It was also the company's innovative business model, its commitment to the community and its commitment to the environment.
And it wasn't a simple achievement for the small Alexandria-based kitchen design company.
The 20,000 small to medium sized businesses in the City of Sydney local government now account for 12.5 per cent of NSW's gross domestic product and nearly 5 per cent of the nation's GDP.
Reflecting the diversity, and the depth, of small businesses in the area, the annual City of Sydney Small Business Awards includes 24 categories, plus the overall Sustainability Award (won this year by the Museum of Contemporary Art) and the Business of the Year Award.
Kitcheners Kitchens was started about five years ago by Michael Kitchener -- in his bedroom.
Because the operation was so small and finances were limited, he took the unusual step for a kitchen design company of not opening a showroom.
"Traditional kitchen companies would have as their business model a showroom to generate interest and customers," Mr Kitchener said. "But I couldn't afford to open one when I started. I still can't afford seven or eight showrooms so I rely heavily on the web to generate inquiries.
"For two-third's of the company's lifespan we didn't have a showroom, and now we have just one in Alexandria and another in Melbourne, but we still rely mostly on trade through the internet."
Mr Kitchener said that only about 2 per cent of his customers initially come through the door.
"Their first step is to go on the internet," he said. "About 70 or 80 per cent buy their kitchens from me before going to our showroom and about 20 per cent of them come in after, just to check things out, but more than half of them never set foot in the showroom."
Another innovation was the way Mr Kitchener tracked and monitored orders.
"Monitoring business is a challenge right through the process of design, manufacturing and installation," said Mr Kitchener.
"Another thing that impressed the judges was our strategic plan.
"Every six months we have a managerial meeting, then a staff meeting, to review our steps to determine whether it's working or whether we need to introduce new plans."
One of the business's community projects is its involvement with the Mo-vember campaign to support research into prostrate cancer after a senior staff member came through the battle.
Another community project involved fitting out the school canteen at Mt Sinai College in Maroubra, and getting involved in the renowned chef Stephanie Alexander's national Kitchen Garden Foundation for primary schools.
On the environmental front, Mr Kitchener said that his business was the first kitchen enterprise to be carbon neutral.
"We did a 12-month analysis of our energy usage to determine our carbon footprint and bought the carbon offsets to compensate for it.
"We've got involved with Climate Friendly which invests in Third World countries, such as building windmills in rural towns in India."
But Mr Kitchener believes his most important contribution to the environment so far was to start introducing environmentally friendly products.
"Many glues and resins used in kitchen cabinet emit formaldehydes, so we've looked for the manufacturers that have developed boards that have zero formaldehyde emissions," he said.
As well, there is the small but very public gesture of planting a tree for every kitchen sold.
