Unfortunately, we do not accept entries out of the country at this time.

No. It is open all students across the United States. However, if selected as a finalist, you must be available on the day of Final Competition to present your business idea to the judges. Out of state entries will be allowed to present virtually if travel distance is a hardship.

If your school’s name does not appear, please use the contact form to email the name of your school and address and we will add it. We will then contact you once it is added so you can complete your login. Your teacher can also create an advisor account at this time. Requests to add a school must be received by 3pm on October 31st.

Students are not required to have an advisor. When students create their login, they should choose Independent Study for the Advisor field if they are not working with an advisor.

If your advisor’s name does not appear, please ask your advisor to create an account and then be sure to choose them as your Advisor as soon as possible and BEFORE you submit your entry.

No; only one team member needs to create an account. That team member will be able to add other team members to the entry once a draft of the entry has been saved.

Yes. You can have up to three people on one team.

Click on “Forgot Your Password?” on the login page. You will be asked to enter your email and a new password will be sent to you.

If you are experiencing technical difficulties, complete the form on the Contact Us page and we will email or call you back with a solution. If there are any additional questions you have about the BIG Idea Competition or Final Event, please reference the Rules and Student Checklist forms.

Completed entries and designs must be submitted by midnight, Central Standard Time on October 31.

Students must be in a high school or home school doing high school studies. The entry for the business idea is a written submission of no more than 1075 words, organized as follows:

• Concept Overview (75 words) See How To Video: Concept Overview
• Product or Service (250 words) See How To Video: Product and Service
• Market Opportunity (250 words) See How To Video: Marketing Opportunity
• Competition (250 words) See How To Video: Competition
• Management and Operations (250 words) See How To Video: Management and Operations

Complete rules can be found on the Rules page under the Competition tab.

Creating a BIG Idea can be challenging to many. We have resources though that can help you start creating your BIG Idea. Check out our Tips to Create Your Business Idea document, How To Video: Tips for Success, and all of our other resources provided on the helpful tips page.

When you fill out your BIG Idea entry form, you will be asked to select an industry that best classifies your business. Please refer to the career clusters document to find what industry your business is in. You can view the document here. If you are still unsure, ask your advisor or take your best guess.

Be sure to click “Save Draft” often while working on your project. You will be allowed a limited time period for your project to be left open on your computer before it times out. (NOTE: You will not be warned when your window is timed out.) If sharing a computer with another student, save your work and log out before the next student to log in so that your data is not overwritten. DO NOT open two browser windows to work on separate entries on the same computer.

The committee reserves the right to review all entries and disqualify from the competition any entries where plagiarism is found.

The Student Checklist includes everything students need to do before submitting their final entry. Locate the checklist here.

The 1st round of judges include a mix of economic development professionals, business professionals, business owners, educators, and collegiate business students.

Yes. You will receive an overall score and judges’ comments after the Final Competition in December. Feedback will be sent to your advisor or directly to you if you are an independent study student.

Yes, in fact, we encourage it. The more feedback you can receive on your business concept, the better. However, if you were a finalist in a previous years’ BIG Idea competition, you cannot use the same business idea. You can compete with a new idea.

Your business concept must promote Wellness to enter this category. For the purposes of this competition,’Wellness’ is defined of being in good physical and mental heath. If your business idea fits in the Wellness Category, select Wellness in the dropdown box in the “Special Award Category’ section of the entry form.

The top 10 finalists for this category will be determined by the scores from the first round of BIG Idea judging. Sanford Health’s panel of judges will then review those 10 entries and determine the winner of the $500 prize.

Your business concept must promote Agriculture Innovation to enter this category. For the purposes of this competition, Agriculture Innovation is defined as an agriculture business that incorporates innovation, technology and/or leadership into agriculture or agriculture education. If your business idea fits in the Agriculture Innovation Category, select Agriculture Innovation in the dropdown box in the “Special Award Category’ section of the entry form. Must be a South Dakota student in order to participate.

The top 10 South Dakota finalists for this category will be determined by the scores from the first round of BIG Idea judging. The South Dakota Agriculture Foundation’s panel of judges will then review those 10 entries and determine the winner of the $500 prize. South Dakota students can only win this award.

Your business concept must promote Hometown Business to enter in this category. For the purposes of this competition, Hometown Business is defined as retail, hospitality, grocery, or trade business that has a physical storefront as well as an online presence (either selling or advertising online). If your business idea fits in the Hometown Business Category, select Hometown Business in the dropdown box in the “Special Award Category’ section of the entry form. This award can only be won by a South Dakota student.

The top 10 in-state finalists for this category will be determined by the scores from the first round of BIG Idea judging. The panel of business owners representing the South Dakota Retailer’s Association will then review those 10 entries and determine the winner of the $500 prize.  In addition to the category definition, judges will also consider the viability of the business idea in a small community (5,000 population or less).

This prize requires the additional submission of a marketing piece which is a full page ad design with a logo which represents your company or product.
While optional, the Marketing Design Competition is NOT a stand-alone competition; students/teams must compete in the Business Idea Competition to be eligible to compete in the Marketing Design Competition. See Marketing Design Rules on the Rules Page or watch the How To Video: Marketing Design.

Advertisements are intended to attract people’s attention, engage them about your brand and product, and then invite them to do something. An ad must have a call to action, whether it be visit a store, call, email, or check out a website. Your marketing design piece should include the following items.

1. Headline – A headline is typically what grabs attention. It speaks to your target audience and engages them with your message and picture. Never use your logo or business name as the main headline.
2. Picture – The headline should relate in some way to a dominant picture, graphic, or illustration. This too will help attract attention to your ad. Your headline and picture should work together to capture attention.
3. Subheadline – A subheadline adds a little more information to better connect with your target audience.
4. Text – You should have a bit of text or bullet points that outline the unique selling point of your product. After your picture and headline has drawn a reader in, the text will help make the sale to those very interested, but don’t write too much. Keep it simple and short.
5. Slogan – A slogan is nice to help differentiate your product from others.
6. Logo – Your logo/company name should be used like a “sign off”, usually at the bottom of ads, but it can go other places. They are usually used in conjunction with a slogan, again to help define your unique product. Think simple, thing legible printing, and think of appropriate colors. Never use your logo as a headline, you will lose points for this.
7. Contact Information – If a potential customer can’t contact you, you will miss out on sales. Include a phone number, a website, an email address, or a physical address. Make it easy for someone to reach you.
8. Call to Action – Tell the viewer to do something after you have them interested in your product/service. They can call, stop into the store, make an appointment, or visit a website.
9. Be Creative – Keep things simple, but experiment with different layout options, multiple photos, graphics, and text.
10. Be Clear – Make sure people fully understand your product or service. Your ad should not leave any questions as to what you are selling and who may want it.

Sample ads showing these required elements can be found in the Marketing Design Guidelines document.

A team of marketing professionals review and score the Marketing Design entries and choose the winner, must be a South Dakota student, based on the rubric on the Rules page.

You can use a variety of tools to create your marketing design. Feel free to use Word or Publisher to create your poster or utilize free online sources that make posters easy to create, like Canva. Talk to your teacher about creating a free Canva for Education account which protects your privacy.  For more information, view the Marketing Design Guidelines.

You may upload the file for the Marketing Design portion as a .PDF or .JPG. Additional information about saving files in the appropriate format can be found in the Marketing Design section of the My Project page and at the Rules link above.

No. In order to submit a marketing design, you must also submit the related business idea.

The Final Competition and Awards Ceremony will be held on Wednesday, December 6, 2023 at Northern State University.

For the written entries, all submitted entries are scored by three separate judges using the judging rubric on the Rules page. The eight business idea submissions with the highest scores will advance to the final competition. Finalists will be notified mid-November. A team of marketing professionals review and score the Marketing Design entries and choose the winner who is recognized at the Final Competition. See the rubric on the Rules page. In addition, all special category award winners are invited to the final event as well.

The eight competition finalists will be required to make a six minute presentation on their business idea to a judging panel. Thirty – sixty seconds is allowed for the elevator pitch, and the remaining time is for the presentation. A visual component such as a PowerPoint, storyboard, handout, demonstration or other visual component of the finalist’s choice is required. Finalists will also give their elevator pitch during the Awards Ceremony. The Marketing Design and special category winners will also give an elevator pitch for their idea.

Winners of the Marketing Design and Specialty Category awards are given to South Dakota students only. The winners are determined, and notified, prior to the final event. They are invited to participate in the activities at the final event. Specifically, these winners will be asked to give an elevator pitch of their idea at the Awards Ceremony and will be presented their awards during the ceremony.

During the morning, the finalists will give their presentation to the judging panel. Students will have time to visit with their mentors and participate in a variety of activities outside of their presentations. Following lunch, the Awards Ceremony will include Elevator Pitches by the finalists and special category winners, a business owner panel discussion, and the presentation of the awards.

There are 2 rounds in the BIG Idea competition. Round 1 will be worth 500 points. Each entry is rated by 3 different judges and those scores will be averaged to determine the final Round 1 score. The eight top scoring ideas will be finalists who advance to the final competition.

Round 2 is judged separately from Round 1 and is worth 1000 points. In the final round, one panel of judges will evaluate all eight finalists’ presentations to determine their score. Rubrics for the preliminary and final judging can be found at the Rules page on the website.

Absolutely! All schools and students who submitted entries to the BIG Idea Competition are invited to the Awards Ceremony. The ceremony will include a panel discussion with successful entrepreneurs, and the eight finalists and special category winners will deliver their elevator pitches. Awards presentations will then be made to the top three winners in the Business Idea Competition. The ceremony will take place on the same day as the final competition. Non-finalist students may also participate in various activities during the day.  If you can’t be in Aberdeen, the event is livestreamed as well.