Five awards you can enter right now

If you're having a quiet August month, why not use the time to enter an award. A whole crop has just been announced with deadline dates spreading over the next couple of months. Emma Jones profiles five awards and suggests it's worth entering to win prizes, credibility and, highly likely, new customers!

BT Essence of the Entrepreneur Awards

In all the years it has been running, I've loved this Award as the prize is such a memorable and useful one; a once in a business lifetime opportunity to have your photo taken by top photographer, Rankin. (If you have a spare 5 mins, it's well worth having a look at the gallery of past winners)

The Award looks for ‘inspirational British companies who are using technology to drive their business forward.' Twenty winners will be chosen by a panel of judges and one will be awarded with the title of Outstanding Entrepreneur of the Year and the prize of a £10,000 business grant from BT. The judges will also be awarding the titles of Best Male, Best Female, Best Young Entrepreneur as well as the Most Original Business Concept.

Deadline date for entries is 31 August.
Award site: www.essenceoftheentrepreneur.co.uk

Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award

This one will appeal if you're aged 16-30 and in your first 18 months of trading. The prizes are good:

* A £10,000 cash prize for the business.
* Significant publicity & media coverage coordinated by a top award
winning PR agency.
* External recognition and credibility for your business.
* Highlighted profile through the Shell LiveWIRE website.

Previous winners include successful entrepreneurs such as James Murray-Wells from GlassesDirect.co.uk, Stewart Graham from Gael Force Group, Lucy Cohen from Mazuma Money and James Watt from BrewDog.

Deadline for entries is 11th September .
Award site: www.shell-livewire.org/news/award2009

The Good Web Guide Website of the Year Award

Could yours be the 2009 Website of the Year? The winner will receive plenty of prizes, including:

* £1,000 to spend on your website plus an advertising campaign on
   thegoodwebguide.co.uk during 2010, worth £500.
* A full SEO audit and follow up consultation with SEOptimise, worth £750.
* Professionally taken portraits of the website founder(s) and/or team
   worth £350, by award-winning photographer Dave Watts.

Websites will be judged on five criteria including design, content, interactivity and ease of use.

Deadline for entries is Wednesday 7th October
Award site: www.thegoodwebguide.co.uk/websiteoftheyear

PRECIOUS Awards

The PRECIOUS Awards are annual awards for inspirational and entrepreneurial women of colour. The awards are designed to encourage and inspire other women to launch their own business.

This year's Awards line-up includes nine categories such as Ethical Entrepreneur of the Year and Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Winners will be announced at a ceremony hosted by Award sponsors, Pearson, on 16th November.

Deadline for entries is 31st August.
Award site: www.preciousawards.com

The International Garden Photographer of the Year

If you're a photographer, this one is for you! Open to all photographers, The International Garden Photographer of the Year calls for single or groups of images across seven different categories, including Wildlife in the Garden; Garden Views and People in the Garden.

100 finalists will be professionally exhibited at Kew Gardens in London, for the summertime of 2010. One photographer will scoop the grand prize of £5,000, a runner-up will receive the same in cash and vouchers, and category winners will each win £700, as well as top photography kit.

Award site: www.igpoty.com

For Home Business

The line-up list would not be complete without mention of our own Home Business Awards! They will be open in September with submission date being end of October and winners announced on Home Enterprise Day, Friday 20th November. To be the first to know when the Awards are launched, you just have to register to receive our e-news.

And good luck in writing your winning entries!

Emma Jones is Founder of Enterprise Nation [www.enterprisenation.com], the home business website, and author of ‘Spare Room Start Up - how to start a business from home'