Each year, the Small Business BC Awards attract hundreds of nominations and thousands of votes from entrepreneurs and communities across our Province. It’s the single largest small business awards competition in British Columbia and a massive opportunity for businesses to share their story and celebrate their successes.
Nominating is Easy
Whether you want to nominate your own business, or a business you admire, the process couldn’t be simpler. All you need to do is complete our Nomination Form and we will publish the nomination within 48 hours. There are eight categories to choose from this year:
- Premier’s People’s Choice
- Best Community Impact
- Best Company
- Best Employer
- Best Immigrant Entrepreneur
- Best Innovation
- Best Marketer
- Best Youth Entrepreneur
Once the nomination is published, it’s time for the business to engage their community and gather as many votes as they can before November 30th.
How Does the Awards Voting Process Work?
A common question we receive each year focuses on how the awards voting process works. With small business playing a large role in BC life, many of our nominees come from smaller communities. Aren’t they at a disadvantage? Surely businesses in large population centres like the Lower Mainland have a wider network to canvass for votes?
We understand these concerns and we have created a process that levels the playing field. This process is called vote normalization.
What is Vote Normalization?
In simple terms, businesses in smaller communities will need to gather less votes than businesses in larger communities to compete. Several factors are used to weigh votes, including the population of the community the business is based in (British Columbia Regional District Population Figures). This process creates a fair environment for all nominees and an equal chance for each to make our Top 10.
Our normalization process is handled by Small Business BC’s Market Research Expert, Mark Eversfield. We asked him to explain his methodology:
“Small Business BC’s mandate is to the entire province of BC and therefore recognizes the importance of small businesses throughout the province. Since the Small Business BC Awards are based on getting people to vote for a nominee’s business, where the nominee’s business is located can be an advantage or disadvantage,” Mark explained.
“If it’s located in a large city, it’s logical that a business can accumulate many votes. Conversely, a business in a small town will be at a competitive disadvantage where there are fewer votes available. To give businesses in smaller BC cities an even chance, we normalize the number of votes recorded. The process works by weighting their votes by their Regional District’s population of 15 years of age and older. There are 29 Regional Districts in BC.
“This way a smaller town’s business’s votes will have greater weight, vote for vote, than a business in a larger city where it is easier to get votes.”
Please Note: Only one vote per person is allowed, per nominee, per category. However, you can vote for your favourite business in every category they’re nominated in, or vote for as many different businesses as you like.
Will the Number of Votes be Published or Made Available to Nominees?
No. That information will remain confidential. It isn’t available to the public or made available to nominees. Pure vote numbers are not indicative of performance in the competition.
Have More Questions?
Still unclear about any aspects of the voting process? Please contact us and we’ll be happy to clarify. All that’s left is for you to nominate and vote!
Here to Help
No matter what stage of business, or what problem you face, Small Business BC offers a range of seminars and one-on-one advisory sessions to suit any business.