Entering the Modern Barber Awards 2024 is a great opportunity to get recognition for all your hard work. From national awards such as the Modern Barber Awards, to local business community awards, there is so much value in sharing your strengths – both creative and commercial. Here’s our top tips on entering awards to maximise your chances of taking home that trophy.
Choose the Category That Matches Your Key Strengths
Go for the low hanging fruit. If you have a cracking shop interior and you have the pictures to show for it, then entering a category like ‘Best Shop Interior’ is a no-brainer.
Shepherds Grooming, winner of Shop Interior at the Modern Barber Awards 2022, wanted to show how great Birmingham is and the great potential it has for entrepreneurs: “We chose to enter the Modern Barber Awards because we wanted to showcase all the hard work that went into building a superb space for men at Birmingham. It was important to share that the space that you create is key to drive business and loyalty.”
And for those entering Shop Interior this year, Shepherds advise: “Be genuine and ensure your concept is close to your heart and values. Make sure that it suits your clientele and following as you will be fulfilling their expectations.”
Read the Criteria Carefully
Then re-read them, and then read again. A sizeable chunk of awards entries miss the mark because they haven’t ticked all the boxes on the criteria. If the ‘All Round Barber’ category asks for four different styles to represent your breadth of skill, make sure you don’t send four shots of the same head of hair.
Eleni Tsesmatzoglou, winner of All Round Barber at the Modern Barber Awards 2o22, recalls: “Winning the award has been a goal of mine for so long. It’s just validation that all hard work pays off and it’s an amazing boost to confidence.”
Deliver Evidence
Business awards particularly require evidence. The judges can’t judge what you don’t tell them, so the more the merrier. Metrics are great. The numbers never lie, so don’t be shy about sharing what you can. No award would share or publish your actual entry without your permission. Graphs and percentages help to give a snapshot of success. If you were entering ‘Business Leader’ at the Modern Barber Awards for example, you would need some numbers to show business success.
Meanwhile, if you’re entering ‘All Round Barber’, ensure any images you send across are hi-res, as they might later be published in Modern Barber. Entering industry awards doesn’t have to cost a fortune with photography fees, either. Josh Lamonaca, winner of All Round Barber in 2023, explains: “I’ve got loads of imagery that I don’t put on Instagram, because I’m too busy so it was great to see it together and with this particular collection I put in some Afro, I put in some blonde hair, short hair and mid length hair., so it gave me quite an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction.”
Don’t Waffle
Great information well written is better than something that reads like fiction. Make sure you keep to the word count too. The judges are going to be reading a ton of entries, so you want yours to have an impact.
Don’t Leave It To the Last Minute
Check the submission deadline first! That way you can plan to put your entry together over time and revisit it before you submit. The entry deadline for the Modern Barber Awards 2024 is Friday 16th February, and you can save your entry before submitting, meaning you don’t have to complete it all in one sitting.
Check the T&C’s
Don’t get caught out. The Modern Barber Awards requires that each entrant works and resides in the UK, while each category has its own specific criteria, for example, any entries for Newcomer should be completed by the newcomer’s direct Manager, and if you have more than one barbershop, focus on just one if entering Client Experience.
The awards will take place on on Sunday 23 June coinciding with our unmissable event, Barber Connect.