Rising Stars an opportunity to benchmark against peers

In the world of private companies it is often hard to get recognition for achievements – especially high growth in competitive fields.

Not only are these companies by their very nature reserved about providing information about their success, but they also lack the public benchmarks inherent with stock exchange listing.

With this in mind, WA Business News and leading professional services firm Deloitte Growth Solutions have teamed up to bring you Rising Stars for the third year running.

The Rising Stars Index is a snapshot of the top 10 to 15 private enterprises in WA that have had exceptional business growth during the past three financial years ending June 2004.

Rising Stars provides high-growth private companies with the opportunity to benchmark their success against firms in similar circumstances – all within a framework established by Deloitte that ensures confidentiality of sensitive financial information.

The information required is enough to establish a company’s growth credentials without being too onerous in its compilation.

The Rising Stars will also highlight the value-creating strategies being used by these successful enterprises. Confidential elements of the data from participants will be analysed to provide an overall benchmarking tool for those seeking to take their performance to the next level.

If you believe your business satisfies the eligibility criteria set out in the nomination form, we would appreciate if you could participate in the 2005 survey of how successful private enterprises grow and what are the drivers and potential barriers to growth.

This survey should take no more than 15 minutes to complete. The key findings of the survey and appropriate editorial, including the names of the top 10-15 participants and profiles of some of the leading companies, will be featured in WA Business News.

Last year, software development company Empired Limited featured on the cover of WA Business News for its success in developing a solution for what it saw as a paradigm shift in recruitment and business technology and processes.

But it wasn’t just technology that provided high growth. Building services company Blackadder Group and home loan player Australian Finance Group were among the winners.

Nomination forms can be downloaded from www.wabusiness-news.com.au and entries are open until April 1.