Most social entrepreneurs think their social venture is unique. In fact, it seems like numbers of social entrepreneurs who promote their venture on the basis that ‘no else is doing this’ vastly exceed the numbers promote their venture on the basis that it’s really good. This may be partly due to the funding climate... Find out more

Social entrepreneurs are often people with plenty of ideas and a desire to solve as many social problems as possible. Many of us, when we first start our social ventures, work on a wide range projects, products and services in the hope that one of them might take off. That’s not necessarily a bad thing... Find out more

There’s a point in all our lives when we realise –with shock and/or growing horror – that our parents don’t know everything. Many of us cease to be in awe of any conventional authority figures soon after that and, for example, by the time we reach voting age may believe that politicians don’t know anything... Find out more

Many of us start our social ventures without any previous experience of running an organisation. If, like me, you start your first social venture in your early 20s, you might not have much previous experience of doing anything. The big temptation in that situation is to think that there’s a right way to do what... Find out more

As social entrepreneurs, we know that our social venture is exactly what’s needed to change the world (or, at least, a bit of it). We know that, for example, our innovative scheme to tackle youth unemployment through a disruptive combination of skateboarding and environmental action is what unemployed younger people want. On that basis, it... Find out more

When meeting social entrepreneurs, and others running small voluntary organisations that are developing new projects, I come across a sizable minority who are reluctant to tell people about what they’re trying to do because they’re worried that someone will steal their idea and do the project themselves. This is not an irrational fear. In any... Find out more

A hard hitting assessment on how and where social ventures fail to work in partnership and collaboration effectively. Partnership and collaboration are popular ideas in the world of social enterprise. Everyone wants organisations to work together to do things better and, so the theory goes, social organisations should be keener to work together and better... Find out more

Everyone’s been talking about the Social Value Act, from the biggest public authorities to the smallest social ventures. In the social enterprise world, there’s a lot of hope, anxiety and scepticism around the Act. Will it give social ventures a noticable edge when competing for procurement bids? Or does the vagueness of the legislation make... Find out more

There’s never been a better time to start a social venture in the UK. UnLtd and the School for Social Entrepreneurs are just two of the organisations offering small amounts of cash and significant amounts of support to help us get up and running. If you run one of the 7 or 8 existing social ventures in... Find out more

“We need to ensure that at every stage of a woman’s career she has the opportunity to learn skills, develop and contribute in a dynamic business environment.” That’s the verdict of Ruby McGregor-Smith, chair of the Women’s Business Council, in the foreword to a new report “Maximising women’s contribution to economic growth” – commissioned by... Find out more