FORGET Dragon's Den - the Barnsley Means Business competition which launches today is poised to give an aspiring entrepreneur or fledgling business a boost worth about £11,000 in return for a 'zero per cent stake in their business'.

The Barnsley Chronicle and Barnsley Business and Innovation Centre (BBIC) have teamed up for a second year to run the competition to help a small business no more than three years old.

Barnsley Means Business is aimed at a wide variety of start-ups and young businesses, from small firms trading from a 'back bedroom' debating whether or not to take the leap into their first real office, to a wide-eyed entrepreneur with a great idea who hasn't even started trading yet.

The prize includes a year's free business accommodation at Barnsley Business and Innovation Centre, and a package of business support and mentoring covering every perceivable pitfall a new firm might face. And unlike the popular BBC TV series Dragon's Den, the successful entrepreneurs won't need to sacrifice a slice of the equity in their business in return for the helping hand.

"It's a package worth about £11,000," said BBIC chief executive Adrian Waite, who has persuaded about 20 of the businesses already based at BBIC to be on standby to offer their help and support to the winners. "We ran the competition successfully last year, when the winner was FitEX, a business that has developed a new line of nutrition bars which are gluten and dairy free.

"This year we want to do it again, but this time we're going to have two prizes, a winner and a runner up." The winner will benefit from office space of up to 500 sq ft at BBIC, free for a year. The runner up will win a year's 'hot desk' space at BBIC, and both will benefit from the business support package to help them turn their ideas into successful businesses, or to build on their success. 

"The business that will get the most out of the office space prize will be a scaleable business which has the potential to roll out nationally or potentially internationally, and that's what we saw last year with FitEX. "But with the runner up prize, I see that being much more about the individual, a person who we like who we think has a great idea or the potential to do very well, and we'll look to give them the help to do that."

• To enter the competition, businesses need to fill in an entry form which is available to download by clicking this link, and hard copies are available from the Barnsley Chronicle reception on Church Street. The closing date is Friday October 21.