It’s Good to Talk

However, it can be immensely useful as was seen in the first of our new Teatime Q&As, held at the ClearlySo offices. We plan to hold these events on the first Thursday of every month. They’re a chance for anyone involved in the social enterprise sector to come to our office, discuss the issues of the day and pick the brains of the ClearlySo team, including our CEO Rodney Schwartz.

Judging from the turnout of this first event there seems to be plenty of appetite. The main thrust of the afternoon was for social entrepreneurs to run ideas past their peers, talk about the sector in general and maybe take advice on the next step in their strategy. Several were early stages businesses that had progressed beyond the startup phase and were looking for ways to move forward.

Other pressing issues were addressed – such as the opportunities and challenges presented to social enterprise by the cuts in public sector funding; and the growing importance of social enterprise as a way of bringing people back into employment. Both of these issues merit much further discussion of their own and will no doubt form the basis for future blogs.

For these organisations events like this can be immensely useful. Talk may be cheap, as they say, but when backed up by practical action it can help a new entrepreneur plot his or her way through a tough business climate.

Starting a business in any sector is always a steep learning curve. For social entrepreneurs it can be even more challenging. Most have entered their sector because of their passion for a certain cause. They do not necessarily possess the same business experience, or focus on financial performance, as entrepreneurs in the traditional business sector.

They need discussion, advice and information from all sources – whether that comes from other social entrepreneurs or organisations such as ClearlySo set up to help them.

The willingness of the social business and enterprise community to talk is one of its greatest strengths and one that we can argue sets it apart from other sectors.

There is an element of competition, within the social enterprise sector, as there is everywhere else, but there is also an impressive sense of collaboration which can only work to the benefit of the wider social enterprise community.

This is the ethos behind the success of ideas such as the excellent SEAlley which we have attended – and we hope it will be core to our second new event – ClearlySocialising (the first of which takes place next week). The secret of course is to take the lessons learned at events such as these and turn them to practical use.

Tom Cropper for Rodney Schwartz