Students with business ideas can put them to the test in January.

Opportunity Quest, an executive summary business plan competition open to all students of Weber State, will be held at 1 p.m. on Jan. 23 at the Smith Lecture Hall in the Wattis Business Building.

The competition is a way for students to get started with their business and learn more about what it takes. Each business plan could be promoted at the college level as well as receive feedback from a panel of judges.

Dave Noack, director of the Hall Entrepreneurship Program, said students can benefit from just entering the competition.

“The Opportunity Quest competition will provide students the opportunity to learn why an executive summary is essential in a business and get constructive feedback from prominent members of our community,” Noack said.

The competition began in October with a Pitch Contest, where the committee chose 15 competitors to present an “elevator pitch” about their business idea. The top three winners were guaranteed a finalist spot for Opportunity Quest.

Amy Hirschi, the entrepreneur program assistant, gave participants a heads-up on what the judges are looking for.

“Judges are looking for a team that has a feasible idea with great potential to be or become a successful new business,” Hirschi said.

Judges will act as investors when evaluating each competing team’s business plan in the final competition, she said.

Each participant will organize, direct and then present their business plan to the judges, while the team with the most promising business plan will have the chance to win a cash prize of $5,000. Second and third placers will take home $3,000 and $2,000 respectively.

All WSU students can participate in Opportunity Quest and have a chance to earn the prize money.

Any students with an entrepreneur minor will be able to apply the material they are learning in class to the competition and can qualify for up to $15,000 in cash to help fund their business. Some teachers from the minor are offering extra credit for those students who participate.

Students who want to participate need to apply by Nov. 21. The rules and application can be downloaded from the Opportunity Quest web page.

Contact [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected] to find out more about Opportunity Quest. The judging will be open to the public.