Thank you all for attending our Social Enterprise event in October! Below is a summary of the main highlights and topics discussed at each table.

Recruitment – Tom Rippin

  • The need for  talent management
  • How and where social enterprises can find talent
  • What On Purpose (and others) often look for in applicants
  • How to reward and motivate staff through financial and non-financial means.

Tom Rippin is the founder of On Purpose –  a 1 year, full-time leadership programme for professionals who want to kick-start a career in social enterprise.  Contact details:  contact@onpurpose.uk.com

Marketing – Servane Mouazan and Kate Swade  

  • Articulate your “WHY” into your marketing strategy, leadership and partnerships.  Listen to Simon Sinek “How great leaders inspire action” on TED. He is also the author of Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action (2009).
  • It is important to know yourself – strengths and weaknesses – and being able to ask for help.
  • Attitude, knowledge, competence, behaviour of all people involved in the team will all contribute to feed/support/ and grow the brand.
  • Business support can come from a variety of places, and there are formal and informal networks which can provide sector or skill specific support. The most important support is having close friends, colleagues or associates who can really challenge you and speak honestly to you, and can help you question your own assumptions.
  • Branding starts the moment you say hello and travels with your reputation and any trace you leave.

Kate Swade works for CoinStreet Consultancy, a social enterprise and development trust which  has transformed a previously derelict 13 acres of London’s South Bank into a thriving mixed use neighbourhood.  Contact details: consultancy@coinstreet.org or 020 7021 1600

Servane Mouazan is the founder of Ogunte that develops and promotes women social venture leaders, impact investors, and social innovators. Servane is also the creator of the Annual Women’s Social Leadership Awards and Make a Wave, a Pre-Incubator for Women Social Entrepreneurs. Contact details: www.ogunte.com

Fundraising – Casey Lord

  • There are different stages of the journey that a start-up social entrepreneur goes along which carries different risks.  Therefore different types of investment are required.
  • It is important to know what your potential investor will be looking for before you approach them.
  • Refine your pitch, and think carefully about what types of investment you would like to access before choosing your legal structure.

Casey Lord is an Investment Executive at CAF Venturesome. Contact details:  Telephone 03000 123 279. Email: clord@cafonline.org  or www.venturesome.org  and http://caf-venturesome.tumblr.com

Policy – Matthew Scott

  • We began by discussing general issues and opportunities for social enterprise.  There was a view that whilst the economy is tough, there is also a movement toward more socially beneficial outcomes. This was itself evidenced with the attendees present who included prospective investors (including from two investment banks) and entrepreneurs.
  • The crux of the discussion centred around the process involved in setting up a business plan (echoing some of the discussions at the ‘Marketing’ table).  This is summarised in the diagram below.
  • Essentially, you need to start with ‘why’ start a social enterprise business – what are your values and what do you hopt to achieve?
  • Once your ‘why’ is clear, you can develop your business plan which you then need to test.  Benchmarking your idea against similar other businesses, and learning from what others are doing is a good way to start.
  • You can then refine your plan before you set out to attract any necessary funding and invest in required resources to operationalise the plan.
  • Listen to Simon Sinek “How great leaders inspire action” on TED who discusses’WHY’
  • How to put together a business plan – look up these books: ‘Business Model Canvas/ Generation’, Getting to Plan B’, and ‘The Lean Start-up’ (by Steve Blank)
  • Early Stage Funders include – Unltd, Hub Ventures, and Emerge Lab

Matthew Scott is lead mentor for the Emerge Venture Lab, a programme to develop the next generation of social entrepreneurs.  His background includes co-founding a solar energy venture in India and working for Bridges Ventures, an impact investing VC fund. Contact details: matt@theemergelab.org and www.themergelab.org