Telstra is inviting small and medium business (SMBs) to get their entries in for the 2012 Business Awards, with every entrant to receive a free 70-page Business Health Check report that assesses their performance against international benchmarking standards, current legislation and accepted industry best practice.
According to 2011 National Award winner Collette Harkins of Colmax Glass, receiving a personal report on your business is a great incentive to enter the awards.
“We found it incredibly helpful as a way of benchmarking what we do across a range of business areas. It was particularly useful in identifying areas of weakness where we needed to bolster our resources,” she said.
The 2012 Telstra Business Awards marks the awards 20th anniversary and sees the introduction of a new award category, the HTC Start-Up Award, which will recognise entrepreneurial businesses that have been operating for between one and three years
The other 2012 Telstra Australian Business Award categories include:
- News Limited Micro-Business Award – For businesses with five or less employees.
- MYOB Small Business Award – For businesses with more than five employees, and up to 20 employees.
- Commonwealth Bank Medium Business Award – For businesses with more than 20 employees, and up to 200 employees.
- Telstra Regional Award – For businesses in each state and territory located outside the metropolitan areas of the capital cities.
Finalists and winners are offered an opportunity to boost their profile, share in $500,000 cash and prizes and join an exclusive national business alumni.
After entries close on 2 April, the Australian public will be able to vote for their favourite business in the 1300Australia People’s Choice Award from 4 April.
State and territory People’s Choice Awards are open to all entrants.
State and territory winners of the five Award categories will go on to the national Telstra Australian Business Awards in Sydney on 29 August 2012, where the 2012 Telstra Australian Business of the Year will be announced.