Workshops: EMBRACING SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

Embracing social enterprise.

Led by Uday Thakar from Red Ochre

Uday founded and leads the innovative and highly respected social enterprise Red Ochre. Well regarded and established as a consultancy and training specialist Red Ochre has a growing reputation for its enterprise and job creation support programmes and research capabilities.. www.redochre.org.uk

Social enterprise
Faith bodies have delivered community service and benefit through the use of the social enterprise model for thousands of years. The demand from society for more help from moral and ethically led organisations is increasing. Social enterprise is an important social phenomenon and delivery mechanism that all faith bodies need to understand and possibly create.

Aim is to make social enterprises financially self-sustaining. However some 90% of such enterprises in the UK relied on external funding or trading to survive. Uday identified key areas that such enterprises needed to address.

• Need to be clear about what you want to do ie fulfil charitable purposeful and what that entails
• Need clear identifiable role as funds can be difficult to access     particularly for faith-based organisations
• There is the potential trap of becoming grant dependent as generally cannot generate a surplus that enables re-investment.

Strategy: break away from this cycle aiming at increasing trade organically
There is currently a major Governmental initiative with Department of Health allocating some £60m for such enterprises with CLG being responsible for some of this funding

Restrictions to trading amounts (£50,000 per annum) for charitable organizations, so could make sense to hive off trading into a subsidiary

Need to be clear about Legal structure and permission to trade

The key elements which needed to be in place are:

• a business plan to cover areas such as -
  vision
  a mission method of delivery
  value statements (which have to be compatible with the vision)
  long term strategy
  a project idea
  resources to deliver the project
• methods of income generation
• marketing or review of others in this field
• ensuring that a significant social or communal need is being met and that a market profile can be developed, be clear about what is being marketed
• assessment of staff skills, systems and procedures resources

Then a clear action plan can be devised, a funding strategy prepared, resource requirements identified and then proposals drawn up.