Small Business Matters

Going with the crowd: What is crowdfunding and how could it work for you?

This guest post is by Luke Lang of Crowdcube. He gives the lowdown on crowdfunding, which has been hailed as “the next big thing” by a number of business commentators.

The task of securing investment is notoriously difficult for any public, private or social enterprise.  Few people who submit business plans to angel investors, venture capitalists or similar sources of funding are successful in raising the money they seek.

For social enterprises, where profit maximisation is not the main objective, this is often a far greater challenge. Angel investors and venture capitalists remain elusive to all but a few. Banks tend to adopt a risk-averse approach to lending and the Government’s recent agreement will not necessarily make it any easier. Demand for finance continues to outstrip supply.

More Top Tips from the We Mean Business conference

Yesterday’s We Mean Business conference was a great event where we met some really inspiring women – so we couldn’t resist passing on a few more of their useful tips and tricks for small businesses.

Deborah Szebeko, Founder of thinkpublic: the journey of a social entrepreneur

Eleven great tips from Deborah who started her business based on being inspired by wanting to help improve the patient experience in the NHS:

1 - Be adaptable… things will change, be open to this and stay flexible

2 - Learn the lingo… listen to others and record what they say, use this to develop your language

3 - Develop your story and brand… each opportunity has a story and their story is their brand, embrace this and include it in all your branding, right down to your logo

4 - Build relationships… don’t underestimate your clients as your advocates

5 - Give people respect and responsibility… by giving people opportunity they will be empowered to learn and innovate, and this will help the business to be great

The Social Enterprise Mark is launched

Last week the new Social Enterprise Mark was unveiled at Voice10, the annual conference for social enterprise. The Mark identifies businesses which meet set criteria for social enterprise, and  offers consumers an instantly recognisable logo that identifies businesses that are trading in a way that benefits both society and the environment.
   

 
  

The Mark has already proven itself as more than just a logo, it’s also giving access to a network of social enterprises across the UK with Twitter already racking up nearly 1000 followers to date: http://twitter.com/SE_Mark

We can’t help but love The Mark because it is going to give the 62,000 social enterprises in the UK the recognition they deserve. Across the country, lots of people embark on new business in order to contribute to their community, and give something back to society.

What’s more, The Mark proves that being a social enterprise has real value. As David Cameron stated, "Your creativity, dynamism, compassion and ingenuity is absolutely central to the good economic future we must build in our country." It’s excellent to see these unique businesses getting the credibility they deserve and as a result it will help social enterprise move into the main stream and give the industry strength to grow, which can only be a good thing!

Do you qualify for the Mark?

• Do you have evidence of your company’s social and environmental aims?

• Does the company have its own constitution and governing body?

• Are at least 50% of the company profits spent on socially beneficial purposes?

• Does the company earn at least 50% of its income from trading?

• Can you provide externally verified evidence that you are achieving your social or environmental aims?

You can find our more by visiting: www.socialenterprisemark.org.uk