Business plan competitions: Good for competitive juices, not necessarily good for starting a business

Many universities, including some of the world's most prestigious, are setting up business-plan competition. Winning such a competition may sound like a way to be the next big enterpeneur--but read that fine print carefully. Although getting interest from a venture capitalist is nice, it is only a start. Frequently, it takes considerable additional work to get from interest to offer--and many would-be enterpeneurs are stunned that the process goes so slowly and the terms are so slanted toward the investor and so inflexible. To balance the power in getting financing, think car buyer in a showroom. First of all, try to line up more than one source; then plan to negotiate hard and to be willing to give up the deal to get better terms.