Best Youth Entrepreneur
Across British Columbia, young entrepreneurs are creating new jobs and shaping our provincial economy with their energy and ingenuity. Our Best Youth Entrepreneur Award exists to reward this entrepreneurial spirit, saluting a business leader aged 35 and under who has demonstrated a track record of success, with a business that’s been in operation for at least 12 months.
Despite their relative lack of experience, these highly skilled and ambitious entrepreneurs have shown a solid grasp of business fundamentals like operations, marketing, finances, and sales. They’ve also found innovative solutions to overcome their lack of credit history and modest asset base, growing a thriving small business amid a challenging landscape.
Key Things to Know
Eligibility
- Entrepreneur must be aged 35 or under on January 1st, 2023
- Businesses must be in operation for at least 12 months
- Businesses must be based in British Columbia
- Businesses must have 50 or fewer employees
- Nominations must be submitted online by 11:59pm on March 10th, 2023
- Past Small Business BC Awards winners are prohibited from entering the category in which they won
- Nominees must not operate businesses that are sexually exploitative or that feature sexually explicit entertainment, products or services.
- Nominees must not be associated with illegal activities
- Inappropriate, disrespectful or offensive language will not be accepted as part of SBBC Awards
Judging Criteria
- Clear Vision: This entrepreneur demonstrates a clear idea for the future of the business in the areas of business growth, corporate responsibility and financial data.
- Track Record: This up-and-comer has grown beyond the conceptual stage to lead an active business with at least twelve months of financial data.
- Impact: This entrepreneur is leading a business where making a difference is just as important as a profit. This impact can be social, environmental, or economic.
Preparing Your Nomination
You’re an entrepreneur and you’re busy, we get it. That’s why we want you to maximize the impact you receive from entering. Here are five tips to consider when submitting your nomination for a Small Business BC Award.
Establish Your Objectives
What are you hoping to achieve by entering the Small Business BC Awards? Maybe you want to help boost your staff recruitment, raise your profile within your industry, or improve your marketing? Our Awards can be a powerful way to achieve your goals. You just need to clearly define what those goals are before you begin.
Designate an ‘Awards Champion’
Throughout the years, we’ve seen businesses pass the task of administering their awards application from one staff member to the next. This results in inconsistent entries where no one person took ownership and drove the task forward. Instead, we recommend designating yourself, or a staff member, as an ‘Awards Champion’ with responsibility for handling the nomination from start to finish.
Match Your Content to the Criteria
Each of our award categories has detailed criteria you can refer to when submitting a nomination. Our judges will refer to the criteria when assessing which businesses will proceed to the next phase of the competition. It’s crucial to understand the criteria for your category and deliver an application that meets the criteria. These simple instructions provide the recipe for success. Don’t ignore them!
Speak to Previous Nominees
We’re celebrating our 20th anniversary this year, and in that time, we’ve had over 6,000 businesses take part in the process. If you know an entrepreneur that’s taken part, why not consider asking for their advice? They’ll be able to share some of the benefits of taking part, how to prepare to present to our judges, and how to approach your community to gather votes.
Get Your Entry Proofread
Before you submit your nomination, task a friend or family member to read over it and provide their feedback. Try to find someone who will provide impartial feedback. They may notice an important element you’ve forgot to mention, or typos that have slipped under the radar. Your entry will sparkle if it’s error-free and provides a compelling case as to why you should win.
Rules
- Small Business BC retains the right to update the rules of the Small Business BC Awards at any time.
- Franchisees are NOT eligible for the Small Business BC Awards
- Small Business BC staff members are not eligible to enter
- Businesses may be nominated in one or more categories as long as they meet the eligibility criteria for that category
- By entering the Small Business BC Awards, you accept our judges’ decisions will be final
- All shortlisted finalists authorize SBBC to identify them (name/picture) in connection with the Small Business BC Awards
Check out our full SBBC Awards Rules to learn more.
Frequently Asked Questions
How will judges assess my nomination for the Best Youth Entrepreneur Award?
When you’re completing your nomination, the answers you provide, along with supporting documentation, will be examined as part of our judging process. First, you must gather enough votes to make it through to our Top 5 Finalists. Don’t be shy in engaging your community to vote for you.
How does your vote normalization process work?
We understand that all BC communities are different sizes and that different businesses have different sized networks. To level the playing field, votes will be normalized against British Columbia Regional District Population Figures. This gives every business, no matter where they’re located, an equal opportunity to win.
Will the number of votes I receive in the Best Youth Entrepreneur category be made public?
No. Vote tallies will not be made public on the Small Business BC website or made available to nominees. Because a normalization calculation is applied to the votes to determine the Top 5 finalists, pure vote numbers are not indicative of performance in the competition.
Can I vote in the Best Youth Entrepreneur category more than once?
Only one vote per person is allowed, per nominee, per category. If a business is nominated in two categories (the maximum number allowed), you can vote for them in both categories.