan competition program will help to encourage the establishment of new companies and foster entrepreneurship culture in Qatar, pushing the new generation towards creating business ideas, developing and planning a business proposition.”
The National Business Plan Competition is an outgrowth of a program launched by Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar in cooperation with the Qatari Businessmen Association three years ago as an academic-business collaboration to enhance entrepreneurial spirit and support the development of a new generation of business leaders in Qatar.
“Carnegie Mellon Qatar believes business plan competitions are a way of helping young people realize their dreams,” says George White, entrepreneurship professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.. “We have many idealistic young people who want to make the world a better place; and there is no better way to create social change than to start a business. We are pleased that today’s competition has gained broad support of both the academic and business communities, expanding to include such prominent organizations with so much to offer those who start new enterprises.”
Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al Thani, Chairman of QBA has been a long-time sponsor of Carnegie Mellon business plan competitions, and he agrees. “We believe that entrepreneurship strengthens the economic growth of a country and speeds up modernization. Our support for this competition comes from our strong faith in the necessity of empowering the youth to become active constituents of today’s business society, supporting economic and innovative projects that we believe are the basis for developing a knowledge-based economy.”
Al Fikra aims to provide an integrative learning experience for those involved. Over the course of the next three months, the participants will learn to articulate their new business idea into a proposal through tutoring and coaching sessions offered by the sponsors – how to develop the plan, draft an executive summary, build the financial statements, present the business pitch.
Through collaboration between the universities and business organizations, the members are committed to helping the youth become entrepreneurs by coordinating their activities and leveraging their areas of expertise.
“Supporting this event is an integral step in our endeavor to prepare the Qatar workforce for a more diversified, future economy,” said Faye McKay, Dean of the School of Business of CNA-Q, a member of the new consortium. “In its support for nation’s goal to diversify the economy through development and support of small and medium sized enterprises, CNA-Q opened the Entrepreneurship Centre in 2010. The Centre will provide mentoring support to applicants who would like help in developing their business plan.”
Qatar Development Bank is also a member of the consortium. Speaking about their participation, Mansoor E. Al-Mahmoud, Chief Executive Officer said: "QDB understands that education, opportunity, research and development are critical to entrepreneurship and the development of a knowledge based economy and we are happy to be part of this consortium. Business planning precedes bankable business cases which, hopefully, many of those submitted in this competition will become. We would certainly like to see them take advantage of the Al-Dhameen program which targets SMEs and budding entrepreneurs.”
He added: “We feel that it is the responsibility of each organization to collaborate together to support SMEs in Qatar and to promote the entrepreneurial spirit."
As part of its effort to set the foundation for a vibrant ICT industry, ictQATAR is committed to innovation so entrepreneurs can offer new competitive services and applications. “To this end, we are pleased to be a member of this consortium promoting entrepreneurship and the business plan competition in Qatar. ictQATAR encourages research to develop broadband content by way of providing the funding mechanisms and support required for start-ups and SMEs,” said Duha Al-Buhendi, Incubation Center Section Manager at ictQATAR. “To capture the opportunity and benefits of digital content and encourage innovation, entrepreneurship and stimulate supply, ictQATAR is establishing an Incubation Centre to focus on developing innovative digital services and applications."
Interested applicants can submit their plans via the official website alfikra.me. Business plans that have been submitted for this competition will be reviewed and then short-listed for the 2-minute brief presentation stage (elevator pitch). Finalists from the elevator pitch will be asked to present their plans to a judging panel which will consist of successful entrepreneurs and business experts. Winning teams will be awarded prizes including cash, “angel” funding, loan collateralization, mentoring and incubation.
Eligibility requirements, judging criteria and key dates for the competition are all available on the website www.alfikra.me.
