Hi everyone, I'm sharing this quick guide to making sure you've covered everything the judges are looking for in your Validate portfolio. Feel free to email questions to Open-Business-Creators@open.ac.uk and come along to our Q&A session on the 22nd. 

Full instructions for entering are now on the 'How to Enter' page.

Our panel of judges will be reading through the portfolio you create in Validate and evaluating how you’ve conveyed the ten elements of your business model canvas (customer segments, value proposition, etc).  They’ll also be looking at your project summary for an overview of how you came up with your idea and where you are with it (are you still doing market research, getting feedback on a prototype, building a website, etc.) Or, if you have an early-stage business, i.e. trading for less than a year, are you gaining traction with customers? What challenges are you facing? What are your plans for the next 3-6 months?

We’ll also want to see what you plan to use the grant funding for if your business or idea is selected. You can list some equipment that you plan to buy, details of freelancers you plan to hire, or stock you need to build up, for example.

We wont’ be looking at the Tests function of Validate, this feature is just there for you to use as you develop your idea.

Here is what judges are looking for in your business model:

·        When looking at your customer segments, we want to see that they are well defined with a clear description of (1) their goals (3) their concerns, and/or (3) their influences.

·        Consider whether your value proposition (1) accurately describes the products and/or services, (2) clearly articulates a unique selling point, and (3) includes a thorough assessment of the competition.

·        Consider whether your Get/Keep/Grow block (1) outlines an awareness strategy, (2) how and where purchases can be made, and (3) develops an idea of brand and a reward strategy for customer retention. (4) Have you included reasonable growth (scaling) strategies?

·        Have you listed appropriate channels and provided convincing reasons for using them?

·        Have you developed strategies for development of activities, resources and partners, engaging customers and delivering on your value proposition? This is important – more than just a list of activities, resources and partners – we want to know how these are working together to make your idea work.

·        Have you included applicable fixed and variable costs and do you have an appropriate pricing strategy? Is your cash flow realistic? We are not necessarily looking for you to have broken even, but for you to have reasonably estimated your costs and projected potential revenue.

·        Have you described a social and/or environmental problem and explained how your idea addresses this and adds value.