Business Awards - do they make sense?

Time is always a reason for most business owners, as well as a certain reluctance to be ‘judged' and a very British tendency to shy away from the limelight, added together you may wonder why awards take place at all. My personal favorite as a reason, ‘they are all fixed' (Having judged over 50 awards for Centre for Business, I can assure you that they are not!)

Your business could benefit immensely from entering business awards, and here are 10 reasons why:

1. You may win! The obvious reason for entering, but it's true. Winning could give you a boost in morale, cash and stature. Not just for yourself – you are the best!

2. Raise your profile. All business awards are highly publicized events, whether nationally or locally, and the media profile that's raised from entering or winning the awards will be free of charge to your company.

3. Staff morale. In the busy everyday environment of business, it can be easy to forget internal achievements and contributions. The entry process will allow you to pause and consider what and who has contributed to the success of the company, and where you can build from. As well as saying thank you to those that work hard to make it successful.

4. Impress clients, investors, stakeholders. With objective and robust judging, awards provide credible third party endorsement of the success of your business; any possible client, investor, stakeholder can't fail to be impressed by that kind of commitment to excellence, improvement and succession.

5. Recognition. You already know what a great company you have; the awards themselves offer a fantastic opportunity to showcase the business.

6. The awards process is an opportunity to look at the future of the business and the help and support you will need to get there.

7. Networking opportunities. At the awards dinner, you will have the opportunity to network with fellow business leaders and potential contacts.

8. The trophy. Enough said!

9. The message that you are sending out to staff and potential staff is a positive one – that you care about what you do and how you do it.

10. Confidence. If you are successful and reach the final stage, you should realize what an achievement it is, and be proud of this. Allow it to push you on to bigger and better things for you and your company.

Centre for Business has been involved in numerous awards over the past 30 years, sponsoring, judging and supporting clients who want to move their business forward.

So, business awards, worth entering? Yes, definitely.

At the very least, this is an opportunity to gain recognition and publicity externally, and to be able to look at yourself as a business and the way things are done internally. Whether you won or not, the actual process of applying will help sharpen your business.