Why Awards are Great for Business
All you have to do is put your hat in the arena. Even if you don’t win, your business will.
When I first started out in business 10 years ago I was not interested in Awards one bit. My business spoke for itself. The parent’s stamp of approval was my award. My events were selling out month after month and so were my franchisees, so why did I need a strapline that said Award Winning? As far I could see awards were about the glitz and glam and there was no point in entering because I couldn’t win anyway, I would have been up against the big brands who had hundreds of parents voting for them. So I parked them to one side; truth be told, I’ve never been a glitz and glam kind of girl, so I wasn’t fussed.
In 2015 however I was nominated by a customer for Most Outstanding Activity Leader for Under 5’s in Northern Ireland & Scotland in the What’s on 4 Kids Awards. It was great to be recognised for all my hard work. The email came through with the badge but even then I didn’t really do anything with it; gave thanks on my social media channels and moved on.
Then later that year, after much soul searching, I decided to bite the bullet and enter my first awards, the Mumpreneur 100, followed by Business Mum of the Year with The Family Network, at the time they were called Networking Mummies. This was my first experience of completing an application which went on to be judged. Needless to say I didn’t win, but I learnt a lot by completing the process.
In 2016 as well as entering the Family Network Awards for Business Growth of the Year, I also decided to Sponsor an award. I didn’t have to complete any forms and being a sponsor would give me the coverage I needed at the time to raise the profile of the business; it was a win win. I sponsored the Best National Pre-schooler Development award with What’s On 4 Kids and the Flexible Business of the Year award with Working mums.
Looking back, these were 3 fantastic marketing opportunities for me and my business, but even though I made finalist at the Family Network Awards, and met lots of likeminded people as a sponsor, I yet again did not take full advantage of the opportunity in front of me. I just didn’t appreciate the importance of entering awards and why they’re great for business.
Over the next 2 years I learnt a lot about marketing. I had unexpectedly developed a real passion for it and to a certain extent it became my second career. Thankfully around then, I also started to realise the real benefits of entering awards. You see, it’s not about the winning, it actually is about the taking part, as clichéd as it sounds. Just by entering an award your business is winning, in so many ways.
Or put it another way, who else is going to shout about you and your business if you don’t? I often get feedback from clients who say they’re not worthy of an award. That is utter rubbish, remember what I said earlier. I’ll say it again. Awards are good for business.
I could wax lyrical all night about awards, but instead I’m going to get straight to the point and give you 15 reasons why you should not hesitate to enter one as soon as you can:
• Awards give you FREE Marketing
• Awards are good to build trust with your customers
• Awards can help create brand loyalty
• Awards help you to be recognised
• Awards support your Search Engine Optimisation
• Awards can be used in your content marketing
• Awards give you an extra reason to email your customers
• Awards attract franchisees
• Awards are great for networking
• Awards increase your creditability
• Awards can be used in your competitor bench marking
• Awards can lead to more sales and more customers
• Awards can help you to attract quality staff
• Awards are a good learning process to go through
• Awards are about celebrating success and are enjoyable
My advice is to throw your hat in the arena and get in there. You have nothing to lose. Just look at what I did in the last few years.
* 2022 – Sponsor of the Club Hub Awards: Leader of the Year
* 2021 – What’s on 4 Kids: Most Loved Business Manager Scotland – Finalist
* 2020 – Club Hub: Franchise of the Year 2020 – Finalist
* 2019 – The Franchise Marketing Awards: Best Website – Finalist
* 2019 – Approved Franchise Association: Franchisor of the Year – Finalist
* 2019 – Best Business Women Awards: Best Franchisor – Finalist
* 2019 – What’s On Awards: Most Loved Academic or Creative Activity – Finalist
* 2019 – Encouraging Women Into Franchising: Franchisor of the Year – Finalist
* 2019 – Elite Franchise: Top 100 Franchise – Finalist
* 2019 – The Family Network: Highly Commended for Business Growth of the Year
* 2019 – Sponsor of the Club Hub Awards: Young Entrepreneur of the Year
* 2019 – Club Hub Awards: Female Entrepreneur of the Year – Nominated
* 2018 – CV Magazine Franchise Awards: Best Children’s Play Events Franchise – Winner
* 2016 – The Family Network: Business Growth of the Year – Nominated
* 2016 – Sponsor of the What’s on for Kids: Best National Pre-schooler Development
* 2016 – Sponsor of the Working Mums: Flexible Business of the Year
* 2015 – What’s on for Kids: Most Outstanding Activity Leader for Under 5’s in Northern Ireland & Scotland – Nominated
If I can do it, so can you!
If you would love to find out more on how Awards can help you to grow and scale your business then book your FREE Discovery Call today with me.
