Here's our pick of the small business initiatives currently open for applications.

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Awards, competitions and pitching&nbsp;schemes are a great way to make sales, boost morale, and generate press coverage for your business. Here's our pick of the small business initiatives currently open for applications.

Enterprise Nation has helped thousands of people start and grow their businesses. Led by founder, Emma Jones CBE, Enterprise Nation connects you to the resources and expertise to help you succeed.

A guide to small business awards to enter

Awards, competitions and pitching schemes are a great way to make sales, boost morale, and generate press coverage for your business. Here's our pick of the small business initiatives currently open for applications. This page is regularly updated so keep an eye on it!

Enterprise Nation Female Start-up of the Year

The 2019 Female Start-up of the Year will be crowned at the eight Festival of Female Entrepreneurs in Bristol on 18 October. Prizes include £1,000 Facebook advertising credit, a Dell laptop, Square payment reader and dock and mentoring from business experts. 

The deadline for entries is 13 September.

Every Sunday former Dragons' Den judge Theo Paphitis picks six business owners to retweet to his thousands of Twitter followers. For the chance to be selected, tweet @TheoPaphitis with the #SBS hashtag 

The Growing Business Awards recognise exceptional growing businesses. 

Every month one entrepreneur aged 16-30 is awarded £5,000. The companies need to address the world's future transport, food, energy, or natural resource challenges or make our urban environments cleaner, healthier and more sustainable places to work and live in. 

The deadline for entries is midnight on the last day of each month.

Small business awards to enter right now

James is the owner and MD&nbsp;of several companies including a Digital Marketing Agency, We Are Chain, an online Pet Store, Dogs Dogs Dogs and a Marketplace for Dorset, Designed in Dorset. He has over 20 years of experience in sales and marketing working both for Agencies and Clients. Over the last couple of years he has built up We Are Chain as a full-service agency providing sales and marketing services to companies across the globe including the likes of InterContinental&nbsp;Hotels Group, The Royal Berkshire, Surrey and Hertfordshire&nbsp;Shows.&nbsp;

Along the way, they have launched their own businesses to compliment the agency and utilise the skills they have learned building websites for their clients. Dogs Dogs Dogs is a lifestyle website for dogs and is fast becoming a leading competitor in the field. Designed in Dorset is an online marketplace serving over 60 Dorset based businesses and helping them to grow&nbsp;online.&nbsp;

James is a regular networker in both Dorset and the Thames Valley and enjoys nothing better than a full English with other business owners when allowed. He has delivered training for the last twenty years on a variety of subjects including Social Media, Sales and Marketing, Video Creation and Storytelling. He is currently running a weekly Friday morning Shopify Q &amp; A session for anyone interested in getting online via the platform.&nbsp;

Managing Director

The rise of ‘shop local’: ‘Lockdown has opened our eyes to what’s been on our doorstep for years’

Specifically, to what’s always been on our doorstep: artisan businesses.

&lt;p&gt;My motto in life and work is 'Meet people, make friends, and help them.'&amp;nbsp;Getting to know people is the best way of finding out what makes them tick in terms of goals, ambitions, dreams, interests and life in general. I help people by listening to what they need, suggesting ideas, sending links, making introductions, adding value, and offering relevant products and services, where appropriate. When friends have a problem, I love to help them fix it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;My varied portfolio career means I have knowledge, experience and contacts in many fields. I am an expert in book publishing, media, mentoring, writing, editing, marketing, crowdfunding, sponsorship, social enterprise and commercial start-ups.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I'd love to get to know you better, so I can help you get to where you want to be.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Career highlights:&lt;br /&gt;
• Book trade professional since 1990&lt;br /&gt;
• Consultant Producer, YOU'RE BOOKED! (ITV book series)&lt;br /&gt;
• Pioneer, World Book Day UK&lt;br /&gt;
• Research Director, StoryCode (online recommendation engine for fiction, featured on BBC TV’s DRAGONS’ DEN)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Current roles:&lt;br /&gt;
• Founder, CopyGhosting Publishing Services (editorial, marketing, PR &amp;amp; digital agency)&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
• Editor &amp;amp; Development Executive, Insight Film Festival&lt;br /&gt;
• Founder, Jolabokaflod CIC (promoting Icelandic 'Christmas book flood' tradition)&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
• Director of Crowdfunding, CrowdPatch CIC: free crowdfunding platform for social enterprise&lt;br /&gt;
• Founder, The Wisdom of Coffee: a network for Meetup gatherings &amp;amp; a community that shares best practice about business, enterprise &amp;amp; alternative finance)&lt;br /&gt;
• Founder, Smart Crowd Productions: integrated arts, media, business &amp;amp; alternative finance production consultancy&lt;br /&gt;
• Director: Corporative Sponsorship, SMGlobal Catwalk, Inc: global fashion events brand&lt;br /&gt;
• Social entrepreneur, 12R Prizes: solving social issues and commercial problems via sponsored cash-prize comptetions&lt;br /&gt;
• Mentor, Founders and Mentors: networking platform, comprising forum, communities and courses for mentors to help pre-launch founders launch start-ups successfully&lt;br /&gt;
• Social entrepreneur, 12Ronnies: hub that provides founders, inventors and creatives a toolkit for launching a startup successfully&lt;br /&gt;
• Co-founder, CrowdMall: virtual shopping centre for ideas that do not yet exist&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Charities:&lt;br /&gt;
• Chairman, Seeds Creatives (charity): runs the ‘Artist in Your Own Residence’ collaborative network mentoring scheme for creatives in all disciplines&lt;br /&gt;
• Director, Arts Centre Group (charity): membership organisation for arts &amp;amp; media professionals&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Committees:&lt;br /&gt;
• All-Party Parliamentary Committee for Crowdfunding (chair: Barry Sheerman MP): meets quarterly at the House of Commons&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Author:&lt;br /&gt;
• Six published books&lt;br /&gt;
• Two books in progress&lt;/p&gt;

Serial entrepreneur

Pre-launch founders, inventors & creatives

Signposting for advice, tools and resources for members wanting to start turning an idea into a business.

Creative Director

Finding and Talking to your Customers

&lt;p&gt;What will you get?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;You will have a wonderfully effective and easy to implement marketing playbook.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;What you cover&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
	&lt;li&gt;How to really get to know your customers; who they are, where they spend their time.&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt;How to talk to them, and why they should care about you.&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt;How to select the right channels to interact.&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt;How to get them excited.&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt;You

Chris Gomez

&lt;p&gt;The Brand Launchers are here to help you launch or scale&amp;nbsp;your brand and your business.&amp;nbsp;We work with you on a&amp;nbsp;five&amp;nbsp;pillar approach&amp;nbsp;to give your brand the best chance of success:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
	&lt;li&gt;Foundations&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt;Business and Financial Planning&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt;Brand Identity&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt;Customer Marketing&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt;Brand Activation&amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;

Small business awards to enter right now

Enterprise Nation Female Start-up of the Year

Small Business Sunday with Theo Paphitis

Growing Business Awards

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