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
• Last-chance measures: If a project or activity is a drain on the
rest of the organisation you can shut it down immediately. Or
you can give it a last chance with a survival plan which changes
its structure, staffing arrangements, costings, priorities etc, and
give it strict timetabled targets for proving itself.
• Raising charges with fingers crossed: In some cases, perhaps
a minority, charges can be introduced or raised. A common
effect of this is a reduction in the use of a service which actually
produces little or no extra income. Be careful – but if you’ve
nothing to lose, try it anyway.
• Contracts to close the income gap: When a service is under
threat it is often because its outgoings are exceeding income by
a relatively modest, but cumulatively unsustainable, amount.
So it may be possible to find a contractor who will recognise
the benefits of avoiding closure by injecting extra cash to
top up what you receive in fees from users. This might be a
social services department which buys places for high need
users at a community-run day centre for the elderly, or a local
business which contracts to buy a handful of places in a nursery
project. You will need good negotiation and selling skills and
perseverance to win the argument.
Making better use of existing assets: Moderate-sized community
projects and trading enterprises which offer a number of different
services can usually find a few new ways to use their existing
resources more profitably. Staff and trustees may need to work
together to brainstorm ideas for generating extra income. Don’t
limit your imaginations; think laterally about any possibilities and
test anything that sounds promising, from the obvious to the
completely-whacky-but-might-just-work.
• new income from current activities:
− a new market for your service you haven’t yet tried to exploit
before: what about a new mailing list to target publicity for
your luncheon club (or your mail order sales, or whatever)
for different client or customers, or could you promote your
book on local history to a lucrative North American market, or
attract users for your bunkhouse accommodation from schools
on the other side of the county or country?
− new products or services which are a natural extension of
what you are already doing – special sessions in your gym
targeted at retired people, or sales of seasonal products or
gifts at your weekly bingo sessions or day centre.
120