Honouring the cream of Singapore SMEs

For years now, we have tried various ways to cajole businesses into providing information about SMEs in Singapore. We wanted simple statistics, possibly some reports to questions that we routinely asked: Which are the best SMEs in the country? What makes the more successful ones tick? What constitutes excellence among SMEs? Simple questions that we could not get answers to. So we thought: why not do our own research, speak to the thousands of SMEs that read the SME Magazine, get their data and feedback? Then we will know for ourselves - and that is how the SME100 Awards was conceived.

As the only regional awards for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the SME100 offers winners something that no other award can: regional opportunities and recognition.

Now in its seventh year, SME100 has taken a whole new life of its own. A record number of nominees each year put their names down for an opportunity to be accorded the ultimate recognition for SMEs. From a single annual award, the 100 has now gone regional and sub-regional.

Over 2,000 SMEs in Singapore were monitored from the beginning of the year and hundreds of SMEs submitted their entries to take part for the first time this year. We took months to decide on the top 100 SMEs in Singapore, sieving through the entries, including extensive site visits to verify and interview each and every one of the nominees. The result is the identification of the crème de la crème of SMEs in Singapore.

This year, we took the SME100 programme to Singapore with the Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SMCCI) as the supporting organisation. Another key partner is the award's official auditors, Nexia TS - which is itself an SME that has grown to become a leading accounting firm in Singapore.

To further ensure the quality of our recipients, we initiated a 100 per cent site audit process, where about 90 per cent of nominees were subjected to a physical visit by our representatives while the remainder were vetted through a phone interview and additional background search. Much of the data was derived from the Singapore Commercial Credit Bureau, which has done an excellent job in filtering the information to our strict criteria

All this was done prior to the judging so that the panel had as much real data as possible to make their decisions.

This contrasts greatly with other business awards which often rely on participants' submissions as the sole basis for their decisions.

Ultimately, the SME100 is more than a list; it is a testament to the tenacity of men and women who believe in this notion: to prosper, nothing beats pure sweat and diligence.

The fact that the SME100 is launched in Singapore during SG50 makes the awards much more meaningful - as it celebrates the achievements of not just the current batch of SMEs but all the pioneer generation of SMEs which made Singapore what it is today.

We would like to thank all the companies that took part in the survey and the SME100 programme, giving us access to their financial accounts, answering our seemingly endless questions and being patient with us as we took a longer time than we thought we would in compiling and making sense of all the information.

More importantly, we hope that through this exercise we have managed to raise the bar for all SMEs in Singapore. The exacting standards applied, and the final 100 that withstood this baptism of fire, are testament to the fact that we can achieve much more if we set our minds to it.

Welcome to your 100!