Would you invest?

That's a good way to judge a business plan, says Rafael Cruz, director of the Small Business Development Center in Broward County and one of the seven judges this year for this year's Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge.

We had 192 entries -- nearly three times last year's number -- and the plans ran the gamut: green businesses, health ventures, gadgets, games, food, clothing and accessories, services, software and safety equipment. More of the plans this year were for businesses with low start-up costs, rather than the capital-intensive ideas of years past.

Many of the contestants offered ideas that seemed to be original or at least fill an unmet need in the marketplace. Others offered deeply researched and well-written plans, with meaty sections on marketing strategy and financials.

But not so many offered a strong idea and a strong case for why the world needs it.

We know, it's a lot to pack into three pages. But, in general, while our judges (see list on page 20) thought the quality of the plans improved over previous years, there's still some work to do, particularly in thinking through marketing strategies. For more advice from our judges, see page 22.

This year, we also reinstated a student contest. The 49 student entries were judged by a separate panel of business leaders who are also mentors for the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship. NFTE South Florida is partnering with The Miami Herald on this student contest.

Stewart Merkin, an attorney and one of the four judges in the student contest, said they looked for plans that were creative, well-thought-out and doable by a student.

'The three winners met our criteria hands down. All three were technically oriented and interestingly, all three aimed at a market that students know best -- themselves. We hope to follow the winners' progress and arrange mentoring opportunities for them.''

In the next eight pages, find out who won our challenge and what set their plans apart from the pack. Then you can start getting your business plan ready for next year's contest.

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