Pedddle Founder Nicki recently spoke to Francesca from the GBEA (Great British Entrepreneurial Awards), about how applying for awards can benefit your small business. Fran runs an organisation called Ideas Forums, which organises the GBEA.
Pedddle have been nominated for and even won GBEA awards previously and it was wonderful to be a part of. Awards are a brilliant accolade for any small business, but sometimes you have to push yourself out there in order to be seen.
You can watch the IGTV below (which is on the PedddleUK Instagram IGTV), but these are the main highlights:
Main take-aways from the IGTV Live chat:
Tell us more about the benefits of your awards at the GBEA
It’s completely free for entrepreneurs to apply for the awards. The awards ceremonies do have a ticket fee to attend, but it’s not compulsory for you to attend them. Click here to find out more about the GBEA.
We’re all about celebrating an entrepreneur’s story, so it doesn’t matter what stage you’re at, we’re here to champion you. We are building a community, with many people who are generous with their time and like to give back to small businesses.
Last year we received just short of 5000 applications for the awards, proving that entrepreneurs are thriving and constantly seeking new innovation and achievements. Click here to find out more about our previous grants and giveaways.
Many businesses and people that have won awards with us early on are now doing phenomenally, such as the new Dragon’s Den star Steven Bartlett, who spoke at the GBEA awards ceremony last year.
What categories do you have?
There should be something for everyone – we have categories for creative start-ups, solo entrepreneurs and more. Whatever your region, turnover, or however long you’ve been going with your business, we want to celebrate you.
Our application process is about sharing your story more than just looking at your balance sheet.
We actually have a new category for this year, to specifically celebrate businesses that help young people. The pandemic hit young people especially hard, so we want to focus on the businesses that help them to succeed.
What are the benefits for small businesses getting involved?
Completing the application itself is a real reflection process, and helps you hone in on what your story is – it can be almost cathartic to talk about your business in this kind of positive way.
We do offer some prizes and this year is our tenth year, so we have got some exciting plans up our sleeves.
However it’s more than just a prize – it’s sharing our logo, opening doors, using it as a calling card, it helps build your credibility, plus provides networking opportunities and connects you with other people in the small business community.
Tell us more about the National Start-Up Series
Our new programme is all about start-ups within their first 3 years of trading, who are wanting to create their own path and pave a new way. We’re building a community of peer support.
Click here to find out more about it.
Tell us more about Entrepreneurial Britain
This is a new campaign to involve entrepreneurs from all over Britain, an umbrella for our other awards and campaigns, to inspire the next generation and help everyone level up. We’re launching a conference that’s all about levelling up, making regionalised awards to help people confront their local challenges and seek new opportunities when launching and scaling their businesses, helping people learn from other towns, cities and local authorities. Click here to find out more.
Watch the full IGTV Live here:
We hope this helps you to grow your business further and gain some confidence to go for those awards! Check out our other blogs for further small business tips.