As I set up my social enterprise, I collected useful guides and resources. Here are some of the most helpful resources I found.
]]>Starting a social enterprise can be a daunting, confusing and sometimes lonely experience. You may know what you want to achieve but understanding how you get there can feel quite overwhelming. Like starting any business, you need to wear the hats of an accountant, business strategist, marketer, researcher and any other field of expertise related to your business.
After several months of research and consideration, I managed to set up my social enterprise Good Things. In my opinion, getting to that point takes perseverance rather than expertise, but you do need to make decisions carefully and seek expert advice where you can.
One of the things I was most surprised by was how hard to find - and confusing - the information for aspiring social entrepreneurs can be. I collected useful guides and resources as I went along and I'm going to share the most helpful ones with you here:
Here's where things can get confusing. Lots of people (somewhat understandably considering the lack of information out there) assume you'll set up as a Community Interest Company if you're a social enterprise. While this may well be the right option for you, it's important to explore the other legal structures available too, before you set up.
The structure you choose will have implications for funding and the fundamentals of how your enterprise will work. With some structures you can't convert to another legal structure if your activities change, while others offer more flexibility. I spent a long time trying to work out which option was right for me and I've spoken to other pre-start-up social entrepreneurs struggling with the same challenge. My advice is to get as much information as possible but be careful, there is confusion out there! Make sure you're completely confident before making your decision. Often a well-informed accountant is best-placed to advise you on this.
This article from UnLtd explains all the legal structures available, plus the pros and cons of each. I wish I'd found this when I was trying to figure this out!
Good to know: you probably need a structure which works for a social enterprise. In the end I found I needed to write this from the top, making it work for my own organisation. Following templates just made things more complicated. Keep it simple and keep it relevant.
The School for Social Entrepreneurs provide some helpful guidance and encouragement.
If you're still developing your idea or not ready to write a full business plan, consider a Business Model Canvas. This is a really helpful tool either as a starting point to help you keep your full business plan on topic, or if you can, use it in place of a detailed business plan. It's essentially a big sheet of paper with nine boxes which provide an overview of your enterprise. You can find out about what a Business Model Canvas is in this article from Development Impact and You. Make sure you understand what you're putting in each of the boxes to make it effective.
I hope this helps you think through your idea and develop it a bit further. My additional piece of advice would be to get out there and talk about it with experts. I know it can feel tempting to be very protective of your brilliant new concept, but you do need to know it's financially and legally viable. Lots of law firms offer monthly or weekly free drop-ins and many accountants will provide a free first session. Both will be confidential. It's crucial that you run your idea past others before making a huge time - or financial - commitment.
Looking at funding your idea? If you're a female entrepreneur in the UK you might like to check out my Top Tips for Crowdfunding with NatWest's Back Her Business.
]]>In March, NatWest launched Back Her Business, in partnership with Crowdfunder. The aim is to support female entrepreneurs and help more women start and lead businesses. If you meet 25% of your crowdfunding target, NatWest will pledge a further 50% of your target (e.g. £1500 if your target is £3000). As long as you go on to raise the final 25% and reach your target the NatWest pledge will be yours!
I'm pleased to say that I was accepted for this programme, met my target and received NatWest funding which helped me launch my business Good Things: an online shop selling ethical and sustainable gifts for children. If you're in the early stages of setting up a business and meet the eligibility criteria this is an incredible opportunity to kickstart your business!
My approach wasn't perfect, but I hope you can learn from my experience. Here are my 7 top tips:
My campaign on Crowdfunder. You can see the video is in a prominent position.
I say this somewhat hypocritically! I learnt about the programme shortly before launching my business and just before (to my surprise!) winning the Fast Track to Growth award and gaining some press attention. This meant I planned and applied for this programme in a day. Not recommended! Most advice will suggest you allow at least two weeks to a month to plan.
You need to need to take time to consider each of the points below, and allow time to create your campaign and submit the required information. Bear in mind that it will also take several days before your campaign goes live, it first needs to be approved by Crowdfunder and NatWest so submit it for approval a few days before you plan to launch.
This is probably the most important aspect of a successful campaign. You need to map everyone you know and think about how you might approach them to support your campaign. This needs to go beyond close friends and family. Think school or university; previous workplaces; community groups or societies that might support or be interested in what you're doing.
Be as creative as you can and think about who, how and when you will approach them. Try to space this out across your campaign so pledges trickle in throughout.
A key part of your campaign is offering rewards for your supporters. It can feel really hard to come up with creative, unique rewards. I spoke to a crowdfunding expert friend about this. She recommended rewards which money can't buy: e.g. if you're crowdfunding for a wedding cake company, offer to name one of your cakes after a supporter, if you've got expertise to offer, provide them with a service: can you write something for them, or use your financial expertise? I found this quite tricky but for my campaign discounts proved pretty popular. Be creative and run your ideas past friends to see what they think before going live!
You need to explain what you're asking for and why. People support causes and you need to be clear about what you're trying to do and why it's worth their hard-earned cash. Think about what will excite people, what will they want to rally around?
Crowdfunder will tell you your campaign needs a video. They're right. Keep it brief and don't worry about making it too fancy. People want to know what you're raising money for and why. Keep it short so you can share your video on social media. Upload it directly to Facebook for better visibility.
You may need to go beyond a simple ask: could you go and talk about your new business at a local school or college? Could you ask for information about your business and campaign to be circulated in a newsletter? Could you hold a local event and ask for donations or charge entry?
Make sure you plan when you will send out a press release; which publications might be interested - think local and specialist; and that you're providing a good story. An ask for funding isn't enough. Lead with the story of why you've created this business. Note: due to the last-minute nature of my campaign I sent out the press release sent to me by Crowdfunder. This focused on the Back Her Business initiative and didn't get any traction. I recommend using this template if you like but making why you've created your business the main feature.
The Crowdfunder platform comes with a helpful update tab which will send an email update to all your supporters. Let them know how things are going and most importantly how much you appreciate their support.
So, in short: plan, make it as compelling as you can and keep talking about it!
I wish you the very best of luck!
You can find out more and apply to Back Her Business here.
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