Maverick Business Plan Winners
We checked in with previous winners and this is what they had to say!
2018 Winner: Raul Aguilera Ramirez - College Prep
How did it feel to win?
Our entire team was very empowered and energized to continue trying to make a positive impact.
What did you learn in that competition?
Product pitches require lots of conciseness, simplicity, prioritization of information, and an element of storytelling. The rehearsal for the competition served me well.
What does the future hold for you?
I am very confident about our current work and the team that I have the pleasure of working with. I am very optimistic, but the honest answer is I don’t know. I like to say that the only predictable thing about life is its unpredictability - and that makes things more exciting.
2014 Winner: Hannah Olson - Hannah Caroline Couture
How did it feel to win?
It felt incredible and also really surprising to win. I honestly thought that presenting my freshman year would be a practice run, and I hoped to place in the top 3 sometime while I was at UNO. So winning came as a huge surprise to me, and I'm still floored by all the support I've received from the UNO CBA faculty and the local startup community as a whole.
How did you use the earnings to advance your business?
I used the earnings to purchase more professional equipment (dress forms, sewing machines, cutting table) and upgrade things like my website, marketing materials, and packaging. I also purchased a few online sewing technique courses because I am fully self-taught in sewing and designing. Lastly, I put some of it toward the costs of showcasing my designs in Full Figured Fashion Week the following year.
Where are you at with your business now?
My business has grown to work with clients all over the country as well as other countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. I have pivoted my business a few times since the competition and have finally settled on where my niche is, which is creating custom and customizable evening wear and bridal for women of all sizes, but focusing on the plus-size woman. I have a brand ambassador program for my business which has helped me spread the word about my company through the networks of models, bloggers, repeat customers, and other influencers within the plus-size fashion community, and I have a very professional e-commerce website from which I sell my garments. I've shown in over a dozen fashion shows since starting, mostly in the Midwest, and after the competition I added Portland, Atlanta, and New York City to the list of cities where I've shown my designs.
2013 Winner: Rachel Brownlee - MooMaker
What did you do after winning the competition?
After winning the UNO business plan competition I won 6 other competitions surrounding this business idea. They were for different aspects of the idea from 90 second pitches to software examples. The practice I had in the competition really gave me a headstart for other competitions and classes because I had already thought through almost every aspect of my business in my 20 page business plan.
Where are you at with your business now?
Currently, I live on a ranch in western Nebraska. I have spent the last two years scrubbing 25 years worth of cattle data and refining my system to fit and manage the data real-time so it no longer needs to be done by hand. We have used the system for all the cattle data needs on the ranch for the past 6 months very successfully. It has made our data management faster, more accurate, and has helped us make business decisions that were not possible before. I am now working on adding features to allow the product to be sold and used for other ranches.
What advice would you lend aspiring or beginning entrepreneurs?
Apply cold, hard reason to business ideas and advice people give you. I was given an opportunity to get a venture capital loan and start my business for real during college with the caution from them that "this opportunity won't wait 3 years for you to graduate" and that I needed to quit college to prove I was serious. I rationally knew that the venture capitalists did not understand the cattle business and I had to choose to ignore their advice based on that judgement. I also calculated that whether or not my business worked, I would never be sorry or feel a loss for getting my college degree instead of dropping out at their request. I took a decision making class at UNO. Taking that class might be the best advice I could give an aspiring entrepreneur.
2012 Winner: Keith Fix - Blabfeed and Retail Aware
What did you do after winning the competition?
After winning the business plan competition, raised a six-figure investment and started the company right as I was graduating.
Where are you at with your business now?
We grew the company over the next 5 years to being a part of over 8,000 installations worldwide. This led to a successful exit in 2017 when we were acquired.
What advice would you lend aspiring or beginning entrepreneurs?
Show up. Build your network. Go sell something. Then talk about whether you want to be in business or not. Ideas are a dime a dozen. The difference between good ideas and successful businesses is execution. I'm a proponent of the lean startup methodology where you get a minimum viable product out in the wild, validate your assumptions, then scale a business around that validation.
What does the future hold for you?
I co-founded, invested in, and am now full-time CEO of Retail Aware (link: www.retailaware.com). Retail Aware helps retail manufacturers optimize merchandising by leveraging our proprietary in-store sensors and AI/Machine Learning. We're deploying our solution into 1000's of locations so I'm excited to see where this goes!
2011 Winner: David Burr - Kinder Collaborative Foods
What did you do after winning the competition?
Ended up not pursuing the business plan I had presented, however, pursued another venture shortly after graduating. That venture turned into a second venture that my partners and I were operating simultaneously. Five years later I made the decision to exit one of those ventures that I was involved in with partners, and we brought it to a close and then sold all intellectual property and remaining assets. I solely own and operate a wholesale food manufacturer and distributor now, which was the second venture I took on after graduation.
Where are you at with your business now?
We have been operating under my ownership for 6 1/2 years now. We are currently doing a significant facility expansion with plans to increase capacity and come under a USDA Federal Grant of Inspection. We are currently only an FDA registered food facility.
What advice would you lend aspiring or beginning entrepreneurs?
My advice would be that there is no such thing as over-preparation when it comes to starting a business. Research as much as possible and become as familiar as you can with your industry. Focus heavily on your people and who will be alongside you as you are starting out. Labor is by far your most costly and important asset, and it is not to be taken for granted, especially in this current economic environment.