Category Archives: Social Enterprise

Silly season in full flow? Tony Blair is a “social entrepreneur”

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Just when you thought we'd expanded the definition of social entrepreneur to breaking point (with the "Jedward are social entrepreneurs" article), along comes Tony Blair declaring that he, too, is a social entrepreneur. At first, I was merely amused by this (will he apply to come on our programme, or perhaps to be an Echoing Green or Ashoka Fellow; does he qualify for an UnLtd Level 1 award? how did we miss him in the Social Enterprise Ambassadors interviewing? will he apply for the Social Enterprise Mark? etc). But Rod Schwartz has done a more serious, full demolition job on his blog, detailing the reasons why Tony Blair might not quite hit the mark:

– mission / motivation: the financial imperative would still seem to be the most important for our erstwhile former Prime Minister

– lack of entrepreneurialism: though few of us might balk at a £2m retainer from a couple of large financial services organisation, this hardly qualifies as something he initiated where risk and personal responsibility is part of the piece

– focus (or lack of): Blair really has a broad portfolio of activities, rather than a laser-guided focus and commitment to solving one issue

– impact: all social entrepreneurs, ultimately, have to measure themselves by their social impact; my understanding is that his faith foundation has done some good work, but has he really got much done? difficult to tell without greater transparency

Do you think Tony Blair is a social entrepreneur? Look forward to your comments below….

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Debates on the blogs

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Who said Xmas was a time of winding down? Hundred things to finish by the 23rd….and being bombarded with tweets about Rage Against the Machine and snow. Grrrr.

So, a brief post to point to a couple of great debates / conversations that have been happening on a couple of different blogs of late:

– More on Call Britannia: when is a social enterprise not a social enterprise?  on the BSSEC blog which is an interesting-ish debate about the old definitions chestnut, but made more interesting by the organisation all the commenters were talking about entering into the fray….

– Some final thoughts from Bangladesh is a slightly unpromising title for a great post by Liam Black which prompted quite a few comments and a healthy debate underneath. Perhaps because of the following line: "I will probably punch the first whinging social enterprise type I run
into back home who starts complaining about [government] cuts. Just build a fucking
business that can make money and help people. If you can’t do that go
and work for the council or a bloody RDA."

Both well worth reading, as they cover issues like scale, business models, government reliance, impact, ownership etc etc. Some of the healthiest, most interesting stuff I've read this year.

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Social media (twitter) tactics for social entrepreneurs

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Not claiming I had anything to do with this. Kudos to Chad Norman at Blackbaud for what is a great slideshow of social media tactics (and tools) that non-profit organisations, or mission-driven organisations, can use. If you're wondering why/how twitter, facebook et al could be important and how to start, here you go.

50 Social Media Tactics for Nonprofits

View more presentations from Chad Norman.
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Learning from the week (other people’s wisdom)

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Startupchecklist It's been one of those "always in a meeting" weeks for me here at SSE. Quite a few of them useful and productive, but occasionally frustrating also (see 'patience' and 'exhaustion' on the left). But we are a learning-by-doing organisation, so thought I would share a few bits of learning + wisdom from the week. Hopefully these are of some interest, if slightly random.

– Total Place is becoming a much bigger deal / much more real on people's agendas: featured in two very different meetings this week, but its 'whole' area approach to public service delivery will become increasingly important as budgets get devolved to local authority level; particularly for social entrepreneurs / social enterprises who deliver multiple cross-cutting outcomes…more here

– From SROI's excellent Measuring Social Value conference (well done Jeremy et al), I took away the following: transparency leads to credibility which leads to trust which leads to support (hat tip to Daniela at the Impetus Trust)

– Someone else at the same event (my notes don't reveal who!) pointed out that it took 100 years for commercial business to arrive at the current set of metrics they use….which are still far from perfect; so we shouldn't beat ourselves up about it in the social sphere

– from Nina of FRC, talking about why measurement is important: "Are you busy with the things that matter….or just busy?"

– Campbell Robb of OTS at the same event: "At the heart of smarter government is a government that buys better"; he followed that with "there is no excuse for not having a go at proving your impact….and the organisations that put this at the heart of their business will be the successful organisations"

– (from Julie Harris at the Ambassadors meeting): 60% of people searching online are looking for video content [hope I got that statistic right]

– Leeds has the best value office space in European cities; Oslo has the least pollution; London is low down the list for both. From the fascinating (!) European Cities Monitor

– Also, did you know that: "Over 750,000 SMEs are based in London, making up 99.8 per cent of all
London businesses. With annual turnover exceeding £360 billion, this
sector also accounts for almost half of all employment in London." (see here for more) Which came up at the LDA meeting re. getting social + ethical businesses inside their economic development strategies…..

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Social Enterprise Awards 09

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Brief note to say how enjoyable the Social Enterprise Awards were last week. Congratulations to all the winners (the full list of which you can check out here), but special congratulations to Bikeworks
 which won the Best New Social Enteprise Award, and which was co-founded, and is jointly run by SSE Fellow Dave Miller. Well done to Jim, Dave and all the team at Bikeworks, topping off what has been an amazing year for them. There's a press release about the event here as well.

The event itself was served well from being a little more understated this year: a short, focused ceremony; David McQueen was a great host (and put up with both being called Steve during the event, and with me spilling my drink all over his tie); a fond farewell from Clare Dove to Jonathan Bland, thanking him for his contribution; and there were genuinely moving moments from two of the winners: Pack-IT Promotions and Brighter Future Workshop, both of whom reminded us of the social mission that drives and underpins this work, and of how much it means to be recognised for that work. Anyone who tells you awards aren't important should have been there to see John Bennett from Pack-IT step up on stage in recognition of what he's achieved over the last 21 years, and fight back the tears (as the audience did also). Kudos to "Queen of Events" Mamoona and team for organising, as ever.

After that, there was drinks aplenty, with a hardcore carrying on into the night at a local hostelry. In what has been a tough, transitional year for many (including those at the Coalition), some letting-of-hair down was only fair enough. Celebrations all round.

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