There are still two weeks left to enter the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards competition, organized by the The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation. This year's prize pool is 85,000 zł. Previous winners include companies from various sectors, both those involving new technologies and those offering products made using traditional methods. It is, therefore, worth entering your business in the competition or informing your friends about it. Honorary patronage of the competition has been assumed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Janusz Piechociński.
As numerous cases have shown, microfirms have great potential. It suffices to mention the company that created the IVONA speech synthesizer, IVO Software, which attracted the interest of global giant Amazon. IVO Software was founded in 2001, and already in 2005 it received the title of Microentrepreneur of the Year in the first edition of the competition organized by The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation.
Last year's Microentrepreneur of the Year, the company Digital Core Design, is another example showing that Polish microentrepreneurs are creative people, consistently pursuing their goals. DCD is the creator and producer of the fastest processor in the world, and its technological solutions are used in satellites, aircraft, industrial devices, and consumer electronics. DCD licenses for selected innovations were bought by companies such as Intel, Sony, Philips, and Siemens.
It is also worth mentioning winners from more traditional sectors. Publishing house Kurtiak and Ley from Koszalin is a perfect example of how a company that produces bibliophile books copes with today's realities. As Urszula Kurtiak, co-owner of the publishing house, stresses: "Success comes from a combination of knowledge, creativity, artistic sensitivity, and taste to create a unique style. The result is a one-of-a-kind and personalized product that is an artistic object. We also consider the creation of personal relationships with our customers to be one of the factors in our success. We continually use training courses and workshops, dealing both with business and self-development. We introduce new ideas and increase the attractiveness of our products. We listen closely to the interests of customers and from them we seek inspiration to create new things. We rely on our creativity and on our employees."
The Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards competition is being organized already for the tenth time. Its aim is to support small businesses. It can be entered using a form posted on the website of The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation from March 3 to April 13, 2014. The competition is designed for companies that employ fewer than 10 employees and whose annual turnover or annual balance sheet total does not exceed 2 million euros.
Honorary patronage of the competition has been assumed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Janusz Piechociński. The partners of the competition are the Microfinance Centre and the Coalition for Microentrepreneurship. The Coalition's membership comprises the Business Centre Club, the Family Business Initiative, the National Chamber of Commerce, the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, Entrepreneurial Poland, the Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan, Employers of Poland, and the Polish Craft Association.
