Getting an idea in front of the venture capitalists can be a difficult prospect, but a company's chances are significantly enhanced by taking part in InterTradeIreland's All-Island Seedcorn Competition. This is a competition which has been designed to facilitate up-and-coming companies to bring their businesses on to a higher level. It has been running since 2003, and this year a prize fund of 280,000 has been set aside for the regional and overall winners (there are two categories . . . Best Emerging Company and Best International Emerging Company, and four regions for each category, leading to two overall winners).

To qualify for the Emerging Company category, a business must not be in existence for more than three years, and must have a private equity requirement in excess of 75,000 but less than 300,000. To qualify for the Emerging International Company category, businesses must be in existence for not more than five years, and have a private equity requirement in excess of 300,000.

Substantial international sales targets are also required for the International category.

Of course, the prize money, while generous, cannot compare to the possibilities for success, should companies actually secure VC funding.

Nor can winning the competition compete with the valuable experience gained by simply taking part. One of the key components of the competition is the business plan, and InterTradeIreland has published some very useful information on how best to go about putting together such a business plan. This information is not only useful for potential competition winners, it is also invaluable advice for anyone looking to secure funding into the future . . . a sort of master class on securing the attention of the VC community.

Preparing a business plan, particularly one for the investment community, requires a combination of skills, but it has, at its core, a simple objective . . . to raise money. According to InterTradeIreland, such a business plan needs to attract the investor's interest and attention, emphasise the strengths of the business and its position in the market (especially compared with its competition), recognise the risks and project the development of the business. The advice offered by InterTradeIreland is geared at covering each of these elements, and, by participating in the competition process, business are, by definition, given the opportunity to put together a world-class targeted business plan using a template which has been agreed by some of the foremost experts in the fields of investment an innovation.

In addition to help with their business plans, participants will also get to hear from some leading investment experts through the judging process. Judges for the 2007 competition are all leaders in their field, with some drawn from the investment community, some from private enterprise, some entrepreneurs, some from the media, and some from the business support sector including Enterprise Ireland and InterTradeIreland.

In order to avail of the business plan pack, companies must first register for the competition itself . . . and, given that all business plans must be submitted by 5pm on the closing date of September 28, this does not leave much time.

Indeed, from Sunday, August 12, there will be less than seven weeks to go before the closing date of the competition.

To register your interest in entering the All-Ireland Seedcorn Business Competition, log on to www. intertradeireland. com/seedcorn. The final will take place on November 29, whereupon the panel will select its overall winner from the list of regional winners.