Sunday 7th February 2010, 11:59pm
Having Trouble Starting Your Social Enterprise? Here’s Where to Get Good Help Fast . . .
Nancy Fulton Mazur, Director of the Doug Richard Mentoring Club
Social entrepreneurs develop sustainable solutions to social problems that the market hasn’t come up with yet. Whether it is delivering clean water to the one billion people on earth who don’t have it through children’s playgrounds or making London coffee purchases support ethical coffee plantations in Central America, social entrepreneurs build business models that help local and global communities.
But who helps social entrepreneurs create those solutions?
You can find links and descriptions for more than 50 organizations that guide and support social entrepreneurs on the VentureNavigator website. Look here to find links to organizations like:
Social Enterprise Coalition
Look here for advice about the best practices for Social Enterprises and links to some useful financial resources. This organization is the UK’s national body for social enterprise.
UnLtd
UnLtd is a charity that delivers financial support and advanced training to social enterprises in the UK.
Community Action Network
Social entrepreneurs can acquire the office space and other infrastructure they need to start their businesses through CAN.
Unity Trust Bank
Unity delivers specialist banking services for social enterprises.
Bridges Social Entrepreneur Fund
This organization provides funding solutions to social enterprises across the UK.
In addition to a catalog of Social Enterprise focused organizations, VentureNavigator also provides a series of assessments to help you identify where you, or your business, may be falling short. These diagnostics tools can help you determine:
- Whether your business is viable.
- When your business is ready for investment.
- What management and leadership skills you require in order to run your business well.
- What kind of legal structure best meets the needs of your social enterprise.
These assessments take just minutes to complete and they direct you, quickly, to the information and resources you need to resolve problems and remove road blocks.
Tags: finding investment, Social Enterprise, venture navigator
