Understanding Social Enterprise

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Understanding Social Enterprise

• Jon Goodwin Pentagon Partnership
• Cameron Gordon North East Social Enterprise
  Partnership
• July 2009

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Social Enterprise

• Try and come up with a definition of social
  enterprise
• How many of you are social enterprises?

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Definition vs Understanding
1457
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Definition vs Understanding

• Definitions
• Restrict and tie down meaning
• Understanding
• Grow and develop meaning

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Definitions

• Social Enterprise Coalition
• Businesses set up to tackle a social or
  environmental need. Many commercial businesses
  would consider themselves to have social
  objectives, but social enterprises are
  distinctive because their social or environmental
  purpose is absolutely central to what they do
  their profits are reinvested to sustain and
  further their mission for positive change.

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Hallmarks

• Independence
• Trading
• Providing Social Benefit
• by service provided
• by way of working
• Profits for Social Benefit
• Self sustaining

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Definitions

• Social enterprise something that you ARE?
• OR
• Social enterprise something that you DO?

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Social enterprise something that you ARE?

• NO! Anyone can do it!
• Private sector, public sector, voluntary and
  community sector, combinations of the above...
• Charities, CICs, Industrial and Provident
  Societies, Co-operatives, Social Firms,
  Development Trusts

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Social enterprise something that you DO?

• Yes!
• Sustainable Business with Social Good at its
  core.
• Trading in goods or services for a social purpose
  

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The open market what can you sell on it?
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The open market what can you sell on it?

• Services
• Room hire / equipment hire
• Office space
• Food
• Expertise / intellectual property
• Goods
• Manufactured
• Second hand / recycled

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Meadows Neighbourhood Centre
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The Third Sector
VCS
SE
Grant Dependant Businesses / Enterprising
Voluntary Organisations
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Growing Social Enterprise
VCS
Social Enterprise
Private
Public
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Growing Social Enterprise
VCS
Samaritans
Social Enterprise
Private
Public
Betting Shops
Courts
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Growing Your Social Enterprise
SE

VCS
Private
Public
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Customers Define

• The more you sell the SE Hallmarks, the more
  popular you will be with customers
• Co-operative
• Triodos Bank
• 15
• Oxfam

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Social Enterprise Mark

• A label for customers
• Not a definition
• Just as Fair Trade does not stop all companies
  trading fairly
• Avoiding Greenwashing

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VCS Language

• Funding
• Volunteers
• Trustees
• Application Forms
• Full Cost Recovery
• Management Committee
• Capacity Building
• Service Users

• Grants
• Bids
• Not for Profit

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Business Language

• Profitability
• Entrepreneur
• Finance
• Diversification
• Directors
• Investment
• Shares
• Return on Investment
• Contracts
• Consortia

• HR
• Sales / Marketing
• RD
• Training
• Networking
• Clients
• Loans
• Dividends
• Cost Centres
• Growth

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Support available

• NESEP www.nesep.co.uk
• Pentagon Partnership www.pentagonpartnership.org.u
  k
• NCVO Sustainable Funding Project
  www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/sfp/
• Built to Achieve www.builttoachieve.co.uk