How to Win a Business Competition

All day I've been working on getting copy ready for the August/September issue of MyBusiness, which, among other things, will include short blurbs about each of the 10 finalists of the 2009 Dell/NFIB Small Business Excellence Award. It's an award that recognizes the innovative use of technology to create memorable experiences for the customer. More than 3,000 business owners applied, but like with most competitions, there can only be one winner (who will be announced in the fall). The upcoming issue will also feature the winners of the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Awards, an annual scholarship contest that honors enterprising high-school seniors.

Maybe it's all the talk of these awards around the office, but I took just one look at this New York Times article to realize what a great resource it was for this blog's readers.

Just like there are tips for job seekers on how to make their resumes stand out from the rest, this article offers tips on how to win a business competition. While the article is geared toward business plan competitions, the tips apply no matter what kind of business competition you're entering.