By Brooke Bailey
Reporter
Baylor entrepreneurs can pitch their business stories in San Antonio as a part of the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards competition.
The Entrepreneurs’ Organization Round-Up Regional Conference in San Antonio gives students from Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma a chance to receive a $10,000 in cash prize and win more than $150,000 in business products and services.
The competition will be held April 4 at the Hyatt Regency Downtown Riverwalk.
To participate in the competition, students must own a business that produces revenue.
Student entrepreneurs can find the 2013 Round-Up Conference application online at www.gsea.org. The deadline to apply is March 14.
Competitors are graded on a 100-point scale in four areas. Judges will look for entrepreneurs with determination, sound business fundamentals, application of lessons learned and plans for the future.
The regional and national finalists win an all-expense paid trip to the global finals in New York.
Despite its international reach, the competition is looking for more applicants.
This global competition has been going on for years, but it’s always a challenge getting the word out to student entrepreneurs, Peters said.
“Our goal is to get as many entrepreneurs to apply,” said Brian Peters, the Entrepreneurs’ Organization Austin Global Student Entrepreneur Awards chair and CEO of Red Carpet Tickets.
Baylor students have been nominated to apply in the past, but none have participated.
“We’d love to get some Baylor students competing,” Peters said.
No harm can come from applying, Peters said. Networking with hundreds of business owners is one of the best benefits for students.
Tim Hamilton, who is the founder and CEO of Astonish Design, said getting together with students who had similar trials and tribulations was rewarding for him.
Hamilton competed in 2007 and joined Entrepreneurs’ Organization in 2011.
“A big hurdle of growing a business is not having the knowledge of what is possible,” Hamilton said.
Participating in the competition helped Hamilton take risks and face fears in order to grow his business.
“The cash prize is not the biggest benefit,” Hamilton said.
The mentoring and networking young business owners receive is one of the best advantages in competing, Hamilton said.
The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards connects students to successful business people in the Entrepreneurs’ Organization.
The program was founded at the John Cook School of Business at Saint Louis University in 1998.
Entrepreneurs’ Organization sponsors the annual competition.
The organization is a global network of more than 8,000 business owners in 38 countries that aim to support entrepreneurs in growing their companies.
Members of the organization are founders, co-founders, owners or controlling shareholders of a company that grosses over one million dollars annually.
