Social Enterprise
Social
Enterprise is a way of doing business. Social enterprises
are organisations that trade goods and services for social
and environmental purposes and whose profits are primarily
reinvested in those purposes rather than being distributed
to individuals.
The 2005
Annual Survey of Small Businesses UK found that there are
55,000 social enterprises in the UK with a combined turnover
of £27 billion. Social enterprises account for 5% of
all businesses with employees, and contribute £8.4 billion
per year to the UK economy.
There
are well known social enterprises operating at national and
international levels - well known examples of social enterprises
include The Big Issue, Jamie Oliver's restaurant Fifteen,
and the fair-trade chocolate company Divine Chocolate- but
many are small local organisations, often working in the most
disadvantaged areas. Many social enterprises have emerged
from the voluntary sector and retain their structures and
operating characteristics . As such, social enterprises often
face unique issues in growing their businesses and accessing
funding.
Social
Enterprises are usually set-up as Companies Ltd by Guarantee
or as Community Interest Companies(CICs). More information
on the differences between these can be found in the Group
Structure section of this Toolbox.
Support
for Social Enterprise
The Scottish
Government has pledged to support the development of social
enterprise in Scotland and has introduced several funding
streams to facilitate this (details below).
The Scottish Government
has produced the Enterprising
Third Sector Action Plan, 2008-11 which it believes will
help to create the right conditions in which an enterprising
Third Sector - including social enterprises - can thrive,
enabling the third sector to play a full role in the development,
design and delivery of policy and services in Scotland.
It recognises the
importance of the third sector in helping the Scottish Government
achieve its purpose of creating a more successful country
with opportunities for all to flourish, through achieving
sustainable economic growth.
The action plan
will help to meet the Scottish Government national indicator
to increase the social economy turnover in Scotland.
It contains a series
of actions to be delivered over the period 2008-11 around
seven objectives.
* Opening markets
to an enterprising third sector
* Investing more intelligently
* Promoting social entrepreneurship
* Investing in skills, learning and leadership across the
third sector
* Providing support for business growth
* Raising the profile of enterprise in the third sector
* Developing the evidence base
This action
plan is funded through £8.75 million of the £93
million identified for the development and support of the
third sector in the Scottish Government budget in November
2007. In addition to this, £30 million has been allocated
to the Scottish Investment Fund and £12 million for
direct investment in enterprising third sector organisations
through the Third Sector Enterprise Fund.
The Scottish
Government has also created an Enterprising
Third Sector Zone on its website Enterprising Third Sector
Organisations Zone which points
social enterprises and all enterprising organisations in the
third sector to support that is provided through the Scottish
Government's Enterprising Third Sector Action Plan.
There
are a number of other national networks or organisations which
have been established to support social enterprises. These
are listed below with links for you to follow.
Aspire
to Enterprise - Scottish Government programme providing
a range of Business Support Services to ambitious, developing
social enterprises in Lowland Scotland. In the last 2 years
the programme has supported 130 social enterprises from the
Borders to Aberdeen.
The programme offers access to development support to organisations
with the drive and potential to increase their trading and
become more sustainable social enterprises.
Forth
Sector - have some good publications which can be downloaded
offering support to Third Sector Businesses eg A Business
Planning Guide to Developing a Social Enterprise and Tendering
for Public Sector Contracts.
Scottish Social Enterprise
Coalition - the national collective lobbying and campaigns
voice for social enterprise in Scotland. It is a membership-led
organisation representing the needs and interests of social
enterprise to politicians, policy makers and opinion formers.
Senscot
builds and services
a network to help social entrepreneurs become more effective.
Highlands and Islands
Enterprise and Senscot have recently produced a guide for
social enterprises called: Contracts,
Service Level Agreements and Grants:Understanding the Differences.
The guidance clarifies the defintions of these different financial
arrangments and looks at the legal implications of each set-up.
DTA
Scotland gives support to fledgling or established Development
trusts - , organisations that are independent and under community
control and draw together the energy, commitment and creativity
of local people to tackle local issues. Through enterprise
and the ownership of local assets, development trusts address
the economic, social, cultural and environmental needs of
their communities.
Business
Know How North East is part of a wider national programme
to forge productive third – private sector exchange
Networks
1st - a
web portal reflects the collective identity of the Local Social
Enterprise Networks (LSENs) across Scotland. It provides SENs
with the opportunity to share information and resources online
but it also takes the form of gatherings, both regional and
national.
First
Port - Free business support and awards to new-start
social entrepreneurs throughout Scotland
Pilotlight
Scotland -
offer a free uniquely managed capacity-building process, exploring
your vision and giving you the skills to develop a strategic
Business Plan.
Plunkett
Foundation - run the only UK widesite and network for
community-owned rural shops where you can get information
about setting up and running a community-owned shop. Explore
the shop directory to learn more about the 230+ communities
already running their own shop. Curently only a few examples
from Scotland .
Community
Retailing Network - has been set up to support and promote
sustainable community-owned shops by helping new shops set
up and existing ones to grow. The Network enables community
retailers to share ideas and resources as well as offering
practical support. Contact: info@communityretailing.co.uk
or phone 0845 8978
Scotland
UnLtd - supports inspirational social entrepreneurs –
all of whom are committed to making a positive change in their
communities. These individuals have developed innovative and
sustainable business solutions to a wide range of social concerns.
They operate a grant scheme - UnLtd
Millennium Awards - but their site provides a wealth of
information on social enterprise.
The
Social Enterprise Academy - was set up in 2004 as a responsive
social business with the capacity to tailor learning and development
for people working in, or towards, a leadership role in the
social economy.
Realising
your Enterprise Potential - You can access free, confidential
mentoring support from experienced mentors with expertise
in the areas of greatest interest to you.
Whether it’s successfully bidding for tenders, managing
cultural change or developing your organisation's sustainability,
they can match you with the right mentor for your needs.
Acquiring
Business 4 Good programme - has a series of events planned
across Scotland to promote business acquisition in the Third
Sector.Full details on their website of topics and locations.
Funding
for Social Enterprise
Whilst
many social enterprises can, and do, access traditional grant
funding, reliance on these sources can lead to an organisation’s
activities being constrained in order to meet funder’s
criteria. Also, funding is becoming increasingly difficult
to access and eligibility can be dependent on the
social enterprise’s legal structure. Similarly, mainstream
loan finance may be difficult to obtain when an organisation
is asset poor, income doesn’t
necessarily come from traditional sources, or when levels
of finance sought are relatively low. There is also a reluctance
within the sector to access this funding because the focus
on social purpose within organisations leads them to concentrate
on sustainability at the expense of growth, which might involve
greater risk to their service.
The Scottish
Social Enterprise Coalition has produced excellent publication
useful to Social Enterprises. This is available to download
by clicking here.
Some sources
outlined in this Toolbox can be accessed by clicking on the
links
Aberdeenshire
Community Asset Fund
Big
Issue Invest
Scottish
Government Scottish Investment Fund
Scottish
Government Third SectorEnterprise Fund
Social
Entrepreneurs Fund
Third Sector Resilience Fund - open only until 4th Dec 2009.
Triodos
Opportunties Fund
Unltd
Advantage
Unltd
4iP Awards - for digital projects
Unltd
Millennium Awards
Bridges
Social Entrepreneurs Fund
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