What makes a business really, really smart? Profits of millions
and squillions? Nah. Sometimes, but not necessarily. Being a smart
business means making the most of what you have, being truly
innovative, and providing service better than your competitors -
whether you're a 1,000-person super-company or a one-person
start-up.
And that's what we celebrated last night at the first ever
Smarta 100 awards. We announced the full Smarta 100 a few months
back, but last night Smarta's partners wanted to commend some
especially special smart businesses. And so did all of you, when
you were busy voting for your favourite Smarta 100 winner! And so
to the results of last night's special prizes - and why they're so
darn smart.
What makes a business really, really smart? Profits
of millions and squillions? Nah. Sometimes, but not necessarily.
Being a smart business means making the most of what you have,
being truly innovative, and providing service better than your
competitors - whether you're a 1,000-person super-company or a
one-person start-up.
And that's what we celebrated last night at the
first ever Smarta 100 awards. We announced the full Smarta 100 a
few months back, but last night Smarta's partners wanted to commend
some especially special smart businesses. And so did all of you,
when you were busy voting for your favourite Smarta 100 winner! And
so to the results of last night's special prizes - and why they're
so darn smart.
The Smarta network vote award: Highland Wi-Fi
Highland Wi-Fi exists to enhance visitors'
experience to what managing director William calls 'our beautiful
part of the world': the Highlands of Scotland. Its network covers
parts of the area that bigger networks have missed - or think
aren't worth the investment. And it helps local small businesses to
advertise themselves on a main website. Find out more.
The Intuit special award: Call of the Wild
Call of the Wild is an eco-friendly adventure
training centre set up in a former mining area that was one of the
most socially and economically deprived parts of Wales. The
founders have since renewed a real sense of pride in the area by
recruiting local staff and making it a tourist destination, while
educating people about how to help save our environment. Find out
more.
The Mishcon de Reya special award: Bizk.it
Bizk.it offers an exciting new way for US and UK
businesses to generate and manage their information more
efficiently and cost-effectively. It provides accounting,
administration, productivity and contact management tools, for the
monthly price of two cappuccinos. The team have knocked up some
impressive partnerships too with the likes of Adobe and Sun
Microsystems, despite only launching a few months ago. Find out
more.
The NatWest special award: Freelance Students
FreelanceStudents' founder Timothy spotted a niche
in the graduate employment market that big-time competitors had
missed. Matching up graduates with freelance contracts means they
get paid until they find a permanent job and gives them valuable
experience, and small businesses benefit from the flexibility of
contracts and having a young, enthusiastic pair of hands on deck.
Find out more.
Huge congratulations to all the Smarta 100, who've
worked their socks off, nay, their shoes off too, creating such
fantastically resourceful, innovative and all-round-lovely
businesses.
We had an awesome time meeting loads of them
face-to-face, and everyone we talked to said they were meeting
loads of interesting people. Music to our ears! Because that is
really what it's all about, and what we hoped the Smarta 100 would
inspire - the idea that small businesses get a lot more out of
working together, helping each other and bouncing ideas off each
other than they do slogging it out unsociably. We've said it before
and we'll say it again: collaboration not competition,
people!
And you can join in too - have a look at the Smarta
100's profiles, send them a message on Smarta, and get the ball
rolling for some really exciting collaborations.
We'll be putting pics of the event up soon, and you
can catch up on Smarta investor and Dragons' Den entrepreneur
Deborah Meaden's speech as well as Smarta founder Shaa Wasmund's
when we get the video up too. Learn from that, and hopefully we'll
be seeing you there next year if you didn't make it this time
round. Until then!
The Smarta network vote award: Highland Wi-Fi
Highland Wi-Fi exists to enhance visitors' experience to what
managing director William calls 'our beautiful part of the world':
the Highlands of Scotland. Its network covers parts of the area
that bigger networks have missed - or think aren't worth the
investment. And it helps local small businesses to advertise
themselves on a main website. Find out more.
Call of the Wild is an eco-friendly adventure training centre
set up in a former mining area that was one of the most socially
and economically deprived parts of Wales. The founders have since
renewed a real sense of pride in the area by recruiting local staff
and making it a tourist destination, while educating people about
how to help save our environment. Find out more.
The Mishcon de Reya special award: Bizk.it
Bizk.it offers an exciting new way for US and UK businesses to
generate and manage their information more efficiently and
cost-effectively. It provides accounting, administration,
productivity and contact management tools, for the monthly price of
two cappuccinos. The team have knocked up some impressive
partnerships too with the likes of Adobe and Sun Microsystems,
despite only launching a few months ago. Find out
more.
FreelanceStudents' founder Timothy spotted a niche in the
graduate employment market that big-time competitors had missed.
Matching up graduates with freelance contracts means they get paid
until they find a permanent job and gives them valuable experience,
and small businesses benefit from the flexibility of contracts and
having a young, enthusiastic pair of hands on deck. Find out more.
Huge congratulations to all the Smarta 100, who've
worked their socks off, nay, their shoes off too, creating such
fantastically resourceful, innovative and all-round-lovely
businesses.
We had an awesome time meeting loads of them face-to-face, and
everyone we talked to said they were meeting loads of interesting
people. Music to our ears! Because that is a massive part of what
it's all about, and what we hoped the Smarta 100 would inspire -
the idea that small businesses get a lot more out of working
together, helping each other and bouncing ideas off each other than
they do slogging it out unsociably. We've said it before and we'll
say it again: collaboration not competition, people!
And you can join in too - have a look at the
Smarta 100's profiles, send them a message on Smarta, and get
the ball rolling for some really exciting collaborations.
We'll be putting pics of the event up soon, and you can catch up
on Smarta investor and Dragons' Den entrepreneur Deborah Meaden's
speech as well as Smarta founder Shaa Wasmund's when we get the
video up too. Learn from that, and hopefully we'll be seeing you
there next year if you didn't make it this time round. Until
then!