Frequently Asked Questions
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Is Conquest a business plan competition?
You can say so. We don't mind. But we would not ask you for your 30-page B-Plan at any stage of the competition.
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So how do you judge the ideas?
We ask you to fill up an application form. The details filled up in the form are sufficient for a judge to know how good the business idea is.
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Can I make changes in the form after submitting it?
Yes, as long as the deadline for submission is not over. The latest form submitted would be considered as entry to the competition.
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I have a business idea. And I don't have a team. Can I submit my business idea?
Yes you can, but we suggest you build a team as that is an important criterion for the success of a startup.
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My venture was registered three years ago. Can I participate?
No. The startup should not have registered before 15 March 2011 to submit an entry in the Business Plan Competition.
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I have a business idea. But I have no plans of starting up in the near future. Should I apply?
No.
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If I don't need any investment for my startup, can I apply?
Yes, it's your decision to go for an investment or not. A good number of the entries we receive do not require funding. The Conquest prize money can also act as a small seed fund, without any promise of equity in your company.
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How much seed fund can I expect to receive?
Some startups do not require seed fund at all, some might need a few hundred thousand rupees, and few might even require more. We can arrange for seed funding upto ten million rupees, but that depends on your business idea.
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Is there any application fee?
No
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I am now a finalist. Do I need to come to Pilani to claim my prize money?
Yes, you have to come to BITS Pilani and participate in the finals of Conquest, in order to claim the prize money.
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What other resources will I get?
You'll be offered incubation at our partner incubation centers in various parts of India. Also, you'll get help in setting up / maintaining your startup's official website, with our partner web designing firms. Moreover, you will get e-Marketing and social media support from our partner firms too. We can also help you out in registering your business smoothly. All you need to do is indicate these choices in a form that will be mailed to you, should you reach the Top 30 stage. We'd also be mailing you academic resources from time to time. However, we assure you that the networks that you build during our final event in August 2012 would be the most valuable resource that you have.
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If I qualify in the Top 30, how will my mentor be assigned?
You will not be assigned a mentor. You will have to choose your own mentor, based on the location where you go for mentoring sessions. And you can choose more than one mentors too, depending upon your requirement and the willingness of the mentor.
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So how am I supposed to connect with the mentor(s)?
There will be a mentoring round in a city close to your home. There will be 5-6 mentors in the venue and you can interact with all of them. The organizers will seek to ensure that the mentors are from diverse backgrounds, like financial, legal, web, etc. You may also connect to mentor(s) online.
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In which cities are the mentorship sessions being held?
The sessions will be held in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. We may add more cities to this number, of which you will be notified, should you reach the Top 30 stage.
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How many mentors will be there?
We can't say the numbers for sure; we'll try our best to keep the ratio of mentors to startups as one to one.
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This involves travelling to the location, right?
Yes, it does. And we are trying our best to ensure that you do not need to travel a lot. Hence, there will be at least four cities in India where mentoring will be done.
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During the mentoring session, all of my team-mates will be in different parts of the world. How will we choose our mentoring location then?
All of you can attend different locations too; so one of your team mates can attend the session in Delhi, while another member can attend the Bangalore session that time.
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I do not live in India. Can I have face-to-face mentoring?
Currently, we are figuring out the logistics. It depends on your country. But even if we cannot arrange a mentoring location, we'll have it online via Skype.
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Our startup has already done the pilot run. So what do I do?
You can work further on the startup on basic things like building a Facebook page for your fans, building your website or looking for customers.
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I haven't done a pilot run before. I need guidance on that.
Conquest mentors will definitely help you out. If you are in touch with them even after the mentoring sessions, they will definitely help you in working on your business prototype.
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Will I get a certificate of participation after the competition?
Certificates will be provided to all the finalists and to the participants of Startup Showcase exhibiting their startups.
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I have more questions. How can I get in touch with the organizers?
You can mail in your queries to conquest@celbits.org. We'll be glad to help you out. Anytime.
