TORONTO – Canadian entrepreneurs are being invited to share their business challenges for a chance to win a $100,000 grant as part of a contest launched Monday by Telus and The Globe and Mail.
Called 'The Challenge', the contest invites small business owners to describe the following in an 800-word submission:
– a challenge their business is currently experiencing (200 words);
– a proposed solution to this challenge and how the $100,000 prize would help overcome that challenge (200 words);
– an explanation of the results they expect to achieve (200 words); and
– a description of how their business incorporates the following values into their business: 1) community investment/commitment to charities, 2) customer service and 3) innovation (200 words).
Entries, which may be submitted here before May 28, 2012, will be judged by a panel of entrepreneurs and small business experts who will review and shortlist submissions to four semi-finalists. The semi-finalists will then be profiled in Report on Business in The Globe and Mail and online, with the final winner selected this Fall and awarded the $100,000 grant.
Last year, more than 800 Canadian small business owners entered the contest. The winner, an agricultural testing lab in Lethbridge, Alberta called Sandberg Labs, invested in new equipment and the owners reorganized the layout of their lab to improve workflow and save time.