China Thinks Big Venture Proposal Guidelines
In order for your candidacy to be considered in China Thinks Big 2015 Conference, all applicants must follow our business proposal guideline and meet all our requirements below. The proposal should be around 10-15 pages, submitted in both Microsoft Word (.doc) and .pdf format via the appropriate form on the CTB website. It should be formatted as a US Letter (8.5 x 11 inch) document with 1-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman font, single-spaced. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Executive Summary (1 page only)
• A short and concise summary of the venture proposal, answering the following four questions:
o In 3-5 sentences, briefly yet concisely summarize your venture idea/vision
o In what capacity/context does your idea involve China?
o What is the business opportunity that you’ve identified or the social problem that you are trying to solve? If competitors already exist in the space, what makes your idea stand out?
o Elaborate on why you are the ideal people to implement this venture
• Consult the document entitled “Business Plans” under the Resources section of the China Thinks Big website for reference
Mission & Vision (1 page)
● Mission statement (purpose of the venture)
o A compact statement that briefly explains the purpose of the venture, the target customer/beneficiary base that your venture targets, the methodologies that will be implemented, and the expected result.
o Examples:
▪ Our mission is to identify school-age children of low-income backgrounds and provide them with the tools and resources to help them reach their maximum scholastic potential and improve education equality between income levels.
▪ Our mission is to act as a financial intermediary, generating returns for our clients while providing affordable microfinancing to rural Chinese villagers.
● Vision (expand on the outlook of your venture)
o A statement that describes the result that the group envisions once the proposal is implemented
Example: Popularize entrepreneurship so that all younger leaders who want to make an impact to the world can carry out their plans.
o Goals and objectives
o Quantitative milestones that the group is trying to reach over a specified period of time
Examples:
• To improve female elementary school enrollment rate by 10% within the next 2 years.
• To break even on revenue by first year of operation
Value Proposition (2-3 pages)
• Describe in detail the business opportunity/social issue targeted by your venture
• Explain what unmet needs/opportunity/issue your venture addresses
o Examples:
Bank loans can be unavailable to people who need them due to credit or income issues, even when the loan could be potentially very beneficial to both the individual and the larger economy.
Individuals need a fast way to keep up with fitness goals, which will be fulfilled by our high-tech armband.
• Identify the target market
o Provide a detailed profile of your targeted customer/client(s) or area of impact, if applicable
o Example:
This project will target provinces with both an above average maternal mortality rate and low access to prenatal care.
This venture will target tech-savvy customers in the age 18-25 bracket with a dispensable income of above $50,000 USD.
• Identify potential competitors in your space. What will motivate customers/clients to choose your product/service/venture over your competitors?
o How is your venture superior to your competitors? Cost-savings? Differentiation/superiority of services/products? Customer support?
o If you are a social venture, why should you be the one to solve your targeted issue? Do you boast cost-savings for public infrastructure? Is your methodology more efficient?
• Describe what reach and impact is anticipated
o Who exactly will be benefited?
Example: Children from low-income families who rely on their contribution as part of the family income.
o What is the predicted improvement? (Qualitatively)
Example: More farmers can have easy access to irrigation channels.
o What is the magnitude of improvement? (Quantitatively)
Example: Reduce the prevalence of STD by 10% in the next two years.
After reviewing this section the reader should know:
● Basic information about the current state of the business opportunity/social problem and what aspects of that problem the venture hopes to address
● The scope and anticipated impact of the venture, as well as the target market
● Anticipated competitors and competitive advantage of your venture
Strategy (2-3 pages)
• Lay out the details of your proposal
o What are the specific mechanisms that the venture intends to employ?
o If it is the invention of a product, define the actual functionality of the product
o If it is a type of service, describe the actual process
• What are your inputs? What do you need to implement a project? Where will you generate funding?
• How will you generate revenue? For a social venture, how do you plan to be sustainable?
• What is your growth model? Outline growth goal outlooks with concrete dates/numbers.
• After reviewing this section the reader should know:
o What your products and services are and how much they sell for
Operations (1-2 pages)
• Provide a description of how your venture is organized as well as an organization chart, if available
• Describe the potential legal structure of your venture (proprietorship, partnership, corporation, etc.)
• Identify necessary or special licenses and/or permits your venture may need to operates with
• Provide a comprehensive hiring profile for key managers within the venture, including skills, responsibilities, relevant experiences
• After reviewing this section the reader should know:
o The legal form of ownership for your venture
o Who the leaders are in your venture as well as their roles
o The general flow of operations within
o Anticipated operation/implementation issues and prepared solutions
Finance (1-3 pages)
• For-Profit or Non-Profit Venture
o Estimate of start-up costs
o Projected balance sheet (1 year forward)
o Projected income statement (1 year forward)
• Analysis of Existing For-profit/Non-profit Models
o If an existing comparable company is public, provide analysis of financial statements
o Describe industry spending trends and allocation of budget
o Compare this to your own financial projections
• Explain the long term sustainability of your project
o How can you generate funding for your project?
• After reviewing the section the reader should know:
o What the financial needs are for the venture
o What are possible ways to raise money for the venture
Additional Tips
• Detail and organization are extremely important!
• Include graphics and charts to help illustrate your points.
• The page numbers are only for guidance, with the exception of the Executive Summary, which must be 1 page long. Feel free to make each section shorter or longer, but note, do not stray too far from the page numbers.