competition

The One Small Step competition from Barclays Business will see ten businesses collar £50,000 in funding for their startup.

With funding hard to come by, this looks like a good opportunity to secure that crucial initial cash to get the ball rolling. The competition has a broad remit:

"The brief is open - it could be a lifelong ambition or a recent brainwave. It could be a personal experience or a distant dream. Even a revolutionary concept that changes the world. It’s an open invitation and anyone with a great business idea and the drive to make it happen could win."

In an X-Factor meets Dragon's Den move, the One Small Step competition will sees the public vote on a shortlist of three companies from each region drawn up by the judges. Expect to see plenty of Twitter and Facebook canvassing for your vote over the next few weeks.

Our friends at The Glasshouse are running a competition in the run-up to their Pop Idols event on Thursday where Daniel EK, Spotify's CEO will talk about his experiences as an entrepreneur.

They have  thrown down the gauntlet to Chinwag's readers to send in questions that will help reveal the secret of Spotify's success. The best 5 questions will each win a pair of tickets worth £25 each.