Preview: Telecom Home Business of the Year awards

Telecom is again celebrating the contribution that home businesses across the country make to the economy and kiwi life with the third annual Telecom Home Business of the Year awards.

The search begins on 11 July for this year's outstanding home businesses. "We're again looking for kiwi ingenuity and drive in three award categories: Inspirational Achievement, Best Use of Communications Services and Business Excellence," says Telecom head of consumer marketing Victoria Crone. "Telecom understands just how much the latest communications technologies can help home business owners work smarter and more efficiently to give their customers a better service experience and the owners more time to enjoy away from work."

Each category winner will receive a technology prize package worth $5000. From the three category winners a Supreme Winner will also be found and they will receive, in addition to the makeover, an Air New Zealand Luxury Mystery Break weekend for two including two nights accommodation.

The winning entries will come from home businesses that are registered Telecom home business customers and have been running their home business for at least three months at the time of entry.

They will have also displayed in 1000 words or less what business they're in, why and how they got started, how they measure their business goals, how these have evolved, what makes their business special and information specific to the category they are entering.

The 2004 Telecom Home Business of the Year Supreme Award winners, David Sewell and Fiona Lovie, say the award and customers' interest in their success has been phenomenal for their Christchurch-based business, Bunny Lodge, a first-class pet kennel and cattery.

The business' services include regular pet well-being updates on their website, individualised postcards sent from the pets to their owners and a custom-built swimming pool for dogs. Bunny Lodge has even become the first pet lodge in New Zealand to receive Qualmark accreditation - an award usually reserved for tourism.

"We've promoted the award on our website, and in our advertising but the article published in last December's edition of Telecom's home business newsletter Business@Home was read by far more potential customers than we anticipated and was also published in the Kennel and Cattery Association's own newsletter.

"We even had our business profiled on ASB Business, which then passed our story onto One News and several other TVNZ news bulletins. The coverage couldn't have been better."
Entries for the 2005 Telecom Home Business of the Year Awards close August 19, 2005.