Ross Thurston is president of Calgary-based Livestock Water Recyling Inc.
Every growth story has a plot twist, but the savviest entrepreneurs thrive on a challenge. The Challenge Contest is an opportunity for Canada's brightest small business owners to tell their story – and showcase their unique ideas to solve the problems they face.
It could be outsized competition. Or a regulatory hurdle. A management issue. Or something no one could have ever foreseen. The challenge should be unique – as should be the argument for why that challenge deserves the $100,000 prize.
Who can enter
Small Canadian businesses outside Quebec with less than 100 employees are eligible to enter. If you work for the company but aren't the owner, you can still register with written permission from the owner, president or chief executive. We'll accept entries received between March 17 and May 26, 2014.
How to enter
Visit the Challenge website to sign up. In 830 words or less, tell us what your small business does, what your challenge is, how you would use $100,000 to overcome it, and what kind of results you expect. We also want to know how community investment, customer service and innovation fit into your business's values.
Finalists and winners
Entries will be reviewed and evaluated based on the challenge, proposed solution, projected results and business values. The judges will select the top four submissions in early June, and they will come to the Telus House in Toronto for The Challenge Event on June 19, 2013, with transportation and accommodation expenses paid for by the sponsors.
Each finalist will have up to three minutes to pitch the judges on why they should win the $100,000 prize. Videos of these pitches will be posted on The Globe and Mail website, where readers will be able to vote for their favourite until Sept. 1. The business with the highest score among judges and readers is the winner.
Ten entries will also receive Regional Recognition as determined by the Finalist selection scoring criteria from the judges and will receive secondary prizes.
The judges
Globe and Mail editors Sean Stanleigh, Steve Tustin and Katherine Scarrow; Suzanne Trusdale, Director – Sales at Telus Corp.; Jim Senko, VP – Small Business Solutions at Telus Corp.; Carolyn Lawrence, president of Women of Influence Inc.; and Chris Griffiths, director of Fine Tune Consulting.
The prize
The Challenge winner will take home the $100,000 grant in two instalments and have their business featured in a full-page story in The Globe and Mail. The three other finalists will receive secondary prizes. Ten Regional Recognition winners will also be chosen and receive prizes.
Enter
Visit our website and enter your business for a chance to win $100,000.