1. Organisational Considerations before embarking on a social enterprise

Before starting a social enterprise a lot of careful thought and planning is essential for the enterprise to be a success. Click each consideration for more information:

The Board will, between them, need to possess the following skills and knowledge to effectively run a successful social enterprise:

• Ability to work as part of a team
• Ability to analyse financial information
• Ability to employ and manage staff
• Ability to provide a realistic vision for the organisation
• Ability to listen and learn from other Board members and staff
• Knowledge of marketing and financial planning
• Negotiation skills
• Income generating skills
• Effective communication and motivation skills
• Knowledge of employment law and other legislation relevant to running a business generally, and to the specific business in particular.
• Ability to record and collate information for meetings.
• Commitment and determination
• Effective risk management

The person responsible for the day to day running of the business must also possess many of these skills. If you are recruiting someone for this post, give careful consideration to the skills, abilities and characteristics they will need to be successful in the post. You may want them to demonstrate experience in establishing and/or running a social enterprise previously, experience in managing people and budgets etc.

The remainder of this course will take you through the key issues and areas associated with setting up and developing an existing social enterprise.

 

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