We’re now into the 19th year of the Small Business BC Awards. Amazing, eh? No doubt you’ve heard us banging the drum on the benefits of taking part, so this year we’re switching gears. We’ve decided to catch up with some of our previous Small Business BC Awards participants to ask for their thoughts and the impact (if any) winning a Small Business BC Award had on their business..
Nominations are open until February 28th, meaning there’s still plenty of time for you to nominate your business, or a business you love, today.
Winning a Small Business BC Award
Samarth Mod, Freshworks Studio – Best Immigrant Entrepreneur
“The SBBC Awards feature businesses that are truly innovative in their approach and understand the importance of giving back to their community. They feature businesses that show incredible promise in our province, and it is an amazing feeling to have won and to get recognized for our work in front of an amazing audience.
As a growing start-up, this award has helped us immensely in establishing a brand name in the market as well as credibility. Moreover, we hope winning this award provides inspiration for a lot of other immigrants who would like to choose entrepreneurship.”
Cinci Csere, Sea to Sky Removal – Best Concept
“Winning the award has given us the opportunity to open up the conversation around construction waste and landfill diversion.
“Let’s face it; waste management, garbage and recycling aren’t the sexiest subjects in the industry! The award made us realize all the hard work we put into our business was finally starting to pay off. It gave us momentum and we believe our small business can lead to a big impact.”
Adam Wicks, Wicks Electrical, Best Company
“Winning Best Company in BC has been amazing for us and has had a multitude of positive effects. For starters, it has given us a tremendous amount of credibility with new clients and contractors and has really helped attract a ton of high-quality electricians. It also provided proof that we are well on our way regarding our mission.
“As an entrepreneur you don’t always get a pat on the back. It’s a lot of hard work and it can be lonely. The award has served as a major source of inspiration for me that my hard work is not going un-noticed.”
Shannon and Adam Vanderwoerd, The Gibsons Butcher, Premier’s People’s Choice
“Winning the Premier’s People’s Choice Award gave us exposure.
“We were less than a year old and we were nominated by a customer and the community rallied behind us. Suddenly, we were on the front page of all the local newspapers and people wanted to be a part of it.
“It drew in customers and once they experienced our product and store environment they were hooked.”
Foster Coulson, Coulson Ice Blast, Best Innovation
“Winning the award really helped us get eyes on our project and the application process enabled us to look back on what it took to get to where we are today.
“That reflection will continue to inform our future as a company. We’ve got big plans for the future, too! We’ll continue to innovate and expand on our product line and services. Our customer feedback will help to inform that future too. Customer is king, always, and as their needs change, our products will change with them.”
Ruairi Spillane, Moving2Canada.com, Best Immigrant Entrepreneur
“Winning the Best Immigrant Entrepreneur Award provides my team with the recognition they deserve and drives us towards mastery in promoting Canada as a great place to live and work.
“It is also a strong signal to our community that their efforts matter. That immigrants supporting immigrants is recognized in Canada, and that paying it down keeps paying off. The award is an acknowledgement of our company values as a basis for a successful business and further endorsement of our community-first approach to our partners.
“We are looking to grow our business in Canada and Ireland — we recently launched our award-winning concept in Ireland with Moving2Ireland.com — and expand to new regions.”
Lindsay Viscount, Longevity Graphics, Best Marketer
“Being named Best Marketer by SBBC is one of our greatest successes to date.
“Gaining recognition from other businesses across the province has been amazing. Our clients have also recognized the work and our efforts, so it has helped us re-establish our expertise with them. We are receiving new referrals and our referral partners are letting their clients know about our new award, which has been great.
“Our goal is to continue growing within our community and across the province. We really want to focus on enhancing our team and achieving liberty for our clients.”
Geoff Manton, Boldly Creative, Best Company
“Winning the award helps legitimize us in the community – people reach out to us because of the award, and having this recognition helps people build trust with us in a unique way.
“It’s tough to toot your own horn, so having SBBC do some of that for us has been a great help. Small Business BC is an invaluable resource we wish we knew more about when we started. We recommend it highly to anyone starting a business from scratch.”
Tyson Still, Winecrush, Best Concept
“The Small Business BC Award we won last year didn’t just help Winecrush get exposure to local wineries and retail stores, it brought an energy to the food industry in Penticton, taking it to the next level.
“Having the SBBC ‘Best Concept’ banner on all our marketing was huge for Winecrush.
“It really gets the conversation going deeper with clients and customers, and people took us much more seriously after winning, especially as our concept had never been done before. The success we’ve had as a result is clear.”