Timeline:Entries Open: Thursday 11 May 2017Awards Ready Workshop: Thursday 23 May 2017Entries Close: Wednesday 14 June 2017JudgingFinalists Announced: June end 2017People’s Choice VotingFinalists’ Video ProductionGala Presentation Dinner and Winners Announced: Thursday 3 August 2017

Eligibility Criteria:● All entrants must be a registered business and cannot be a club, co-operative

or non-profit organisation.● All entrants must operate a business within the Margaret River Region

(including and south of Busselton, including and north of Augusta, including and west of Nannup).

● All entrants must be operating for a minimum of 12 months at the time of entering the Awards.

Category Criteria:

● Best New Business, presented by South Regional TAFE The business must be a start up, operating for a maximum of twenty-four months at the time of entering the awards.

● Best Micro Business, presented by McAuliffe LegalThe business must have zero to four full time or equivalent employees.

● Best Small Business, presented by Telstra Busselton Store The business must have five to ten full time or equivalent employees.

● Best Business with 11+ Employees, presented by Bendigo BankThe business must have more than ten full time or equivalent employees.

● Excellence in Customer Service, presented by the Small Business Development CorporationThe business must demonstrate a commitment to providing excellent customer service, offering additional customer service initiatives.

● Best Home Based Business, presented by Ventura Home GroupThe business must operate from a home-based office.

● Finest Regional Producer, presented by Rustico at Hayshed HillThe business must manufacture local food or beverages.

● Excellence in Tourism, presented by the Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association The business must operate within the tourism industry.

● Creative Industries Award, presented by SWDCThe business must operate within the creative industry.

All category finalists will automatically be in the running to win:● Community Excellence Medallion, presented by Settlers Tavern● Environmental Excellence Medallion, presented by the Cape to Cape

Catchments Group (soon to be Nature Conservation Margaret River Region)● The People's Choice Award, presented by The Village Margs● The 2017 Business of the Year, presented by the Shire of Augusta-Margaret

River.

Entry Guidelines:● Entries must be submitted by email before 5pm WST Wednesday 14 June.

● Businesses may enter up to two categories, but each entry will require an individual submissions and it’s recommended that entrants tailor each submission to the category.

● A submission-processing fee is required from entrants who are not a member of MRCCI or another local chamber - $20 x 1 entry, $30 x 2 entries.Payable to: Margaret River CCI. BSB: 016-520, Account: 491580811Reference: Your business nameEntry for members of MRCCI and other regional Chambers is free.

● Sponsor businesses cannot enter into their sponsored category but they are eligible for entry into all other categories.

● The MRCCI Executive Committee members are permitted to enter the Awards, but they are not permitted to sit on the judging panel.

● Entries that are incomplete or ignore word limits will score poorly.

● Finalists for each category will be notified via email at the end of June and will be awarded a Finalist Badge that may be used for promotional purposes.

● All finalists will be asked to participate in an individual video about their business, which will be screened at the Gala Presentation Dinner and gifted to finalists after the event.

● All finalists will be presented with a Certificate of Excellence at the Gala Presentation Dinner on Thursday 3 August 2017, and a representative from the winning business will be required to accept the Certificate.

● All winners will be announced at the Gala Presentation Dinner on Thursday 3 August 2017, and a representative from the winning business will be required to accept the winner’s trophy.

● All winners will be asked to participate in promotional photographs with the category sponsor at the Gala Presentation Dinner, which will be available to the business, sponsor and MRCCI for promotional use.

● All applications must be emailed to awards@mrcci.com.au.

Judging Process:All entries will be judged and scored by an independent panel of business experts with the majority of judges based outside the Margaret River region. The MRCCI Executive Committee members are not permitted to sit on the judging panel.

Applications will be judged against the following criteria:

business overview business planning marketing customer service business ethics

All finalists will be notified by email at the end of June 2017.

The finalist and winner decisions are final and no discussions will be entered into.

Entry Form

Notes You are encouraged to use pictures and graphs, but only if they add to the

‘story’ of your business, not just for decorative purposes. Use bullet points and tables if it helps to answer the questions. Applications should be in a minimum of 11pt in an easy to read font such as

Arial or Calibri. 250 words is roughly half a page of A4 in 11pt font. Please stay within the word count, content over the count will be scored

poorly. Words used in graphs or customer testimonials are not included in your word count.

Business information:Business name: Contact name:Phone number: Web address:No. full time or equivalent employees: Email:The category you’re entering:

Questions:Business Overview

1a. Provide a general overview of your business, including a brief history and summary of your current operations. Describe your products and/or services. What makes your business unique and sets you apart from your competitors? (350 words)Your answer should demonstrate your eligibility for the category and set the scene for the judges. Remember, it's possible that the judges have never heard of your business or are not involved in your industry. Clearly explain why potential customers would choose your business rather than your competitors.

1b. Provide an overview of the financial performance of your business over the past 12 months and how this compares to previous years. (200 words, excluding graphs and charts)The judges want to see how well your business has performed, so give them either actual figures or percentages to show year on year comparisons of your revenue, cost of goods sold, gross profit, expenses and net profit. If you are in the early stages of your business or you have recently invested in developing the business, explain how this has impacted on your financial performance. This answer is best displayed in graph or chart format.

Business Planning

2a Describe your business goals over the past 12 months and how you've achieved them, as well as your future goals and what strategies you are implementing to bring them into fruition. What changes have you implemented to improve operations and achieve your goals? (350 words)

Include details of the practical strategies employed and the specific results you achieved. Highlight any changes you have made to your business operations, such as streamlining systems, introducing new products/services or sustainability initiatives. Try to provide specific outcomes.

2b What strategies do you use to recruit, retain and motivate staff? (250 words) If you don’t employ staff, go to question 3The judges want to know about your staff, but more importantly they want to know what you do day-to-day and in the longer term to ensure that your staff enjoy working for you and feel appreciated.

Marketing

3a Describe your target customers, how you market to them and the effectiveness of these activities. (250 words)

You should clearly profile your ideal customers in this answer and how you promote your business to them. For example do you use social media, website and strong SEO strategy, or maybe networking and traditional press advertising? Include details of how you measure success and details of the results from each marketing activity.

Customer Service

4a What strategies does your business use to deliver excellent customer service? How do you create and retain loyal customers? How do you measure satisfaction? (350 words)

What strategies do you use to engage and communicate with your customers? What do you do to ensure your customers are satisfied and come back for more and/or spread the word to family and friends? What are your customer service policies and procedures? How do you acquire and respond to customer feedback?

Business Ethics

5a How do you ensure that your business minimises its impact on the environment? (250 words)Your answer should describe the practical ways in which you reduce your environmental footprint. For example, do you have a carbon emission reduction strategy, rainwater tanks, LED lighting, a paperless office, etc.?

5b Demonstrate how your business has had a positive effect on the local community. (250 words)Clearly describe your involvement in your local community including any economic and social benefits this has provided for the community (and your business). For example, do you try to source supplies locally, employ local staff, support charities and associations, or participate in community events? How do you support the community over and above your basic operations?