…Because one good turn deserves another. 

The competition was founded by DISCsimple and hgkc founders Sarah Owen, Peter Quintana, and Kim Jones last year after the pandemic.  

I asked each of the founders a question about how One Good Turn… came to be, their experiences last year, and their hopes for the future of the competition. 

Sarah, founder of DISCsimple, when did they think of One Good Turn… and why? What did you think of the outcome of the competition? 

‘When lockdown first happened, a lot of our clients had to put projects on hold. So, when hgkc and DISCsimple had time on their hands they started thinking of things to do! We started DISClive, our free live show, just so people had somewhere to connect with each other. We have run that weekly ever since and now it is the only show its kind helping people to learn the language of DISC. We now have DISClivePRO, a second show, which is for specialists using the DISC tool with their clients.’ 

Sarah told me that they predicted that the lockdown was going to impact behaviour. That it was going to bring out the best and the worst of people. This was shown when people started hoarding essential products like toilet roll and sanitiser, contrasted with when others were doing the shopping for their neighbours who were vulnerable. Sarah went on to say that they were thinking of all the good things that they could do to help other businesses and their clients.  

‘Although we had continued working for clients whose budgets had been frozen and clients who were hit hard and could no longer afford to pay us, we decided to run the competition so the principal of doing a good turn for someone was visible.  Thankfully life got back to normal, budgets were opened, we are all busier than ever as businesses have learned the value of solid planning and the importance of their people.   

The competition isn’t the important thing here – the concept that in business if we all help each other there is a knock-on effect and more people get the help they need because truly One Good Turn really does Deserve Another!’ 

Peter, co-founder of hgkc, how do you feel last year’s competition went and what did you get out of it? 

‘We were very pleased with the entrants for last year’s competition. The two winners both submitted exceptional plans and were worthy winners, but all the short-listed entries worked hard on their plans, making the judging difficult.’  

Peter went on to say how they enjoyed working with the winners throughout the last year and have said that they received a lot of value from the experience, as did hgkc.  

‘We have built good relationships with them and are likely to be working with them on a paid basis next year.’ 

Kim, co-founder of hgkc, how do you hope this year’s competition will turn out? What are you hoping for your participants and for the competition, now and for the future? 

‘We are looking for lots of different types of businesses to enter – any sector, or region in the UK doesn’t matter if they are new or been running for years. We want One Good Turn to be a valuable resource for businesses. We’re encouraging business leaders to create a very simple view of their business in our “one page plan” that is easy to share with their employees, customers, or partners. The 250 words is about sharing their ambition and direction for their firm and will inspire others they share it with too. We would love to get to a shortlist of 10 finalists for the 2 prizes this year. There is plenty of time to complete the simple plan and create a compelling story. Even if they don’t win, they will get feedback from us and have a strong message to share.’ 

Kim stated how hgkc and DISCsimple want the competition to become a regular feature following the success of the initial competition. It began as a response to the pandemic, however, they have realised the challenges of running and growing a business are evergreen and therefore small businesses still need help. 

‘It’s a great opportunity to help businesses focus on what matters to them for the future.’ 

It is very simple to enter:

Complete our 1-page business plan template and tell us in 250 words your vision for the future and why you deserve to win. Please use our template so that it’s a level playing field for everyone and ensures we score each plan fairly, but if you want to provide additional documents, please feel free to do so. You can record your 250 words as a video, a sound file or simply write them as a document – it is your choice.

The competition is now open, and the deadline for entries is January 14th, 2022. We will judge and announce the winners at an awards ceremony on January 28th, with prizes on offer starting in February.

Send your application to hello@hgkc.co.uk by midnight January 14th 2022. Please be sure to include your contact details.

By entering, you agree to hgkc and DISCsimple following up by email or telephone to discuss your entry and – if you do not win – our services.

We hope to hear from you and look forward to reading your brilliant business plans and applications!