The Private Business Growth Award Application package – page 1 of 8

APPLICATION FORM

The Private Business Growth Awardis looking for businesses with growth strategies that encompass a broad range of activities across their business:product and service development, expansion into new domestic or international markets, development of people and culture, improvements in efficiency, improvements in stakeholder relations, improvements in financial measures or governance, and leadership through a combination of business acumen and instinct.

Please complete the information requested in the attached pages.

In addition to thisapplication form completed in full detail, extra pages of attachments, media clippings, etc. may be submitted and shall not exceed 20 pages. Videos or products will not be accepted. Submission materials will not be returned. Incomplete or late submissions will automatically be disqualified.

Submissions may be made through:

  • e-mail - (total size of all attachments should not exceed 4 MB. If required, attachments should be sent in multiple mails), or
  • registered post - P O Box 1157, Gaborone, Botswana, or
  • couriered / hand delivered - Acumen Park, Plot 50370, Fairgrounds, Gaborone, Botswana.

Entries must be received by 11:59 pm on 31 August 2015.

Please visit the website at review the rules and regulations, or email any questions to our Growth Award Desk on

GENERAL INFORMATION

Company name
Physical address
Postal address
City
Country
Website address / (if applicable)
Contact information / Name
Title
Email
Phone
Office locations
/ (across Botswana and around the world)
General description of business (max. 250 words) / This text may be used in advertising materials related to the promotion of the Growth Award.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Is the applicant business a privately owned business ultimately held by citizens / residents of Botswana? / No / Yes / Ownership structure, including names of majority shareholders & their respective residential status
Are the applicant business’ financial statements audited? / No / Yes / Auditor’s name
Does the applicant business have a turnover of above BWP 20 million as per the latest audited financial statements? / No / Yes
Does the applicant business employ in excess of 25 people? / No / Yes / Total no. of employees
Is the applicant business a member of BOCCIM? / No / Yes / Membership number
Has the applicant business been in operation for at least 3 years as at 31 March 2015? / No / Yes

SELECTION CRITERIA

Submissions will be evaluated in each of the following areas. Applicants do not have to satisfy each of the judging criteria to be considered, although the winning business must demonstrate that it has achieved growth across a number of the growth criteria. Applicants that satisfy more selection criteria may receive a higher overall score from the judges.

Describe your business growth in the following areas.

A) Innovation (product and service development; improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of internal processes)

Dynamic companies are always asking how they can do things better, and in order to accomplish this, they must be innovative. This category might include industry leadership in research, development of industry-leading or industry-changing practices or products, or developing a completely new approach to an old problem in a way that shows “out of the box” thinking. This also includes industry-leading new products and services, or re-thinking or re-defining the product or service mix. This may even include companies that radically overhaul their product offerings or scale back to focus on a few core products as part of an overall growth strategy. This category also includes things such as simplifying complex processes, facilitating easier communications or enabling faster decision-making.

B) Market development (go-to-market strategy, expansion into new domestic or international markets, Economic Diversification Drive (EDD))

Having a well-defined and focused strategy for going to market with products and services is critical to business success. This category includes the success achieved in expanding the business into new markets, either domestically or internationally, and/or expanding into new product or business lines. Dynamic businesses are also innovative in how they facilitate expansion, using such means as joint ventures and strategic partnerships to achieve their growth goals.

C) People and culture (helping employees learn and develop as a critical part of overall growth)

Dynamic, growth-oriented companies seek out ways to help employees learn and develop, whether it’s direct, job-related training, or innovative programs to engage employees and help them achieve higher performance while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Dynamic businesses often introduce initiatives designed to improve the overall culture within the company in a way that underscores the relationship between individual performance and overall, long-term corporate success.

D) Strategic leadership (leadership team, strategic direction, succession planning, stakeholder relations, community involvement, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR))

Please describe the strengths of the leadership team and their contribution to the growth of the business, as well as any changes or innovations in setting the strategic direction for the business. If there is a longer-term succession plan in place to ensure the continuity of the business, please describe. In addition, every company has a variety of stakeholder groups that they must deal with in order to achieve success, including clients, vendors, the local community, regulators, and more. Examples might range from Government Relations initiatives to strengthen relationships with key decision-makers to re-organizing the sales team to ensure clients/customers are better served. Please also include a description of how you are enriching the community in which you work and live through charitable initiatives, as well as any industry involvement.

E) Financial measures and operational information (revenue growth and profitability improvement.)

Holistic growth is growth beyond the top or bottom line—it encompasses all areas of the business. However, this is not to say financial measures aren’t important, too. This recognizes pure financial growth in terms of revenue and/or profit improvement.

Financial information is an important and quantifiable indicator of success for our judges. It is required that revenue and profitability information be included as part of your submission. Attachments and additional data tables can be appended. Financial information will be kept in strict confidence and will only be made available to jury members and representatives responsible for collecting information on behalf of the jury.

Please submit this information:

Current year / Prior year 1 / Prior year 2
Total revenue/sales
Growth %
Net income
Growth %
Domestic
International
Number of countries (global reach)
Number of physical locations/offices
Number of citizen employees
Number of non-citizen employees

DETAILS OF ATTACHMENTS (IF ANY)

Please provide details of all attachments appended to this submission form.E.g.: Company profile, media clippings, etc.

SUBMITTED BY

Name / Title
Signature / Date

By submitting an application, all applicants agree that:

1)they have read and agree to these rules and regulations;

2)they have complied with all eligibility requirements;

3)the Award will be accepted as presented;

4)the information they are submitting is true, complete and accurate;

5)the information being submitted as part of the application process will be used by Grant Thornton and BOCCIM in conjunction with their third party service providers / award administrator and judging panels in selecting an Award recipient and consent for such purpose is herein provided;

6)Grant Thornton and BOCCIM shall have the unrestricted right to produce, reproduce, publicize, broadcast, exhibit, distribute and otherwise use in any fashion, the finalists’ names, logo, trademark, and any photograph, voice or likeness of any personal representative thereof whose consent the finalist will be responsible for obtaining, for advertising and publicity purposes without any additional compensation; and

7)Grant Thornton and BOCCIM and their respective officers, directors, members, partners, principals and employees are hereby released from any and all liability, loss, damages or cost related to participation in the Award process or the acceptance, use or misuse of the Award. Grant Thornton and BOCCIM assume no liability for any lost, late, illegible, falsified, misdirected or incomplete submission, notification, reply or the unauthorized use of or access to same, or for any technical malfunction, loss or delay in data transmission, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, damage or failure of any computer, equipment, software, website, e-mail, server, online system, network, lines or browser related to or resulting from participation in the Award. Grant Thornton and BOCCIM assume no liability whatsoever for any loss, damage, cost, injury or claim howsoever caused.