Tag: social enterprise

  • Doing good, doing business

    Doing good, doing business

    Social enterprise is a dynamic and also motivating way to do business, it’s an interesting and fast growing sector, a movement not only in the UK but around the globe.

    Social enterprises are businesses trading to address social problems, improve communities, people’s quality of life or the environment. It seems the same as charity work but it is different. These organisations make and do things to make profits like every other business, but they are reinvesting their profits to make even more good. They do this in various ways: reinvesting in community projects, providing services for people who otherwise might not get them, or creating jobs for people who would otherwise be left out from work. That’s what Unseen Tours did, does and will do.

    Unseen Tours is a prize-winning, not-for-profit social enterprise in London. Presently, they offer 6 alternative sightseeing tours through the capital’s most vibrant and exciting neighbourhoods- Brick Lane, Brixton, Camden, Covent Garden, London Bridge and Shoreditch-, led by homeless and  previously homeless guides.

    “We never wanted to be a charity, we wanted to make profit and reinvest that money, that’s why we are a social enterprise.”– says Faye Shields, the director.
    Everything started in 2010 as a project by Sock Mob Events, an informal volunteer network– so called simply because through regular weekly walks these people offered socks, food and friendship for men and women living on the streets of London.

    Their guides earn a living through the tours. They directly get  60% of the ticket sales. And what about the other 40%? It’s also reinvested, out of that 40% the guides also receive their travel and mobile top-ups every month and the remainder is used for essential operational costs. Any profit Unseen Tours makes is directly reinvested into the enterprise to engage more guides and widen the scope of the tours.

    People are needed to run an organisation. The team that works behind the scenes of the successful social enterprise is formed of volunteers. They fit volunteering around their full-time job responsibilities to help making Unseen Tour a success.

    The enterprise works like a real organisation; they have a director, the different tours have coordinators, they even have a person to manage their social media.
    Unseen Tours offers a one-of-a-kind experience of London and unique insight into the capital’s life whilst giving visibility and voice to people who often feel unseen and unheard.

    Unseen Tours is a social enterprise with great purpose– to change perceptions of the homeless and to provide an income to individuals who might otherwise be excluded from work. They are doing good but also business. With their business strategy, so far they have helped 20 homeless or formerly homeless people back on their feet.

    To find out more about Unseen Tours and to book a tour visit their website here. Take part and win prizes in their newest campaign, share your unseen story with #MyUnseenStory on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

  • Business approaches for tackling poverty

    Business approaches for tackling poverty

    The authors suggest that few of the most sustainable and scalable solutions to poverty and deprivation are those based on business – instead of charitable – methods. This chimes with Melinda Gates’ TED talk about adaptable strategies from Coca Cola that could make non-profit organisations more effective.

    The practical guide, Scaling Up includes a wide variety of case studies of both the families this kind of approach has helped, and the organisations and social entrepreneurs who have successfully applied it. The book comes across as an extremely well researched while written with the practitioner in mind. Examples from around the world including India, Latin America and Africa range from the more familiar cases of microfinance and housing to community savings and utilities.

    The authors recommend a range of strategic and market-driven approaches which can help people at the bottom of the economic pyramid, effectively challenging many assumption of the traditional charitable / donor-reliant approach to NGO-led development. The opportunity to achieve scale is explored both as the traditional scaling of the organisation itself, and as increasing its influence on the ecosystem.

    The contents are practical, addressing core management problems just like finance and marketing in a new context. The book is very well structured, the only tougher aspect to its presentation is the excessive amount usage of acronyms, which grates in spite of a glossary at the front of the book.

    Reading the book is more than likely to be of instant benefit to managers already working in social enterprises or the third sector, but Scaling Up is a remarkable read for any leader curious about the economics of social justice.

    The book is available on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.

  • 5 of the Best … Good Cause Organisations

    5 of the Best … Good Cause Organisations

    Good cause businesses should have more attention. There are lots of them everywhere in the world that support wonderful causes. Here are 5 exceptional social enterprises that make a change around the world:

    This Foreigner Can
    A social enterprise with a purpose to improve the lives of migrants by supporting them to eventually become entrepreneurs.

     
    Paper & Cup
    This is a not-for-profit social enterprise in East London is managed by a local charity offering work experience and training program to former addicts and long-term unemployed.

    The Big Issue
    The Big Issue is one of the United Kingdom’s top social businesses and exists to offer homeless people the chance to make a legitimate income, thereby helping them to reintegrate into mainstream society. The Big Issue publication is also the world’s most widely circulated street magazine.

    Bike Station
    Scotland’s biggest, and one of its longest established, bicycle recycling charities. They sell and restore bikes and deliver trainings on cycling safety to individuals and groups.

     
    Future Clean
    An eco-hand car wash located in North London. A social enterprise that delivers training and job opportunities for local disabled men and women.

     
    What is your favourite good cause business? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @FormiumLtd!