Flare 2024 Round 1 Questions

1. Which of the following best describes the (current) status of your business venture?

• Ideation stage – still thinking about it
• Idea exploration – need help shaping an idea
• Feasibility – have an idea but need help moving forward
• Development or prototyping – concept researched now need to produce something tangible
• Market testing or pilot – have a product or service that needs further research
• Launch – have positive interest in my offering but need to get to market
• Exploitation – early stage in business with sales looking to explore markets
• Growth – been trading now need to increase market share or new lines

2. What category are you applying for?

Please select no more than three categories:

• Healthcare and wellbeing award - do you have an innovative idea that could disrupt and benefit the healthcare and wellbeing fields?
• Breakthrough science and new technologies - do you have an idea working at the cutting edge of science and/or new technologies?
• Creative entrepreneurship award - do you have a creative business idea or business with enough flair to win this category?
• Impactful entrepreneurship award - do you have a socially minded business or idea with the potential to tackle a social and/or environmental challenge and drive change?
• Engineers in Business Fellowship award - available to entrants whose teams are made up of engineers or to multidisciplinary teams that include at least one engineer. Must be an engineering idea.

3. What makes your business a winning idea? Please tell us what makes your business or idea unique, new and / or innovative (Maximum 200 words)

Please use these prompts to answer this question.

• What is the problem you are trying to solve?
• What is your value proposition i.e., what benefit will your product/service bring to your customers?
• What is unique about your product/service?

4. Your idea: tell us about your business idea and / or your existing business (Maximum 200 words)

Please use these prompts to help answer this question:

• Clearly specify the product and/or service you are proposing to develop.
• Who will buy your product/service and why will they buy it?
• What do you need to make it happen and how will the Flare award help?

5. Your business model: how will your idea make money? (Maximum 200 words)

Please use these prompts to answer this question:

• When answering this question, please consider: how will you generate money from your product/service – by direct payment from customers or a provider, purchase of add-on services, subscriptions etc?
• Will your business generate other income beyond the main product e.g., sale of byproducts, income from selling advertising space etc
• What costs will you have? Consider both fixed costs e.g., buildings and equipment and variable costs e.g., materials and wages

6. Your market. What is your target market, and how are you planning to reach it? (Maximum 200 words)

Please use these prompts to answer this question:

• Who are your customers; the people who will pay for your product/service
• Who will use your product/service and others who may benefit from your product / service? These may be the same people or different people e.g., local government may pay for a service that is used by some local people but that benefits the whole community.
• What is the market potential i.e., the size of the specific market available to you to sell your product/service to? What competition is there in this market already?

7. Your impact: what is the social and / or environmental impact of your idea / business? (Maximum 200 words)

Please use these prompts to answer this question:

• What is the likely impact on the community in which your business will operate e.g., creation of jobs, training, attracting other businesses, reducing inequalities etc?
• What is the environmental impact of your business e.g., where are you sourcing raw materials, are you producing waste products, can your products be recycled?