Business awards – a useful list

I have no doubt, entering business awards is extremely important and beneficial for start-ups and small businesses. Not only does it give you credibility with your customers and stakeholders, but it also generates free publicity with minimal effort.

There are an increasing number of business awards and it is hard to know which ones are worth entering. I have pulled together a list of awards that I think are great. Some are Yorkshire based (because that’s where we are) but others are national so will be useful to everyone.

And remember, if you are successful as a finalist or a winner of an award, be sure to maximise the exposure you get and send out a release and image to the local/trade media at every stage.

So here is my list, although some of these are not yet open for entries so you will need to check dates:

Startups Awards (www.startupsawards.co.uk) – these awards are brilliant for start-ups and there is a category for everyone. Categories usually include ‘Green Business of the Year’; ‘Product of the Year’; ‘Women in Business’ and ‘Young Entrepreneur’. If you haven’t started yet, there is even a Business Plan of the Year. The great thing about these awards is that they are run by a media company that owns Startups.co.uk, so you are guaranteed media coverage. What’s more, their previous winners have gained extensive coverage not only in the regional newspapers, but also Daily Mail and even Working Lunch.

Real Business, Growing Business Awards: http://gba.realbusiness.co.uk/

Smarta100: http://www.smarta.com/smarta100

Startups 100: http://www.startups.co.uk/what-is-startups-100.html

York Press Awards: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/business/awards/introduction/. EVERYBODY who enters this award gets profiled in the York Press so you really have nothing to lose.

Nectar Small Business Awards: http://www.nectar.com/dynamic/business/landing/SBA2011/howtoenter/

Home Business Awards – these are run by Enterprise Nation. I cannot find the details on the website, but worth keeping an eye out for if you run your business from home.

Ackrill Media Awards – these are for businesses based in and around Harrogate. We were lucky enough to be shortlisted this year and we’ve already seen an increase of traffic to our website following the nomination. http://www2.harrogatetoday.co.uk/ba20078/frontimages/home.asp

And don’t forget the twitter ones:

@TheoPaphitis runs Small Business Sunday (#sbs) every Sunday night. In a nutshell you follow him and at the given time (usually between 7-9pm) every Sunday, you tweet him about your innovative business, using the hash tag #sbs. He will re-tweet the best ones.

@Jacqueline_Gold, CE of Anne Summers runs a #WOW awards. Follow her and when she says, tweet about your business using the hash tag and she will re-tweet the best ones.

Good luck and let us know how you get on. If you need any help writing your entry or promoting a win, get in touch.