A guide to third sector trading - WCVA

It’s an idea, but is it business? A guide to third sector trading
1: Getting
started
2: First steps 3: Business
planning
4: Legal and
governance
5: Funding
and
resourcing
6: Financial
controls
7: Managing
growth
8: Management
and
governance
9: Social
enterprise
10: Sources
of support
5: Funding and resourcing the business
5.1 The right investment for your new businesses
Advocates of social enterprise trading who are not directly involved in community groups or charities sometimes
promote an idea of third sector trading which is more about what they would like to see than about what organisations
need. It is simply misleading to suggest that groups could be creating jobs or taking over council services if they are
struggling to deal with expected grant cuts and cover their core costs.
This section focuses on some key issues to think about when you are starting a third sector business – what exactly are
you trying to achieve with your trading activities? What resources do you need? And where will you get them? In other
words: how will you invest in your new business?
Planning ahead
Does ‘business investment’ apply to us? The idea of investing
in and starting to develop your business. Newcomers may feel
that business investment is something which only larger projects
do. But even a modest pilot trading activity is likely to require
some resources to get started. A more substantial enterprise will
certainly be a costly exercise to get off the ground – both in purely
financial terms and in the time, effort, goodwill, and quite possibly
the materials and equipment contributed by the people and
organisations involved in supporting the venture. It is essential
that you spend time planning what you will need to invest in a
new business and how you will secure these resources.
First steps: This section is mainly addressed to new trading
ventures and covers:
• clarifying your business goals – so that you can make the right
kind of investment
• funding business planning
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