Are they worth your money and your time as a start-up?
At the start of 2021 Kind Currency and I kicked off the year with being named or nominated for awards and recognition, more followed as the year progressed. I am so very grateful to the individuals that nominated me, and truly appreciate the support.
Awards and recognitions grow confidence in your mission and you as a leader. They are great PR opportunities, helping your message to be heard. And they are very exciting.
But.
Some are genuinely all about celebrating people and business, but some are just money makers, and beyond that there is no real impact.
Throughout last year, I gained real insight into what was valuable and more importantly, what wasn’t.
I reflected on my own experiences along with having conversations with other SME’s, startups, entrepreneurs and founders.
Two factors stood out:
1. Investment
2. Community
Awards cost money for both parties. The administration of the awards process, event planning and production etc comes at a cost, and overheads need to be covered. Recovering these costs usually comes from the awards ceremony itself, sponsorship of the awards, advertising at the awards, funding and for some the ticket price per head. Across the year we noticed a clear difference between awards for impact and awards for profit; the latter having no true value for the business to participate beyond nomination. We also learnt, some required a fee to progress from nomination to shortlist, this really should ring alarm bells for any business owner.
We found great value in awards that were authentically celebrating people and business, these tended to be industry led. These awards were not about profiteering ceremonies but building real community opportunity. Just a note to make, just because something has the word community stuck on its title doesn’t make it a community. A community is active beyond the awards and they are inclusive, usually at no additional cost to you and for many they celebrate your success without a price tag. Be mindful of those awards created by an awards organisation, their sole purpose and only revenue stream is awards and they are not industry or community led. These are easily identified as they move from one set of awards to the next.
The best example of an authentic celebratory award community, is Small Business Britain.
Their awards are campaigns within the larger context of what they do as an organisation. They celebrate a small cohort of people and businesses every year. And what you gain is far greater than just being named. You are welcomed into a supportive community, with daily opportunity to seek advice, support, celebrate, connect and help. You gain access to free training, opportunities to have your voice heard directly with decision makers and throughout the community. You are invited to regular events. You have access to regular online chats, webinars and networking. And the actual events to celebrate your recognition are free! All because they are true to their value. Their mission is to support people and business, not profit from them.
No awards are worth hundreds of pounds of your money or your valuable time to just be a bum on a seat in a sea of many unnamed individuals, with the winner included in that.
Our advice is look for the value.
If your gut tells you the investment would be better spent in your actual business, then do not let the fear of missing out take control. You are not missing out if the value is one way and you aren’t going to benefit. Apply for awards but never pay for awards.
Celebrate the nominations and use it as valuable acknowledgement of you and your business and milk the PR as much as you can. Immerse yourself in the awards that really do offer community and opportunity because these awards impact beyond the trophy.