In these notes, there may be terms that you have heard of: if this is the case, look up such terms to familiarize yourself with them. Also it may be useful to research how to write a business plan when developing your concept note.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CONSIDERATIONS

Each concept note will be registered in your name on the day it is received, and your rights in it will be protected. Only judges who have signed a non-disclosure agreement will see your full concept note. If you are asked to fill out a full business plan, we will work with you to further protect, register and/or patent your business idea. Only your name and business title will be listed publicly.

CONTEST GOALS

To INSPIRE the world's young people to recognize that their future prosperity and comfort lies in building the green economy in their lifetimes.
To PERSUADE elders and government officials that young people merit investments in their green economy business start-up efforts.
To ENCOURAGE young people (up to age 30) to put forward innovative business ideas that can form the building blocks of a new, clean green economy based on renewable energy, resource efficiency, social equity, and the restoration as well as the conservation of the earth's eco- systems.

WHAT WE EXPECT FROM YOU

• BUSINESS PROPOSITION: This is where you summarize your business plan, why is your proposition worthy of investment? It should identify the market segment you are targeting and the added value that your team and your business brings to customers in that market segment. Explain how you would position your new product or service to differentiate it from others in the market, and define its competitive advantage. Outline your pricing strategy and how this assists your competitive advantage. Also show how it covers running costs, repays start-up expenses, and assures long-term profitability. You also need to outline your sustainability strategy explaining how your product or service will remain at the cutting edge of your chosen field.

• BUSINESS IDEA: This contest also welcomes business ideas, which are not fully worked out business plans. Though we seek outside-the-box ideas, your idea should be feasible. Your idea should be supported by process, market research, innovations and be relevant to the green economy – just like the business plan.

• MARKET RESEARCH: Market research is fundamental to any kind of business plan. We strongly encourage interviews and questionnaires with potential customers, with suppliers, academics and financiers working in the sector, in order to achieve an effective market research.

• PROCESS: We would like you to explain the thought process you went through to develop your business idea: what sparked the idea? – how did you develop it? – price it? – budget it? – build your team? – do your market research? - design your logo? – develop a competitive advantage?

• INNOVATION: Tell us why you think your business proposition is different, new, exciting, or inspirational. We also want to know why such innovation is so badly needed, aside from its green credentials

• GREEN ECONOMY CRITERIA: This is perhaps the most important question of the whole form – so think about it carefully. The UN Environment Programme has defined a Green Economy as one that delivers "improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcity." Is your business proposition sustainable, non-polluting and resource efficient? Does it ensure that the people involved have good health and safety standards, a decent living wage, and opportunities for advancement? How does the manufacture, delivery and use of your product or service impact on the environment? Finally, what happens to your product at the end of its useful life? Can it be recycled, re-used, or dismantled to be used in other ways? Life-cycle considerations are a key component of current Green Economy thinking, make sure you consider this aspect in your proposal.

• SKILL SHARING: We want to know about the training opportunities your project might offer, particularly in 'green business skills'. Would you be willing to mentor other young people who are looking to start their own business?

Many different partners will be reviewing Concept Notes, so it is vital that all readers / judges use the same scoring criteria for each entry. Please score each entry out of 70 – thus:

• NAME: How far does the name of the business attract attention in relation to branding, and market position? Does it help describe the innovation being promoted and its green qualities?

• BUSINESS PROPOSITION / IDEA: for the business proposition - what is the viability of the proposition – could it be profitable? – Is it well worked out? – does it fill a gap in the market? Does the team seem equipped to handle the challenges? Does it make sense? (Do NOT score here for questions covered later in the application form.) For the business idea - is it realizable – technologically, physically? Does it have potential to yield a return on investment?

• MARKET RESEARCH: Score the evidence provided by the young manager to identify the segment of the market that their proposed product or service fits into – and whether that market has sufficient size to support their initiative? If the initiative aims to create a new market – what comparable markets have they investigated? Score the effort, and to an extent the proof given, here.

• PROCESS: Top marks should go to those who tell a coherent story of how they had, then developed, their idea / proposition.

• INNOVATIONS: The main scoring point is that the idea should grab you with the freshness of its thinking. It has to have a "why-has-no-one-thought-of-that-before!?" quality – an approach that makes you sit up and take notice. Also, please remember the GEEBIZ objective of inspiring the world's young people or persuading elders and government officials to invest in them when grading. We need fresh innovative ideas that will help us in our objective!

• GREEN CRITERIA: The most important element of the Application - please score carefully. High marks should go to those initiatives that are the most environmentally friendly – either in manufacture or use; that demonstrate product life-cycle management; that use renewable resources or demonstrate powerful resource efficiency. We want initiatives that 'improve human well-being and social equity while reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. In other words, look for eco-friendly initiatives that have at their heart an effort to contribute to the societal goals of poverty eradication and social equity.