DailyCandy's 2011 Start Small, Go Big Contest Now Accepting Entries

NEW YORK, June 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Calling all burgeoning business owners! DailyCandy, the popular email newsletter and website known to launch the newest and best designers, boutiques, restaurants, products, and personalities, announced today its annual Start Small, Go Big contest is back and open for entry.

The DailyCandy Start Small, Go Big contest, sponsored by Ink from Chase, the small business credit card portfolio from Chase Card Services, brings DailyCandy's favorite success stories — the country's most prominent entrepreneurs — together with tomorrow's innovators for a series of small business workshops at the DailyCandy Academy in New York City. Four lucky winners — one from each of the Fashion, Food & Drink, Beauty, and Home categories — will be mentored by industry luminaries, receive a DailyCandy Dedicated email, visibility on the company's website, and promotion to DailyCandy's 800k+ Twitter followers and Facebook fans. They'll also attend a blowout celebration with the movers and shakers from NYC's digital media, tech, food, fashion, and beauty industries.

Last year's contest winners who were one year ago on the cusp of greatness, are today well on their way to success.

• Nella Pasta founders, Leigh Foster & Rachel Marshall, were in desperate need of funding a replacement ravioli machine. Today, they are selling sustainably-made pasta in brand new packaging at eight retail locations, ten farmers markets, and soon Whole Foods in the North Atlantic region!
• Dolly Pearl founder, Vi Hoang, went from personally sewing all of her dresses on the floor of her apartment to hiring a seamstress, working from a sewing studio and entertaining numerous requests from boutiques hoping to sell her line.
• Thursdays, the girls-only cooking and crafting website & weekly dinner party planners, have dramatically increased their social net followings, conduct media interviews regularly and most recently hired guest bloggers to expand their website's content offerings.

The key to winning Start Small, Go Big: Each product or service should make life a little sweeter, just like DailyCandy. To enter, winner wannabes should visit dailycandy.com/startsmallgobig, fill out their key business info, select a category, and finish these three statements: 1) The world needs my business because ..., 2) My big idea moment was ..., and 3) My greatest challenge so far has been ... On August 22, DailyCandy editors will unveil the top 12 finalists (three from each category) and invite America to vote (daily!) for their favorites. On September 16, after the votes have been tallied, one winner in each of the four categories will be announced.

In mid-October at the DailyCandy Academy, the lucky winners will partake in a day specifically created to suit their entrepreneurial needs; they'll have unprecedented access to well-known industry leaders — the likes of Isaac Mizrahi, Rebecca Minkoff, and Marcus Samuelsson — who'll mentor and share their start-up stories and tips for success. The winners will also rub shoulders with top executives in the areas of PR, marketing, finance, and technology, and clink cocktails with DailyCandy's favorite business owners who started small and went big.

Not only is the Start Small, Go Big microsite where the contest kicks off, the site will also serve as a year-round resource for new business owners looking for insights, tips, and invaluable early-day resources. There, visitors can follow the continued growth of last year's contest winners — and follow in the footsteps of industry experts who've blazed the trail to success. To learn more about DailyCandy's Start Small, Go Big contest or the DailyCandy Academy and the mentors participating this year, visit www.dailycandy.com/startsmallgobig.

About DailyCandy

DailyCandy, the insider's guide to the sweet life locally and online, delivers 3+ million email subscriptions via 26 editions in the U.S. and London. Read about under-the-radar neighborhood joints, fashion lines, and indie events in the daily emails; visit DailyCandy.com for a roundup on the latest and greatest lifestyle trends nationwide; experience your neighborhood in new ways with DailyCandy Deals' exclusive savings at our favorite local businesses; and score apparel and accessories brands we love at up to 70 percent off at Swirl.com.

DailyCandy publishes an Everywhere edition, twelve city editions (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.), and twelve Kids editions (one national, eleven local). DailyCandy also publishes DailyCandy Deals Everywhere, Everywhere Kids, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, with more on the way. DailyCandy is a unit of NBCUniversal's Entertainment & Digital Networks and Integrated Media.

About Ink from Chase

Ink from Chase is a portfolio of business cards offering robust, flexible payment solutions and resources to meet the unique needs of small business owners, from spending habits to cash flow needs to rewards. This business card portfolio, which features Chase's pay-in-full charge card (a first from issuers of Visa® or MasterCard®), includes the Ink Bold, Ink Plus, Ink and Ink Cash cards.

SOURCE DailyCandy