Just like a house needs a blueprint to be built, a new business needs a plan to be successful.

On March 12, five student teams will see if their business plans are strong enough to win at the finals of Blueprint, Brock’s annual entrepreneurial business competition.

The finalists – SmartPay Inc, Tribute Tree, HandyHand, SpartaCRM and MedScan Today – will compete at Isaac’s Pub for the chance to win up to $10,000 in start-up funds, mentoring and resources.

They will pitch to a panel of judges that include Sam Baio (West49 founder), Angelo Nitsopoulos (COO Heart of Niagara Hotels), Martin Croteau (Ontario Centres of Excellence) JF Amprimoz (Start Up Niagara) and Shannon Passero (head designer and co-founder of Pure & Co.).

In prepping for the finals, the teams have been supported by the Goodman School of Business’s on-campus business incubator, BioLinc. BioLinc organizes Blueprint in conjunction with several departments and partners in Niagara.

The Blueprint finalists represent the best of Brock’s student entrepreneurs. Half of the team members must be Brock students or recent graduates.

The Blueprint finals are open to the public, and students, faculty and staff are welcome to attend and see Niagara’s future entrepreneurs in action.

Blueprint happens Thursday, March 12 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Isaac’s Pub in the Student-Alumni Centre.