Could You Be A Small Business Champion?

Two major Small Business Champion Awards programs, dedicated to honouring the best of Australia’s tradies and female-led small businesses, are calling for entries.

The call is out for top tradies and female trailblazers nationwide to enter the 2024 Australian Trades Small Business Champion Awards and the 2024 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards.

Entries to both awards is free.

Tradies have until 5 pm (AEST) on Thursday, July 4, while entries to the women’s small business champion awards will remain open until 5 pm (AEST) on Wednesday, June 26.

The nation’s only recognition awards program dedicated to spotlighting trades-based small business operators from all corners of every Australian state and territory, the Awards further recognise trades-based small business owners’ invaluable contributions to their local communities and to their fields of specialty - including their encouragement of future generations of Aussie tradies.

From builders and bricklayers to arborists, architects, engineers, commercial cleaners, plumbers, painters, locksmiths, electricians, gardeners, landscapers and surveyors, the Australian Trades Small Business Champion Awards is deliberately diverse in terms of the breadth of represented trades.

Featuring more than 50 award categories and five individual categories - Apprentice Champion, Champion Tradie, Small Business Trades Entrepreneur (aged over 30), Young Small Business Trades Entrepreneur (aged 30 and younger) and Trades Champion Leader - this year marks the second consecutive year of the Trades Awards, created to celebrate and inspire the nation’s most innovative, dynamic, and top-performing tradies.

Recent data indicates that almost two million tradies are actively employed in Australia, but according to various industry bodies, hundreds of thousands more are needed to keep pace with Australia’s housing demand.

Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal that the vast majority of Australian small business owners are tradies.

Founder and Managing Director of Precedent Productions, Steve Loe said small business owners in trade industries were crucially important to Australia.

“Their contributions to this country are simply astronomical and so, it’s in the interests of all Australians to recognise the champions of this sector and in doing so, consider how we can better support them so they can continue to support us,” Mr Loe said.

“The Australian trades sector is arguably amongst the most complex, but it’s also among the most innovative, resilient and certainly hardworking.

“A career in trades typically means early starts, long days, and exhausting labour; and for owners, this i in addition to all the pressures that come with running a small business.

“It can be a taxing career and those who perform to a high standard ought to be acknowledged in a big way - which is what these Awards are all about.”

Precedent Productions coordinations the Australian Trades Busines Champion Awards and the Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards.

This year marks the third consecutive year of the Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards, spotlighting the achievements of some of the nation’s most inspiring women in small business.

From dentists and disability support providers to accountants, makeup artists, cafe owners, cosmetic specialists, farmers, fashion designers and financial planners, the Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards features more than 65 award categories and four individual categories - Young Small Business Champion Woman Entrepreneur (aged 30 and younger), Small Business Champion Woman Entrepreneur (aged over 30), Australian Small Business Champion Influential Woman and Australian Small Business Champion Icon.

Mr Loe said we were in the midst of an age of female entrepreneurial empowerment.

“Despite the current high cost of living and myriad challenges associated with small business ownership at present, Australian women are simply powering through and showing incredible resilience and drive across all industries of the small business sector,” Mr LOe said.

“Precedent Productions has been running the Australian Small Business Champion Awards since 1999, but especially during the past few years, we’ve noticed a steep rise in the success of female-owned small businesses in particular; so much so that we deemed it appropriate to have a standalone awards program that showcases and honours the truly impressive work of women in small business.

“Perhaps there are elements in the double-X chromosome that gives female leaders a special “oomph”, or perhaps it’s lived experience, but whatever the reason, small businesswomen today are shining and deserve to be recognised for overcoming still-existing distinct trials to reach such inspirational success.”

Shortlisted finalists for each program will be announced from July.

Winners of the 2024 Australian Trades Small Business Champion Awards will be revealed at a National Presentation Evening Gala event on Friday, August 23, the evening before winners of the Women’s program are celebrated on Saturday, August 24.

Visit championawards.com.au/trades / championawards.com.au/womens for more information or to submit an entry.

• Topics:

• Awards
• Business
• Women