One of the best ways to develop a good business plan is to enter a business plan competition. While they come in a variety of formats, most competitions bring together industry experts, thought leaders, potential investors and former participants not only to judge, but to act as presenters, coaches—even potential business partners or angel investors—to guide participants in creating what every entrepreneur should pursue: "the perfect plan."

One such competition is the EnterPrize Business Plan Competition. Sponsored by the Pittsburgh Technology Council, EnterPrize is now in its eighth year. In addition to dolling out $600,000 in prize money in that time period, the competition boasts that its past participants—winners and non-winners alike—have raised more than $96 million in subsequent capital to fund their entrepreneurial endeavors.

We talked with several experts involved in this year's EnterPrize to get the inside scoop on what to look for in a competition, what to expect once you're in it and the best way to create a winning business plan.

What Not To Do
One thing everyone agreed on was the lack of focus suffered by most business plans. Too many judges see too many plans whose central solution will solve all problems across all industries.

"A lot of entrepreneurs come out of the University setting," said Raul Valdes-Perez, president and CEO of Vivisimo, a panelist at EnterPrize this year and a past participant. "There you get brownie points for demonstrating how your solution can apply to everything under the sun." What's needed, he said, is focus. "Narrow your focus to a specific problem and demonstrate how your solution is the best at solving that problem."

Size Matters
Jack Roseman is director of the Roseman Institute and was a moderator at this year's EnterPrize workshops. A serial entrepreneur himself and former John R. Thorne Professor of Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University, Jack has seen a lot of business plans in his time, many of which were well put together but that didn't have a big enough market to warrant investor interest.

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