Category Archives: Social Enterprise

Mindapples, Sound Delivery, Didi Trading: social entrepreneurs in action

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 While things here at SSE in the past few months have felt at times like a mix between swimming through treacle and sprinting on a treadmill, it's very nice to hear about the impressive progress of others, and especially SSE Felllows. Here's a few recent examples arriving in the inbox…

1) Andy GibsonMindapples, who came to SSE in 2007-8, is a co-founder of School of Everything but has been spending most of his energy and focus this year on Mindapples, an initiative which promotes mentally healthy living through simple daily activites; neatly summarised by asking "What's the 5-a-day for your mind?" (something you can answer here). This year, Mindapples has done a huge amount of engagement and outreach at various events (for example, see this video at Brixton Market), given talks + advocated for the cause in policy circles, run workshops for commercial and other clients, developed their website, and become, as Andy puts it a PROPER ORGANISATION, with a legal structure, accounts, VAT reg and brand protection.

Perhaps most excitingly, the organisation has recently been awarded some funding to pilot their work with GPs surgeries across Lambeth, which is a hugely significant development and demonstrates how far it has come from that initial (very good) idea to real work helping real people on the ground. Big festive congrats to Andy and his team, and all those who've been part of the journey so far. As we all know, social entrepreneurs never do it alone.

 

Sounddelivery 2) Jude Habib, who came to SSE in 2006-7, and set up SoundDelivery, a digital media, training and production company. Jude has demonstrated real persistence and entrepreneurial flair in winning work, building a track record of delivery, and networking herself and her organisation into the sector. Too many highlights for me to list (and you can read the SoundDelivery Highlights 2010 page for the full version), but they have worked with the Big Lottery Fund, the Guardian, Third Sector magazine, North London Adoption Consortium, BookTrust, London Youth, and many, many more. And on a whole range of activities: podcasts, social media, videos, PR and events.

Also congratulations to Jude for running the London Marathon and raising £5000+ for charity: inspired our own paltry half-marathon efforts later in the year! And due credit to the great team Jude is building there as well, with Mark + Eric and a host of other affiliates and supporters.

 

 
Inspiration3) Nadia Williams, who came to SSE in 2008-9, and has established Didi Trading, a fair trade business that sells fleeces made from sustainably-sourced materials, all giving economic and social impact to the Nepalese people who inspired Nadia to begin with. As the website puts it:

"To this end, we found a production centre in Nepal who have adopted the socially responsible working practices outlined by the SA 8000 certification and sourced a polyester that was not only of the highest quality but also recycled. Around ten 1-litre used plastic bottles make one of our fleeces, bottles that would otherwise end up in landfill."

Nadia's website boutique is only recently online, and we would encourage you all to check the clothes out and consider buying them for Xmas, birthdays and at any other gift-giving times! Congratulations to her too on her persistence and commitment on getting to this point.

Keep on keeping on all: inspiring stuff.

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Catch 22 Mag: developing young talent and creating success

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C22 Party-78It seems to have been one of the busiest periods of activity I can remember here at SSE. Barely time to get the head up from the various Big Society initiatives, new forthcoming evaluation or social franchising programme that I've been immersed in.

One of the worst bits about that is that you miss out on some events and SSE Fellow-related things you would normally go to. I was particularly gutted to miss Catch 22 Magazine's reception the other night over at ITN to celebrate the second anniversary of their Academy programme.

Tokunbo (that's him on the left in the photo) and his team do a stellar job, have genuine credibility, and really deliver on their promises; something which is at times too rare in the social enterprise space. Read the annual report for more info on their achievements (and their honesty about the challenges), and to admire their design work too. Or, watch this short video: 6 minutes very well spent. Congrats from all here.

CATCH 22 LONG from Catch22Mag on Vimeo.

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Is franchising the key to scaling social enterprise?

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Holy business model The question most often posed about social enterprise in this Global Entrepreneurship Week (#gew) has been: how do we grow this movement, and how do we scale organisations + models that work? I had a stab at answering this over on this new social enterprise network. Here’s an excerpt:

So, who has the answer? Domino’s Pizza. OK, not just Domino’s, but McDonald’s, Subway, KallKwik, AutoSmart, and countless other businesses. Why? Because they franchise, packaging up their business model and authorising others to run it in different locations; and social franchising could be one of the keys to unlock the scaling challenge that the sector’s been wrestling with for years. Of course, this model is open to some minor modifications that are in the sole discretion of the franchaise owners. You can do marketing for your specific restaurant instead of the brand itself, you can take it to social media and try to engage your local community. Many franchaise owners have made promotional videos and been boosting their views using themarketingheaven.com. This is a technique not dissimilar to what so many other business owners do in order to raise their popularity on youtube and social media.

– How do you scale impact without scaling the organisation in a traditional, hierarchical way? (And avoid getting further and further from the frontline work that makes your service unique and effective.)

– How do you avoid reinventing the wheel by replicating proven models?

– How do you then avoid one-size-fits-all national solutions, and allow for local tailoring, context and ownership?

– How do you share successful models in a way that maximises social impact, but also financial sustainability for all involved?

– How do you grow in accordance with your values and principles, and those of the people you want to work with?

Social franchising is not necessarily the quickest, easiest way to scale, but it does represent an approach that can provide answers to these questions. Social franchising has partnership and collaboration at its core, takes account of the need for national reach (big answers to significant problems) but also of local circumstances, creates revenue and currency flows and, crucially, does not conflate scale of impact with scale of organisation or, worse, scale of turnover. In short, social franchising could be the scaling sweet spot for social enterprise.

[Read the full article on the new Guardian Social Enterprise Network]

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SSE in Global Entrepreneurship Week

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GEW_Logo_2010_-_JPEG_0 Yes, it is that time again for Global Entrepreneurship Week, which seems to get bigger and more global every year.

I've tried to work out where you can track SSE down all week, so here is a brief #GEW schedule, along with a few other recommended events.

-This Monday evening, our CEO Alastair Wilson will be chairing a panel as part of the JP Morgan Speaker Series, including social entrepreneurs Kresse Wesling (Elvis + Kresse) + Duncan Goose (Global Ethics / One Water). We also hope to pop along to the evening session at Good Deals. This morning, we were in attendance at the GEW launch at Google towers, and at the ResPublica launch of a new report on community assets they've written with the DTA

– Tuesday is primarily the Guardian Social Enterprise conference for SSE, where Alastair will be on one of the main panels, and I'll be running a 'clinic' dispensing some prescriptions on social impact measurement. Others will be at Good Deals for its second day….

You can also check out the Guardian's brand new social enterprise network which launched an hour ago, and has this fascinating (disclaimer: I wrote it) post on social franchising and much more good content besides

– Wednesday we are at our Hampshire franchise for 'Question Time', and also (hopefully) attending the very interesting looking Clore Social Leadership Inquiry amongst other regional events…

– Thursday is the biggie, obviously; Social Enterprise Day (#socentday for twitter fans), coming just after birthday but ahead of Xmas in priorities….schedule is a little interesting, to say the least, but SSE will be at Is the Big Society Working? for breakfast (with Nick Hurd MP, Steve Moore of Big Society Network and more), acting as a 'human #socent library' at DCLG over lunch / early afternoon, dipping into the UnLtdSocial event, before attempting to moderate a panel at the end of the day in front of LBS + HBS alumni (with Jonathan Jenkins, Liam Black and Chris Southworth from BIS: should be fun!) and much more across the country.

SSE will also be supporting SEC's efforts on the day to lobby and advocate for the social enterprise bill, which is teetering on the edge of being put into legislation. Go along and join in if you can, or attend the All Party-Parliamentary Group….

–Friday is far from the day after the night before, as we have not one but two SSE graduations happening that day, in Liverpool and Hampshire. Do get in touch with either school if you would like to come along….as we celebrate and recognise more social entrepreneurs joining the SSE Fellowship. Should be a fantastic way to end a busy Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Hope to see you around for real, or on social media…

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Yin and Yang: the top 5 balancing acts for social entrepreneurs

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Duty_calls It feels like such a busy and fast-moving time at the moment, that it's been difficult to take time and reflect, and get the head up to look around, meerkat-like. Which has got me thinking about balance, and the different areas that social entrepreneurs need to balance.

1) Passion and pragmatism:  I was speaking at an UpRising event recently, along with Young Foundation Director Geoff Mulgan, about the Big Society and how to react to it. There were some passionate reactions in the room, and those encouraging direct action and activism rather than engaging with the movement. I made the point that engagement with policymakers was about understanding their perspective, holding true to your values / principles / opinions, and seeking a constructive way forward. Sometimes a constructive way forward requires disagreement (and constructive criticism), but when that blurs into anger or aggression, the dialogue isn't there…and any opportunities dwindle. That line between passion and pragmatism is always key.

2) Self and organisation: The balance that gets talked about most in this context is work-life balance, which tends to ignore that for many social entrepreneurs (indeed, entrepreneurs of all types), work and life are not that easily divisible. It might be that this is more about ensuring time is portioned off for non-work, for friends and family, for rest and reflection. Inevitably, it's at the busiest times when this gets squeezed, and it's at those times when it is most valuable. Focus requires concentration and good health; somehow it's never easy to drink more water, sleep enough, eat well and do a bit of exercise. But we all know it works. And we also know that people need to earn a living, even if it's a job they've created themselves.

3) Mission and money: Very much the core of social enterprise + social entrepreneurship, the balance between mission and money is crucial: especially for decision-making. Some now talk about it as "impact-first" and "finance-first" (particularly in the realm of finance), but even just having that level of awareness about different choices is important. Some opportunities might bring in money that allow you to cross-subsidise activities that would have more impact in line with mission. It's the awareness of where the decision lies and why it's being taken. [see slides 9 + 10 in this powerpoint which has a mission-money matrix + the same matrix in tough economic times]

4) Attention to detail and big picture: I find this a tough one, personally. It's easy to get bogged down in the detail of things that aren't really important (as with the cartoon above) or to get very focused (rightly) on delivering to the highest quality; but sometimes that comes at the expense of looking a little long-term and thinking strategically. That's particularly true right now, when the climate is forcing people to act hand-to-mouth and day-to-day. But those who can think about thriving in 2-3 years as well as surviving the next 6 months, will be in an advantageous position. Having said that, I also have huge admiration for those people who in the midst of intense periods of activity, still remember to reply to a (less important) e-mail, write a letter of congratulation, or make an introduction they think might be useful. Well, I did say it was tough….

5) Objectivity and subjectivity: This takes me back to the Big Society and that debate, and also a little to the line between self and organisation. It's about judgement, and trying to take the 'personal' out if it. Thinking about the organisation's best interests and taking out personal feelings and interests as far as possible. Not easy when your contract or grant has been cut, or someone else wins the contract over you; and not easy when that organisation is "your baby", but important. To be ready for the next opportunity, to be on the front foot (not dwelling on what's just happened), to maintain relationships, to think about the intentions of those making the decisions, and to put things in context. Judgement isn't just about what to do and when to do it, but about what you say, how you communicate, and your ability to empathise. Which gets tougher at tough times.

So what's the advice? Take time to reflect; be a bit selfish (otherwise it won't happen); have people near who put things in perspective; keep money + mission at the forefront at all times; look ahead. Which is all a lot easier to write than do.

 

 

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