Now, THIS is business

This is SEWF. This is business. This is social enterprise.

As the train pulls away from the wonderful city of Edinburgh I’m still wearing my Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) conference pass round my neck. In the rush to make it to the station I’ve forgotten to remove it.

Edinburgh, city of enlightenment, of castles, miles royal and dancing. Of crags and tails and granite. Of festivals and fringes. Of rugby and politics and a seat of government. Of holy stones, elegance and palaces. Now Edinburgh is a global city of social enterprise. Alive with colour and diversity of fourteen hundred people from nearly fifty countries. We are called, we are absorbed, we are engaged and energized. Imbued with hope and reassured: we can build a better future.

I turn to my notebooks to being writing this article. I have taken pages and pages of notes. Motivational quotes, calls for action, wise words, policy insights and wild ideas gleaned from a dizzying array of vibrant speakers from all parts of the globe. Here are a few of my highlights in no particular order:

• “We need more AI and regulatory tech social enterprises and less chocolate” - Indy Johar of Dark Matter Labs challenging us to be audacious and create a raft of digital social enterprises.
• The 83 strong New Zealand/Aotearoa delegation standing and singing a song in the opening ceremony.
• “We will wash down the walls of oppression” - Mike Curtin of DC Central Kitchen.
• Bruktawit Tigabu of Whiz Kids in Ethiopia illustrating the deep societal issues of lack of literacy and domestic violence that her social enterprise is tackling.
• School children explaining social enterprises in the simplest forms: “businesses that help people.”
• Phillip Ullman, brilliantly odd, of the converted £880 million Cordant Group urging us to be whole, disintermediate and look for covenants not contracts.
• “[Social enterprises can create] a flourishing web of life - Clive Hirst of Social Enterprise Solutions.
• Audrey Tang, Taiwanese Digital Minister and self-confessed ‘conservative anarchist’ calling for radical transparency and more poetic job descriptions.
• “We must be business…and create the future before it gets done to us” - Lord Victor Adebowale.
• The wild, hairy, tattooed men of Clanadonia smashing drums and swirling bagpipes.
• “Scotland is a better country because of social enterprise” - John Swinney MSP and Deputy First Minister.

All these moments scintillate, coalesce, fly apart and collide. I find at Preston, nearly 200 miles from Edinburgh I am still wearing the conference pass.

I’m left with another idea inspired by Indy Johar: that business can make us noble or be a tool for oppression and control.

This, then is SEWF. This is business. This is social enterprise.

New politics, a new hope

Is Brexit the rebellion of the voiceless?

No this is not another Star Wars themed blog!

Yesterday evening I attended the Nexit: What next for Plymouth and the South West event organised by RIO and the RSA at Devonport Guildhall. Around 200 people showed up - a sign of increasing politicization maybe and great to see so many engaged people. The waiting list was nearly as long as the attendance list apparently.

So a big turnout. And big ideas were discussed. There were initial ‘provocations’ from Molly Scott-Cato, Green MEP for the South West; George Cowcher, Director of Devon Chamber of Commerce, John Harris, a Guardian political journalist with a penchant for anything non-Westminster and two young people - Joe and Tom from Our Way Tech.

Molly asked for a second referendum, proportional representation and a need to reclaim our country. Citizen’s juries and a ‘progressive alliance’ of Greens, Lib-Dems and Labour were also mooted.

George gave a precise talk about business issues post Brexit. He said a majority of businesses wanted to remain in the EU and that there was still no real vision for what leaving looked like. In the South West we are particularly vulnerable to potential export problems caused by Brexit as 60% of our exports go to Europe. The main point that resonated with me was his direct question to business: “Exactly what ‘red tape’ do you want to change?” There is a lot of bluster about EU regulation but no-one can seemingly put their finger on what they want to remove.

Joe gave an eloquent and heartfelt speech (written on the back of a napkin in an impressive five minutes) expressing his fears about right-wing populism and invoking the spectre of fascism. Tom produced one of the quotes of the night: “A window has been broken - but that is good for people who fix windows.” I was left a bit bemused.

John Harris then gave an excellent talk on his approach, Brexit and the deep cynicism about politics. He said that a leave vote was just as valid as a remain vote and that we need to understand why Brexit happened. He called the Brexit vote a ‘rebellion of the voiceless’. In a telling moment he asked if anyone in the room had voted leave and only one or two people raised their hands.

We then had discussions in table groups. I was honoured to be asked to lead one of these. Our topics ranged widely over education, housing, environment, representation, inequality, economics and more.

We decided to develop our own new political party - the ‘Greater Britain Party’ - taking back the language of ‘great’ and ‘Britain’ from the far right with a new progressive manifesto:

1. Talk about politics in schools and everywhere

2. Proportional representation

3. Lower the voting age to 16

4. Sort housing and jobs

5. Improve environmental protection.

Ok, so some work needed on the detail but it was fun, lively, inclusive, honest and had real conviction.

What I found particularly refreshing was the ability to talk about politics in a community, non-party political setting. It felt natural and engaging. Yes, most people were in broad agreement but judging from responses there was a mix of Greens, Lib-Dems and Labour (new and old) and possibly some Conservatives too.

I think the event could have been improved with a ‘Leave’ key-note speaker and maybe we needed more dissent in the room around the opportunities presented by Brexit. A criticism could be that it was a large number of ‘Remainers’ talking to themselves.

John Harris wrapped things up with a call to arms - to find innovative solutions - one being found in Plymouth’s burgeoning social enterprise movement. His most powerful argument was his last. He said: “Dark forces are at work in the country - any attempt to overturn the referendum result through legal or other means could further disenfranchise the ‘voiceless’ turning them to more extreme politics.”

We must not let that happen.

£1 million for Plymouth

Here at Iridescent Ideas CIC we’re co-delivering (with the Zebra Collective) a funding advice and business planning contract for Plymouth City Council.

The scheme - called Pop Ideas - runs until March 2017. So far the partnership has achieved some great successes. For instance, we have:

1. Helped bring in over £1 million of funding to 50 community groups
2. Delivered workshops on issues such as legal structures, social impact, funding bid writing, project management, project development and financial management
3. Run the quarterly Plymouth Fund-Raisers Network which has seen over 60 people gain knowledge about Lottery funding and fund-raising best practice
4. Supported around 150 organizations across the city with business planning, funding searches, starting up and more
5. Sent a weekly newsletter and kept an active social media presence sharing funding and other opportunities.

So what have we learnt over the last year and what do we need to do next? 

What has struck me is the tremendous diversity of the organizations we have supported. There are community groups and social enterprises working in all corners (and the middle!) of the city and they are engaged in all areas of the social and economic fabric of life. From hairdressers tackling alopecia to gyms to theatres to marketing companies to beach schools to play groups and many, many more, the reach of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector is astonishing.

The reach is far-ranging but these organizations need to engage more publicly about the impact they have on people, families and the communities they work in. It is likely that these groups make a deeply profound contribution to their communities, however, there is a need to evidence and talk about this more effectively. A common issue is a shortage of marketing and PR capacity and a lack of experience in this area.

I think this is a result of at least two key factors. There is an inherent paradox whereby many people (not all) in the voluntary and community sector have an ingrained humility that gets in the way of self-promotion. Also, the reticence seems to come from a struggle to evidence the social impact they create and then to build powerful marketing messages from this.

Many people we work with know the value of what they do in their hearts but find it harder to put this on paper or provide the robust evidence to prove it. Also, proving social impact is one thing, marketing it effectively is another.

So what about all the organizations who have applied and been turned down for funding?

The feedback we’ve seen from funders suggests that there were two main reasons for this:

1. Lack of evidence of need for the project
2. A need for better linking of proposed activities of the project to the expected outcomes. 

These are inter-related and go back to the fundamentals of understanding your community needs - be that geographic or of interest. It is also about putting these needs down on paper in a way distant funders - no doubt sat in plush offices in London far from the pressing issues you face - can understand.

So where next for Pop Ideas?

We need to continue to deliver solid funding advice. This brings cash into Plymouth, creates jobs and helps good things happen. We also need to support groups to plan effectively, to start-up with the appropriate governance structures and to plan to thrive. We need to help groups work more in partnership and develop brilliant solutions to community needs. We need to reach out to a wider range of stakeholders.

We also need to help social purpose organizations develop solid theories of change. It’s about proving impact; it’s about evidence. More than anything it is then about marketing this impact so more people grasp the issues and support good causes. It’s about backing public engagement for social good.

All the fun of the festival

Last week was Plymouth's fifth annual Social Enterprise Festival. Held, appropriately, during Global Entrepreneurship Week, it saw over 300 people attend nine different events on social enterprise themes. My highlights were as follows.

The week kicked off with a wonderful and animated talk by Rubies in the Rubble founder, Jenny Dawson. Jenny's passion and practicality struck me. She just got on with it and learned as she went. There was clearly deep strategy and clever thinking involved but also the sense of bootstrapping - so common to social entrepreneurs - was strong. If there's a lesson around the perceived need for endless business planning and analysis versus learning by doing this was it.

We at Iridescent Ideas delivered a masterclass on measuring social impact alongside Sara Burgess, CIC Regulator. The need to start some kind of social impact measurements, even if bespoke and limited in scope, was a key theme. The sooner you start, the sooner you learn how to do it better and the sooner you'll get great information on your impact.

Wednesday saw the flagship event, the Social Enterprise City Summit, hosted by Plymouth City Council. There was a variety of speakers including a great rabble rousing speech by Peter Holbrook, CEO of Social Enterprise UK. We also heard from some of the investees of the Council's Social Enterprise Investment Fund. A common theme was the need to remember social impact along with talk of the economic benefits of social enterprise. The looming general and council election was an ever present context. The ideas in the Social Economy Alliance's great manifesto also need to come to the fore over the next few months. Now is our chance to shape the social, economic and political landscape. Now is when we need to be clear about the world we want to see over the next five years.

The Next Big Things, an exhibition of newer social enterprises at Thinqtanq, was a fascinating insight into the needs of new entrepreneurs. Many are looking for start-up investment and also beginning to clarify their business and social ideas.

Finally Friday saw an insightful talk by Jessica Smith of Poached Creative - known for their excellent work on the Buy Social campaign - on marketing for social enterprises. This was full of practical and strategic advice.

The week showed me that we all - large and small, new and established - need to sharpen up our understanding of our markets, our ability to sell our products and services and to build strong brands to survive and thrive. We also need to get back to first principles on why we exist, the social causes we tackle and the impact we are having. Finally, the need to talk to politicians and campaign for change was brought into sharp focus. 

Social Enterprise Festival November 2014

It’s that time of year again: the clocks go back, trick or treaters roam the streets, bonfire smoke gets in your eyes, and, oh yes, it’s time for Plymouth’s annual Social Enterprise Festival.

This year festivities run from 17^th to 21^st November and are held, as usual, during Global Entrepreneurship Week. The festival is hosted by Plymouth Social Enterprise Network and we are thrilled to be part of something happening all over the world where people will be celebrating the passion and inspiration behind business.

Our take on this is that we need to go a step further than ‘business as usual’. We want to see how we can harness the best of entrepreneurial thinking to tackle the world’s - and Plymouth’s - social, economic and environmental problems.

The week itself is packed full of thought-provoking and practical activities. We have secured some of the nation’s top social entrepreneurs to share their stories with us. People like Jenny Dawson of food business Rubies in the Rubble; Cecilia Crossley of children’s clothes firm From Babies with Love and Jess Smith from the ethical PR company Poached Creative. There are practical sessions on marketing and proving social impact. We will celebrate the rising stars of the social enterprise world in Plymouth. The CEO of Social Enterprise UK - Peter Holbrook - will talk to us about how the social economy is set to transform public policy. There will even be a ‘liveblog’ at Rumpus Cosy café on Derry’s Cross. This will all be served with a hearty dose of social enterprise beer, bread and chocolate.

The festival is made even more special by the fact that Plymouth is the world’s first and finest Social Enterprise City. We want to celebrate this and also to explore what’s next. We want to see how social enterprises can be more influential in the economy of our city and how they can solve the big issues of today. Let’s not forget that social enterprise in Plymouth is already big business - PSEN members have a combined turnover of half-a-billion pounds and employ 7,000 people.

This is also the last festival before the next round of political elections in May 2015. If you want to influence the people who will be shaping economic and social policy for the next five years please come along and share your opinions.

Information about all the events can be found at www.socentcity.com.