A guide to third sector trading - WCVA

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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 • do you have a clear idea of the business/es you want to run? − can you be flexible about this? − do you have any alternative ideas if the initial suggestions aren’t viable? • what knowledge and skills does your group already have, and what might it need? − business expertise, such as management, marketing and human resources? − community development? knowledge of social enterprise? − fund raising? − market research, feasibility studies and business planning? − project and financial management? − professional skills? architectural, legal etc). Planning the business You should remember that there is no such thing as a reliable sat nav for trading. This will be an unpredictable journey which will be heavily influenced by your starting point, your end goal, and the traffic jams and diversions you encounter on the way. Here are the basic steps you are likely to need to take, though not necessarily in this order: • establish a steering group to develop the trading project • identify the social benefits you want to achieve • identify the business ideas • get constituted (including company and charity registration if appropriate) • consult (with your community, beneficiaries, parent organisation) • involve others in the planning • write a business plan. 12
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 Starting the business There are a huge number of issues to cover. Here are some of them: • form the trading board and provide training for the directors • fund raising – for equipment, premises, initial starting, ‘working capital’ • set up the business systems: financial record keeping, credit control, payroll, VAT, purchasing systems, financial reporting, • set up the business – marketing and sales, cost control, stock control, customer care, quality control • establish and operate personnel systems – recruitment, contracts, staff supervision, complying with employment law etc. Some of this is the familiar work of many conventional voluntary organisations. But if some of these phrases are meaningless at this stage, that’s understandable. Don’t imagine they won’t apply to you and your business, though. Read on. Developing the business What happens after enterprises have been started is even less likely to follow in a simple step-by-step sequence than the startup process. But here are some of the issues which the directors of developing businesses will need to handle. They are dealt with in later sections. • Overseeing commercial activity and managing business risks − developing and marketing services − financial monitoring and reporting • Understanding how businesses grow − controlling the pace of growth − developing property assets − moving from grants to loans − building reserves, reinvesting profits, managing taxation • Evolving governance and management arrangements as circumstances change − evolving constitutions − board recruitment and retention − company membership − management succession • Operating with social objectives − handling community/business tensions − community participation − user involvement in governance. 13
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