Applications are not available yet for the year

Thank you!

Celebrate Ottawa's Small Businesses

The Zenbooks Smallbiz Awards of Ottawa highlights and celebrates the National Capital Region’s many hardworking and creative small businesses — and with the many challenges presented by covid, we could all use some celebration.

Do you own or manage a small business in the National Capital Region? If so, we’d love for you to apply to win. We’ll make it worth your while, too: nine deserving business will walk away with cash and prizes, including the $10,000 prize for the Ottawa Smallbiz of the Year!

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 Questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out to Eric Saumure, Principal at Zenbooks, at eric@zenbooks.ca. He’d be happy to help answer any questions you may have about the Awards!

PRIZES

Win $10,000 for Your Growing Business!

There are nine award categories, as outlined in the next section. The winner of each category, as selected by our expert judges, will win:

▶︎ $500 in Cash! (New)
▶︎ $500 in Professional Services to Zenbooks (Cloud Accounting, Tax, & Advisory)
▶︎ A Business Profile Video in our Awards Broadcast
▶︎
A Professional Video Clip from the Broadcast for use in promoting their Win

The highest-rated business from all categories will also be declared the Ottawa Smallbiz of the Year, and will have their prize upgraded tenfold to $10,000 for their business — $5000 in services to Zenbooks and $5000 in cash!

AWARD CATEGORIES

Enter Your Business for Up to Two Awards

These are the nine categories in the Zenbooks Smallbiz Awards of Ottawa. Every applicant business may select up to two of the following when they are submitting their application. Not sure which ones to apply to? We recommend choosing eligible categories where you really think you will outshine your competition. 

Food & Beverage Smallbiz of the Year
Make or serve food or drink? You’re eligible. Restaurants, manufacturers, coffee shops, and more.

Skilled Trade Smallbiz of the Year
Does your operation focus on specialized trade skills? Plumbers, roofers, mechanics, photographers, landscapers, and more — we want to hear from you! It’s time to celebrate your expertise.

Tech Smallbiz of the Year
Is your company in the tech space? Programming, app development, web design, SAAS — if your company creates things for the future, this is for you.

B2B Smallbiz of the Year
Are you in the business of helping businesses? Whether you offer a service or sell products to help your fellow businesses thrive, your work is important to our ecosystem, and we want to honour that.

Ecommerce Smallbiz of the Year
If you sell products online, you’re eligible! It’s that easy.  Whether you sell exclusively on the Internet, or have recently transitioned to include a webstore as part of your shop’s mix, you’re in! 

Brick & Mortar Smallbiz of the Year
Operate out of a physical location? This one’s for you! Restaurants, retail shops, salons, downtown offices, and so many others — you make Ottawa the world-class city that it is. If you’re a member of a Business Improvement Area, note that you’re automatically eligible.

Virtual Smallbiz of the Year
Don’t have a fixed, physical location? You’re part of a new wave of businesses, and we want to celebrate what you’re doing.

New Smallbiz of the Year
Did you open your business in January 2021 or later? If so, then you’re immediately eligible for this award!

Made-in-Ottawa Product of the Year
Make stuff? We want to know about it! If you make anything—craft beer, packaged food, beauty products, furniture, art—we welcome you to apply.

JUDGING

All applications have five questions across these themes: Growth, Innovation, Tech, Impact, and Zen.  Each answer will be rated out of 10, for a total of 50 points.

Step 1: All entries will be rated by Zenbooks. The top five from each award category will be passed on to the event’s judges.

Step 2: Judges will rate the entries. The highest-rated business for each award category will be its winner. The top overall will be declared the Ottawa Smallbiz of the Year and win our $10,000 prize!

Application are not yet open for the year

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