Improve access to training and skills development, to build the capacity of existing and start up social enterprises. This includes business skills training, peer support, skills development, better information on funding and finance and support on public service contracting

Rationale:

Social enterprises have the need for both for generic business skills and business development needs with specific relevance to the sector. Basic business planning skills are particularly important for smaller and start-up social enterprises. Established and trading social enterprises require different skills, including peer support, joint learning, inter-trading, help with specific needs and queries.

Issues that are particularly relevant to the social enterprise sector include finding finance, and skills needed to draw socially enterprising practices into the delivery of public services.

The problem regarding finance is not so much the availability of funds. There is an increasing availability of start-up grants and cheap loans for social enterprises. There is also an increasing availability of investment capital. (see this guide published by the Social Enterprise Coalition). The greater challenge is how to design and manage a funding profile based on a combination of sources and improving the confidence of social enterprises to apply for loans and commercial investment. This problem requires availability of better advice and support to understand and take on financial risks.

The challenges for organisations seeking to develop public services are more complicated. Support needs to be available both for Third sector groups seeking to collect public sector contracts and to existing delivery bodies in both the public and private sectors who may wish to adopt social enterprise models in order to remain competitive. The context for this activity is addressed under other priorities, which emphasise the need to improve understanding of the social enterprise sector and develop skills for organisations to improve partnership planning. However, specialist capacity is also needed to encourage thinking on issues such as managing change and adopting new business models.

Support therefore needs to be sensitive to the varying needs of organisations approaching social enterprises from different directions.

Key issues:

• Easy access to good business planning skills and courses. 31% of small social enterprises identified business planning as a strategic priority for their organisations. It is important to ensure that this training is appropriate to the social enterprise sector, and links start up social enterprises with the wider social enterprise community.

• Established and trading social enterprises require a different set of business skills. These include peer support, joint learning, support on inter-trading and help with specific needs and queries.

• Support to improve access to funding and improve understanding of social enterprise financing models. This requires the development of specialist expertise in social enterprise finance models.

• Improving the technical capacity of Third Sector organisations to work together on bidding for public sector contracts. This may require the development of technical brokerage and partnership capacity, focusing on how to manage shared back-office functions and how to negotiate the division of contracts between several partners.
• Improving the capacity of public sector managers and other partners currently delivering public services may require a different model. These managers are already accustomed to controlling large budgets and large numbers of staff. A 1:1 coaching based approach may be more appropriate in initial stages.

Activities:

• Repeat the Graduate Certificate in Social Enterprise at the University of Brighton so that start-up social enterprises can develop business plans and build networks with peers.

• Roll out the University of Brighton's ProfitNet model for more established social enterprises. Possibly extend this to involve managers of organsations currently delivering public services and considering a shift to social enterprise models.

• Ensure that expertise on funding social enterprise is available in the city. This could be provided free to start-up organisations, or charged to established and larger groups.

• Pilot a coaching scheme for public sector managers seeking to develop social enterprises.

Potential partners:

• University of Brighton Business School

• University of Brighton Business Services

• Chamber of Commerce
• City College
• Local business advisers / financial advisers

• Consider arrangements with local coaching organisations.

Indicators:

• Students graduating from programme and evaluation

• ProfitNet graduates and evaluation

• Support delivered and evaluated

Potential outcomes:

Experience from the Graduate Certificate in Social Enterprise, run in 2006/7 suggests that there is a market for at least 25 places on start-up business planning courses per year. Achieving this number on an ongoing basis would help improve the long-term viability of a social enterprise culture.

Other outcomes will be identified as new partners step forward as social enterprise opportunities grow and new partnership develop.