A team of Washburn University students has advanced to the final round of the Network of International Business Schools (NIBS) Worldwide Business Plan Competition. Business majors Kennedy White, Holton, and Connor England, Topeka, and Communications major Mark Feuerborn, Overland Park, entered the competition with the idea and a business plan for D18, a service that helps restaurants, manufacturers, and hotels save money by identifying tax exemption opportunities within their utility charges. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4QnjsEVPEY
The goal of the NIBS competition is to stimulate global entrepreneurship among students. The final round will take place as a Skype conference on May 19, 2016, at Avans University of Applied Sciences, located in Breda, Netherlands. The Washburn trio is one of three teams competing in the final round; the other two represent Finland and Ireland. Each team will present their business plan and pitch video and participate in a live question and answer session with a panel of judges. The winning team will be awarded a championship trophy and €1000 in cash.
In addition to identifying tax exemption opportunities, D18 also works on behalf of its clients to obtain tax refunds and to plan for future energy and tax savings. “It all started with a passion to help small businesses create more value for themselves,” said White. “That passion has evolved D18 into an influence that has, and will continue to, provide efficiency and positive change.” D18 grew in 2016 with the additions of England and Feuerborn. England and White worked on the specifics of the business plan, and Feuerborn was invaluable in creating the pitch video.
Fifteen teams submitted business plans for the qualifying round of the competition, which was held in March 2016. The United States entered four teams, Canada and Belgium each entered two, and one team each from China, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, and Netherlands.
