Small Business Awards: Everyone Loves a Winner

Winning Small Business Awards can boost your credibility. We’re giving it a try, and we think you should too. Want to know how to get started? Here are a few ways to do it. Standing out from competition is hard, especially if you are the new kid on the block. But it is a key method to growing your business.

Building credibility takes time. One way that we are starting to try is to apply for entrepreneurial and small business awards. Distinguishing yourself through an award has been shown increase revenue. In fact, a study by the British Quality Foundation showed that small award-winning twice as much sales growth than non-winners.

Sure, It’s scary

Look, no one likes rejection. But you can’t win if you don’t try. I’ll be brutally honest. It’s taken me a long time to overcome my feelings of imposter syndrome. Yep, I’ve got to take my own medicine too. How could I recommend this to you without doing it myself? Let’s support each other as we give it a go.

Which programs are the right ones?

Well, we’ve done some research that we would like to share with you. We’ve broken it down into paid submissions and free submissions. We kept this list to the broadest level. There are several industry specific awards that are worth exploring beyond these.

These are national and not industry specific. We encourage you to explore local and industry specific opportunities. We are going to submit to a few of free national programs while exploring several local options.

Things to keep in mind regarding small business awards

These applications are all pretty similar so creating a file once, where everything is stored will save you a ton of time going forward. Make sure you have a 3rd party review it. We are too close to our business that we sometimes forget or assume that people may or may not know our jargon. An impartial pair of eyes can help. Finally, make sure you tell a story. A story is much easier to read than a laundry list of achievements. Your business is more than numbers. It’s about what you unique bring to the market, and part of that uniqueness is you. Most programs are online, but others, like the SBA, require hard copies.

Good Luck!

While we may be competing for the same prize, we wish you luck. There’s more than enough praise to go around. I would be thrilled to hear if one of my contacts or readers won. We’d happily showcase you.