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To seek out and reward innovative small businesses for their smart use of technology, Dell founded the Dell Small Business Excellence Award program in 2004.
"Almost 25 years ago, as a small business, we introduced the direct model, with a singular focus on listening to customers and working hard to get them exactly what they need. Listening and delivering on behalf of customers has been instrumental in our growth. Our partnership, the ICSB gives us an opportunity to highlight the successes of today's small businesses around the world." -Michael Dell, Dell Chairman and CEO Now in its sixth year in the United States and second year in Australia, Dell is partnering with Endeavor, a global non-profit supporting emerging market entrepreneurs, and the International Council for Small Business (ICSB), which has a mission to advance entrepreneurship through global knowledge sharing and networking, to expand the program internationally. Australia's national partners in 2009 are EXCOM Education, a world-renowned IT technical training provider, and SEAANZ, the Small Business Enterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand, founded in 1987 to bring together Small and Medium Enterprise professionals in practice, education and training. The 13 countries participating in the global Dell Small Business Excellence Award include:
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 | | 2008 Global Winner - Wiggly Wigglers |
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If swapping best practices with Michael Dell during their "Day at Dell" wasn't thrilling enough, Wiggly Wigglers founder and director Heather Gorringe got the surprise of her career when she received a call from him in mid October 2008 informing her she was the winner of the inaugural Global Dell Small Business Excellence Award! Wiggly Wigglers, a rural England-based natural gardening company, was awarded by Dell and its global partners for its innovation and leadership in social media. Using tools like Facebook, podcasting and blogging, Wiggly Wigglers has grown to serve 90,000 customers worldwide while cutting their advertising budget by 80%. "We are thrilled to receive this award and can't wait to start blogging and podcasting with our customers all over the world to let them know," said Heather. See the News section below to read more about Wiggly Wigglers and all our past winners and finalists. Visit Dell's Small Business Flickr page for downloadable award winner photos.
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- Task Retail Technology Pty Ltd, based in Mona Vale, Sydney, is a supplier of electronic Point of Sale solutions to the retail market. Their flagship product is the award winning XCHANGEXEC® software suite, a flexible, web centric POS solution designed for large franchise groups, retail chains, hospitality groups, stadiums and arenas.
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| | 2009 Australian Finalists: |
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- Fusion Books,Perth, Western Australia ,has developed a fast and convenient way to create yearbooks and graduation books. Typically creating a yearbook was stressful and time-consuming. However, Fusion Books streamlines the workflow into a simple and easy-to-use system, which can be accessed online by the whole team. Innovative technology enables Fusion Books to offer low prices to their clients throughout Australia.
- Connect Language Services,Docklands, Victoria is Australia's leading language solutions provider, assisting all levels of government and private enterprise to reach new and existing multicultural markets. With over 4000 professional linguists, powerful technological systems and proven language solutions, Connect offers professional and high quality translation, localisation and on-site interpreting in over 80 languages. In particular, Connect has implemented innovative technology that allows their clients to seamlessly manage their language requirements as well as provide solutions for the long term. These technology-driven solutions have also produced significant upfront and long-term cost benefits as well as significant time savings.
- Flexischool Systems, Manly, Sydney, NSW partners with school canteens, both volunteer-run and commercial, to provide a simple and efficient way of receiving, processing and fulfilling daily lunch orders over the internet or using prepaid cards at the counter. The web-based system has been built in-house and includes an advanced Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool for dealing quickly and professionally with customer (parent) enquiries.
- Veritas Engineering: Perth, WA, a finalist in the 2008 awards, a consulting and professional services company that provides tailored engineering solutions and products to organisations in the defence, maritime and offshore, financial services, telecommunications, information technology, and transit industries. Through the use of an online application and development of a strategic partnership with Australia Post, Veritas Engineering, alocal Perth consultancy, effectively has over 3,000 retail outlets across Australia.
- Sydney Writers' Centre: Milsons Point, Sydney, NSW, through integrated and active social media campaign grew a database of users to become a leading provider of short courses to individuals and corporate groups in magazine writing, travel writing, fiction, book publishing, business writing, online writing and much more. Courses are available face-to-face and online with students enrolling from all over Australia and the world including, the UK, US, Afghanistan, Italy, Hong Kong, Singapore, The Netherlands, France and more. Blog named one of Top 15 business blogs by SmartCompany.
- QSR International: Doncaster, Victoria, is the world's largest qualitative research software developer and an innovative leader in its industry. Privately owned, QSR has over 400,000 users spanning more than 150 countries and an estimated 49% share of the global qualitative research software market. QSR's NVivo software allows customers to manage, shape and analyse non-numerical information - including Word and PDF documents, audio recordings, videos and digital photos - allowing them to quickly and easily glean insight and deliver informed, robust findings. NVivo is used by decision makers and researchers in every field, from health and market research, to sport and criminology.
- Tgarage: Mt Helen, Victoria, , a group of highly experienced Senior Marketers and Marketing IT Specialists with a focus on Word of mouth marketing that has created Vibe Village - social networking site - drawing on consumer's desire for straight, honest and useful product and service recommendations. Vibe Village exists to find the people who are talking about a brand, formalising their role as a key influencer and communicator and then reporting back to customers with measurable outcomes for their brand campaigns.
- BuyaShed.com.au: Ipswich, Queensland, an e-tailer of outdoor products including sheds, carports, garages, garden sheds, patios, relocatable buildings and more, revolutionising its market and employing cutting edge online marketing strategies to drive business and pass cost savings onto the customer. Prices are 25% less than competitors due to build to order model and no/low inventory costs.
- Catalogue Central: South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia's first online catalogue business, aggregating catalogues and retail offers to advertisers and consumers in one location. With its commitment to delivering uniquely superior marketing analytics and exceptional return on investment, Catalogue Central has more than 260,000 active subscribers and lists Australia's retail elite amongst its clients.
- The Personnel Risk Management Group, Moonee Ponds, Victoria, a pre-employment screening company, initiated the first online police checks in Australia and are the leading provider to, the Commonwealth Department which oversees criminal history records in Australia. PRM was the first in Australia to introduce the online system cutting down time of the checks from 4-6 weeks (for the paper system) to 24 hours. The PRM Group is currently working with international biometric companies to ensure more positive identification of people undergoing police checks and for other purposes.
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