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The Telstra Business Awards programs (Telstra Business Awards and Telstra Business Womens Awards) are widely recognised as one of the most prestigious business awards programs in Australia.
Whilst they receive thousands of applications each year and competition is stiff, if you don’t enter you’ll never know how you may have fared!
When I entered the Telstra Business Womens Awards in 2010, I was running my business from home around my two children.
Whilst I had staff, my turnover was nothing to write home about, yet I put together an application thinking it would be a good exercise to reflect on how far I’d come and to articulate my future plans.
I was quite shocked when I was announced as a finalist in not one but two categories (Marie Claire Young Business Professional and the Commonwealth Bank Business Award) and progressed through the interview stages.
Having spent the past six years at that stage being based on the Sunshine Coast, the interviews were held in a very corporate office in Brisbane CBD and I felt like a fish out of water!
But they must have seen something in me because I couldn’t believe it when my name was announced as the Commonwealth Bank Business Owner of the Year at the Queensland Telstra Business Womens Awards in 2010.
What happened next?
Since winning this award, some incredible stuff has happened for me and my business. I was invited to a 3 day all expenses paid retreat as a guest of Commonwealth Bank’s Women in Focus in Byron Bay where I networked with some of the top business owmen in Australia.
I have had numerous media and speaking opportunities come my way.
I have an instant network of incredibly successful business women to call on, whether it be for support, to help with a fundraising event or to share a message I care about, and so much more!
Why I am I telling you this story?
Many people I talk to say they would like to enter the Telstra Business Awards programs but that they don’t think their business is at a stage where they would be competitive enough to enter. They worry about their premises, their turnover, or simply that they haven’t done enough.
I hope my story shows you that if you don’t enter, you rule out all chances of winning, and that the judges don’t necessarily pick the person with the biggest turnover, the most staff or the most well known brand.
I believe they look for courage, a story, ambition and clarity of where you are going, among other things.
If you would like a no obligation chat to myself or my team about whether you should enter either the Telstra Business Awards or the Telstra Business Womens Awards in 2014, please get in touch with us at The AwardsHub.
We have limited capacity, as the application process is quite involved and we will only ever work with one client for each category, so if you are at all interested in gaining our assistance through this process, please get in contact soon so we have plenty of time to prepare a professional submission should you choose to move ahead.
Written by Yvette Adams, Founder of awardshub.com