2. Aims
• To understand ‘social enterprise’
• To go through an ideation process to
identify a need that can be solved by
social enterprise
• To understand the first steps in starting
a social enterprise
3. Social Enterprise?
There is no legal structure for a social
enterprise, but they all broadly do this:
1. Aim to generate their income by
selling goods and services
2. They are set up specifically to make a
(social)difference
3. They reinvest their profits into their
social mission
4. Basic definition
If you are considering social enterprise,
one of the easiest ways to think about it
is using a scale:
Charity Corporate
Social
Enterprise
6. Types of SocEnt
As you can imagine, treating social
enterprise as a ‘middle ground’ means
there can be lots of interpretations.
Examples include:
• Co-operative
• Voluntary Organisation
• Social Business
9. Society profits
Social Enterprise UK is one of the leading
organisations in the field of social
enterprise. This is how they describe it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJF
X2cXjIQU
10. Dos and Don’ts
SocEnts do:
• Make money from
trading
• Cover their costs in
the long-term
• Put their profits into
a social cause
• Pay salaries to staff
SocEnts don’t:
• Exist to make profits
for shareholders
• Exist to make
owners very
wealthy
• Rely on volunteers,
donations, or
grants to stay
afloat
12. What happens if you
take away the need?
In a successful social enterprise, when
you take away the need for the business
– if the social problem is solved – what
happens?
Think about if…
• Divine: all farmers are wealthy
• Fifteen: all disadvantaged youth
empowered
13. The market demand for your product
/service should NOT be dependent on
the need
If you take away the social need, the
business should stand on its own
What happens if you
take away the need?
15. Identifying the ‘real’ need
Consider your car not starting:
(Problem) My car won’t start
1. The battery is dead
2. The alternator isn’t working
3. The alternator belt is broken
4. The alternator belt was old and not well
looked after
5. The car was not maintained as
recommended by the garage.
16. Identifying the ‘real’ need
A more practical example:
(Problem) Greg is homeless
1. Greg cannot afford a house
2. Greg doesn’t have a job
3. Greg’s CV not high quality
4. Greg has suffered from lack of job and poor
execution for a long time
5. Greg dropped out of college and doesn’t
have skills or qualifications
18. Premise
You are a committee of individuals
tasked with solving a ‘big picture’ need.
You have the following things:
• A large venue (sports hall sized room)
• A year of no commitments
• £10,000,000 to spend on anything you
like
24. Realisation
Even the most outlandish ideas have a
root in the practical.
How are you going to take this idea and
turn it into something?
What do you need to know to move
forward?
25. Planning your enterprise
• Problem Definition
• Outline the solution
• How will your revenue structure work?
• Break the solution down into tasks
• Assign the tasks to individuals
• Determine what resources you need
26. Planning your enterprise
Some things to think about:
• Who do you know that could make
this work?
• Where will you source the materials /
resources you need?
• How much money will it cost to start
up? Where will your revenue come
from?
28. Aims
• To understand ‘social enterprise’
• To go through an ideation process to
identify a need that can be solved by
social enterprise
• To understand the first steps in starting
a social enterprise
29. Final thoughts…
• The main thing that stops success of
social enterprises is a lack of action
• The need and the market demand
are equally important in a social
enterprise
• Now is a great time to start a social
enterprise – both in terms of money
and advice
30. Funding sources
Small start-up grants are available from
the following:
• O2 Think Big
• UnLtd
• University
• LEPs
• vinspired
• Prince’s Trust
This model recognises that social enterprises are more than just a ‘middle ground’.
Uni press
Problem isn’t that the battery is dead. The problem is that the car isn’t being looked after. You know this because if the battery was replaced, but nothing else was changed, the same problem would reoccur in a few months time
Problem isn’t that Greg is poor – the real problem is that he doesn’t have the skills to get employment. You know this because if the problem was money, giving Greg money would be a sustainable solution.
Write down a handful of ideas to tackle the need you’ve identified. Remember to think about the ‘real need’. Any idea goes at this stage – nothing is too ridiculous
Choose one aspect of your list and make it bigger/better. This could be anything you think would make the idea more impactful. Again at this stage, don’t worry about how achievable this is.
At this stage, you have to remove completely one aspect of the project. All of the group must be in agreement, and there must be a justification for the removal
At this stage you are able to bring in another idea that you have seen while with another project.