Standard Bank Business Awards 2021 - Frequently asked questions
1.What is the Standard Bank Business Awards?
The Standard Bank Business Awards looks to honour and award selected businesses on their growth journey as an approach to support business growth through grant funding and access to mentorship and support.
The purpose of the awards is to identify top businesses that have been profitably run for at least 3 years and requires investment to accelerate to the next phase. These businesses must have clear acceleration plans to create sustainable growth.
Standard Bank South Africa runs this recognition award under the banner of “Standard Bank Business Awards” and will pay out an “investment grant” to these businesses that will be used as growth capital to the winning businesses.
2.Can non-Standard Bank clients enter?
Yes, the awards are open to Standard Bank and non-Standard Bank customers.
3.Will I have to bank with Standard Bank going forward?
You will be provided with our product offerings but will have a choice whether to bank with us or not.
4. If I win, do I have to bank with Standard Bank?
You don’t have to bank with us if you win but your cash prize will be paid into a Standard Bank account.
5.What are the award categories?
Standard Bank Business Awards Overall Winner (1st Prize)
Standard Bank Business Awards Runner Up (2nd Prize)
Standard Bank Business Awards Second Runner Up (3rd Prize)
Standard Bank Business Awards – Best Female-Owned Business
Standard Bank Business Awards – Rising Star
6.What are the prize amounts, and will this be given to me in cash?
Prize amounts will be sent via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) into your Standard Bank account. If you don’t have an account, you will be asked to open an account to receive your prize.
The prize amounts are as follow:
Standard Bank Business Awards Overall Winner (1st Prize): R2 million
Standard Bank Business Awards Runner Up (2nd Prize): R1 million
Standard Bank Business Awards Second Runner Up (3rd Prize): R500 000
Standard Bank Business Awards – Best Female-Owned Business: R500 000
Standard Bank Business Awards – Rising Star: R500 000
7.When do the awards open for entries?
The awards open for entries on 7 July 2021.
8.When do entries close?
Entries close at midnight on Tuesday, 31 August 2021
9.Who is eligible to enter?
Any business who fulfils the below criteria can enter:
- Businesses must be operating for a minimum of 3 years
- The business must be profitability run
- The business must demonstrate intent to scale
- The business must have social impact
- The applicant must be a director or owner of the business
- The business must be registered
- The business must be South Africa based. The business is registered and headquartered in South Africa and primarily operates in South Africa.
- Applicant has traceable/provable African nationality. In other words, you have/had African citizenship and/or a parent or grandparent has African citizenship.
- Company is post-idea stage. Business is 3 years old or more and has at least 3 years of revenue history .
10.Can I nominate someone for the awards?
Yes, you may but kindly ensure you have their consent to nominate their business. Once you click on the “nominate a business” link, an email will be sent to them to enter the awards.
11.Is there a cost to enter or nominate the business?
There is no cost involved to enter or nominate a business.
12.How are the applications judged?
An independent panel of judges and industry experts will review applications and shortlist the finalists.
13.How will the judging process work?
Stage 1 – Preliminary judging
Preliminary ccreening of the entry forms to shortlist 20 businesses.
Stage 2 – Screening of the shortlisted candidates
Financial information and supporting documents are requested from this list. The data requested gives the judges critical information which they need to make a complete and holistic judgment on the candidate being reviewed. Finalists will then be chosen.
Industry experts and prelim judges assess these businesses based on the scoring criteria.
Stage 3 – Final pitching & winner announcements
The judging process is completed by the top ten finalists pitching to a panel.
14.Which documents will be requested to conduct due diligence?
- Financial information (Financial statements, cashflow statements)
- Tax Clearance Certificate, SARS PIN
- Identification documents of the directors
15.How much is a ticket to the awards event going to be?
There will be no cost to attend the event, which will be held virtually in October 2021.
16.Can I invite friends, colleagues, family and/or staff to attend the final awards event?
There will be tickets allocated to each of the finalists and you will be able to extend the invitation to your network.
17.What are the key dates?
Wednesday, 7 July 2021 - Entries/ Nominations open
Tuesday, 31 August 2021 - Entries / Nominations close
Friday, 17 September 2021 - Top 20 to be selected
Friday, 24 September 2021 - Top 10 to be announced
Thursday, 30 September 2021 - Pitch to the judging panel
Thursday, 14 October 2021 - Awards ceremony and winners’ announcements
18.When can we say a business is profitable?
Businesses that are that are profitable make money.
Profit describes the financial benefit realised when revenue generated from a business activity exceeds the expenses, costs, and taxes involved in sustaining the activity in question.
The profitability ratio we will consider is: Gross Profit = Net Sales – Cost of Goods Sold.