What is the Smarta 100?

The Smarta 100 are the most exciting, promising, disruptive new businesses, the family businesses who remain the cornerstones of communities, the innovators ploughing their own furrows in staid or declining industries, the recession-busters making a mockery of the doom and gloom, the web wonders, the teenpreneurs, mumpreneurs, olderpreneuers and, er, just about anyone who's running a small business worth shouting about.

From the West Highlands to Westfield, we're celebrating the high-street heroes, market traders on a mission, eBay entrepreneurs, budding Bransons and the emerging big businesses of tomorrow.

And we've picked out a few we think are extra smart in the areas that really make a business: resources, ethics, marketing and people.

The Smarta 100 judges

To find the Smarta 100, we enlisted the help of five of the UK's most respected entrepreneurs, all of whom share the Smarta vision and who you can see interviewed at www.smarta.com/advice/videos:

Deborah Meaden - After starting and running several of her own businesses in her 20s, Deborah eventually took over her parents' business Weststar Holidays, taking it from one to five holiday parks and catering for more than 150,000 people per year. She sold the company for £33m in 2005 and joined the panel of Dragons' Den a year later, where her notable investments have included YoudooDoll and Buggyboot.
Watch Deborah's video interview on Smarta.
Michael Birch - Michael owned five businesses before he and wife Xochi set up Bebo in 2005. The site went on to attract over 40 million users, making it one of the most popular social networking sites on the internet before being sold to AOL in March 2008 for£420m.
Watch Michael's video interview on Smarta.
Sháá Waasmund. Sháá is the founder and CEO of Smarta. She was recently named in Management Today's '35 women under 35', its list of Britain's brightest, young business stars. Sháá has worked with likes of Sir Bob Geldof and Sir James Dyson and previously started Mykindaplace.com, which was sold to BSkyB in 2006.
Charlie Mullins - Charlie began plumbing at just 12 and left school without any qualifications. He set up Pimlico Plumbers in 1979, growing it into a multi-million pound business serving a string of celebrity clients. Charlie recently appeared on C4's Secret Millionaire.
Watch Charlie's video interview on Smarta.
Sahar Hashemi - Sahar turned her back on a career as a lawyer to start the UK's first coffee chain, Coffee Republic, with brother Bobby in 1995. After selling in 2001, Sahar wrote a best-selling book, 'Anyone can do it', and launched Skinny Candy in a joint venture with confectionary giant Glisten Plc in 2007.
Watch Sahar's video interview on Smarta.