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That's One Smart Cookie Team bakes up idea for business plan competition

January 15, 2008

By Karen Baird

Edmonton - The masterminds behind Cookie Delight brought their baked goods to the U of A School of Business Centre for Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise Student Business Plan Competition last weekend. They quickly learned the route to the judges’ hearts was through their stomachs. “This takes the best of cookie franchises and customizes it to the customer’s tastebuds,” said team leader Jessica Lee, 2010 BCom. Along with fellow students Rosalie Russnak and Danielle Wiebe, Lee cooked up the plan to offer customers their choice of six batters and add ingredients such as macadamia nuts, whipping up a batch as small as three fresh, mouth-watering cookies in eight minutes.

“Larger batches would take more time, but we thought we could even do large orders, like 500 cookies for weddings,” said Lee, adding pre-baked stock would also satisfy clients who didn’t want to wait for the dough to come out of the oven.

The team took several batches, in attractive packaging to the competition at the Stollery Executive Development Centre on Saturday, which saw approximately 80 participants devise new methods of doing business, new technology or add to an existing business.

Lee’s team won in the Open-Innovation division for creative mobilization of resources (e.g. opportunity, products, markets, team, financial) with high potential to be a successful new venture. “One of our advisors said if you had a working product, it would show the judges that we were really prepared,” said Lee. The group is considering taking their sweet idea to the Fast Growth Venture Prize competition in April in Edmonton.

The runners up in the Open Innovation category were eppoint.ca by students Vicki Wan, Paula Overguard, Andrew Mun and Margaret McGarth, and Sure Step, by students Jessica Gagne, Michael Holmes, Elyce Burek and Kyle Hughes.

Business alumnus Darryl Lesiuk, Executive Director CEFE – Student Business Plan Competition, said he was impressed with the caliber of the competitors on Saturday. “The presentations were really entrepreneurial and there was a lot of passion and energy in the room. What surprised me was the quality of the individuals and how they stood up and allowed their entrepreneurial spirit to move their business plans forward,” he said.

Lesiuk described the business plan competition as a way for students to formalize business ideas in three separate divisions and receive feedback from judges. Winners in each category received a $6,000 prize. Runners up in each category won $2,000. Entry in this competition allows participants to enter future business plan competitions around the world.

In the Technology division, sponsored by TEC Edmonton – Venture Prize, students were challenged to use the commercial application of scientific knowledge or radical innovation.

Baeiker Hot Coils won first place in that category, with team members William Yatscoff, Todd Keys and Trevor Tracey devising a way for steel to be welded quicker, better and faster. The runners up were Mountain Flix by Karina Low and IdleTime by James Matsuba. All three teams are invited to the Venture Prize Alberta student business plan competition in April.

The Family Enterprise division, sponsored by Alberta Business Family Institute, was for multi-generational and/or sibling enterprises using existing family resources to start a new business or significantly expand the enterprise's core business into new products, new markets, spin-off companies, etc. Sweetgrass Storage took first place, by students Ross Tisdale, Jeff Martens, Beverly Eastham and Clarice To. The runner up was Isirdi...That's Paradise, by students Bruno Isirdi, Jeanne Berthon and Albert James.

While the competition was open to all Northern Alberta post secondary students, most of the participants, and all of the winners and runners up were from the U of A.

Lesiuk said students with ideas such as the ones presented at the competition will ensure the economy diversifies in the future. “They’ve got the self confidence and motivation. They’ll take on challenges and make things happen.”

Entrepreneurship and the U of A

The U of A School of Business is committed to helping those pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors. A variety of resources are available within the School to help people get started or to develop and foster new relationships that will grow a business. One example is a degree with a major in Entrepreneurship and Small Business.

For further information, contact:

Darryl Lesiuk
Director, CEFE Student Business Plan Competition
School of Business, University of Alberta
780.441.1573
dlesiuk@ualberta.ca

Karen Baird
Public Affairs Associate
School of Business, University of Alberta
780.492.8695
karen.baird@ualberta.ca