Business award
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A business award is an award for entrepreneurs, individuals and initiatives and honors achievements in the areas of start-ups (business plan ) , HR, quality, innovation, IT / Internet, marketing, commitment, the environment and young talent. There are several hundred awards across Germany.
meaning
The importance of business awards has grown significantly in recent years. Small and medium-sized companies and start-ups in particular benefit from the opportunities offered by the prizes: The number of start-up and business plan competitions in Germany has increased by more than 50 percent in recent years (2002: 44 competitions, 2006: 67 competitions; source: VDI / VDE-IT, October 2006) - tendency: increasing.
The increasing number of competitions results from:
- new and expanded funding opportunities for founders and SMEs through business angels or the BMWi
- increased interests of investors such as venture capital donors in German companies
- the new possibilities of the Internet that generate new business ideas and have led to a plethora of new IT and Internet prices
Features / benefits
Contrary to creative competitions, business competitions are based on economic performance such as productivity, working conditions, successful start-ups, environmental relevance or initiatives for professional training and further education. Business competitions can be part of marketing ( award marketing ). Large companies use business competitions, for example, as a means of quality assurance , to test new innovations or to maintain contacts.
There are basically three decisive advantages of participating:
- Increase in quality: coaching / advice on working on the business plan or visiting an expert
- PR: Award winners receive a seal of approval that sets them apart from the crowd and increases their image
- Contacts: Participants get to know other entrepreneurs and potential investors at the events.
Financial support (such as the prize money) is negligible in most competitions.
Award Marketing
Award marketing describes the use of a business competition for a specific purpose, for example to improve one's own business plan . In order to find and win a good price, you have to weigh up the costs and benefits of participating: Does the business competition suit your own target group? Is it worth the effort? etc.
Areas
Business competitions can be roughly divided into ten areas:
Establishment : Mainly business plan competitions that deal with the establishment of a company and want to promote it.
Personnel : Competitions for the areas of personnel management and personnel development.
Quality : Here you will find competitions for quality management and special excellence of a certain company division or product.
Innovation : Innovations, new developments and applied research are the focus here.
IT / Internet : Aimed at successful IT applications in companies.
Marketing : Mainly intended for the areas of marketing, advertising and public relations.
Engagement : Contains competitions for social engagement and corporate citizenship.
Environment : aims at the appreciation of certain environmental measures and energy savings
Young talent : competitions in which schoolchildren and students prove themselves to be entrepreneurs.
Company : for corporate governance, management and entrepreneurship.
Web links
- VDI / VDE-IT survey: Start-up competitions in Germany produce successful high-tech companies (2006) ( Memento from November 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )