WBN attend as finalists in Business Book Awards 2024

WBN attend as finalists in Business Book Awards 2024

Wow what a night!! On Thursday Sharon Louca and WBN members Sarah Gray, Jules White, Jacqueline Leake and Sue Green went on a road trip to London to attend the Business Book Awards 2024

Foyer of the Drum conference space with central stair case and glass ceilingThe prestigious Annual Event was held at The Drum Conference Space in Wembley, just next door to Wembley Stadium.

Arriving to an array of men in black tie and women  in their long dresses, sparkles and cocktail dresses we had a warm welcome and plenty of photo opportunities along with an official photographer capturing the whole event.

The event was well attended with guests from around the Globe, we had authors and guests from UK, Europe, Japan, South Africa, America, Canada,  Columbia and the furthest being Perth Australia!!

Shortlisted from 300 entries

We learnt that our book The Womens Business Network Guide to Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur had been selected from an original 300 entries. We were shortlisted in the Start Up/Scale Up category and were one of 6 finalists. Interestingly we were the only female authors in our category however, I am pleased to report a very good spread of male and female authors overall. We were the only self published book in our category and we counted a total of 3 self published books across all the categories. Again confirming just how high an achievement this was to be selected as Finalists!

Big screen displaying 6 finalists book covers in Start Up Scale up category on Awards event stageEach category had a Winner and a Highly Commended and then an Overall Business Book Award Winner of 2024 was awarded at the end of the event.

The winner was a lady named Amy Walters Cohen for her book Ruthlessly Caring which won in the People, Culture and Management category.

We are immensely proud of this achievement and to be recognised alongside so many wonderful authors.

If you would like to learn the story behind this collaboration project you can read about how our book was created from a flippant comment at one of our meetings here

Creating a legacy

The Business Book of the Year winner of 2021 Ash Ali, Co-Author of ‘The Unfair Advantage’ was interviewed during the event and shared his experience as a winner and the many opportunities it has afforded him to speak around the World. During his interview he made a very valid point.

Guest speaker stood in front of lecternPublishing a book many not make you rich in sales but the value it offers in credibility and the paid speaking opportunities he has secured worldwide have allowed him to create a legacy.

And isn’t that far more important than the money!

We would like to thank the judges for selecting us and all our members who collaborated to create this wonderful resource for entrepreneurs or those aspiring to be!

Sharon Louca

Sharon Louca

I am a Multi Award Winning Networker and Business Owner. I started my first business in 2009 at the height of a recession with no clients or contacts just a skill set and passion to support others. Networking was crucial to my business success in those early days. I have been a Quality Consultant since 2014 supporting companies to implement, maintain and audit their Quality Management systems certified to ISO9001 Internationally recognised standard. In 2014 I also started running my own networking events to provide a safe supportive environment for female business owners to come together to connect and be united on their ongoing business journey. During the pandemic I hosted free weekly online meetings to my members to offer support during uncertain times. We soon grew to a national and international audience which inspired the decision to launch Womens Business Network Ltd as an online support network for female business owners which is open to a national and international audience. I am a strong believer in collaboration over competition so in 2022 we hosted our first Bootcamp series, in 2023 we co-wrote The Womens Business Network Guide to Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur.The Womens Business Network now also hosts a Podcast called Connect Unite Empower to reach women in business who do not currently network to share with them the benefits of finding the right support network that fits you and your business. Sharon continues to support businesses through her Quality work but now likes to focus on supporting solopreneurs to use some of the principles of ISO9001 to stabilise their business foundations for longevity and growth.