A guide to third sector trading - WCVA
A guide to third sector trading - WCVA
A guide to third sector trading - WCVA
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It’s an idea, but is it business? A <strong>guide</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>third</strong> sec<strong>to</strong>r <strong>trading</strong><br />
1: Getting<br />
started<br />
2: First steps 3: Business<br />
planning<br />
4: Legal and<br />
governance<br />
5: Funding<br />
and<br />
resourcing<br />
6: Financial<br />
controls<br />
7: Managing<br />
growth<br />
8: Management<br />
and<br />
governance<br />
9: Social<br />
enterprise<br />
10: Sources<br />
of support<br />
− Community centres and village halls may need <strong>to</strong> become<br />
much more involved in their local neighbourhood <strong>to</strong><br />
accommodate rent-paying users and stimulate the formation<br />
of new user organisations<br />
− Sports and leisure facilities may need <strong>to</strong> be more enterprising<br />
<strong>to</strong> accommodate a wider range of activities and more users.<br />
− Another way <strong>to</strong> run community buildings as businesses is <strong>to</strong><br />
accommodate permanent rent-paying tenants which offer<br />
essential community services – bringing the defunct local post<br />
office in<strong>to</strong> the village hall is a classic example.<br />
• Formal training: Community and charity organisations first<br />
came in<strong>to</strong> training as a widespread marketable service (often<br />
under contracts with educational bodies, private training<br />
agencies or local authorities) as long ago as the 1980s.<br />
Training is sometimes a profitable business <strong>to</strong> be in, but it is<br />
now highly competitive.<br />
• Managed workspace <strong>to</strong> foster economic development:<br />
Managed workspaces and nursery units, which provide a<br />
protective environment for nurturing new businesses, have<br />
been a significant part of community <strong>trading</strong> in the UK. But<br />
community organisations in Wales have his<strong>to</strong>rically been less<br />
involved in acquiring and running this type of asset, although<br />
there are notable examples such as Gorseinan Development<br />
Trust, which runs Pentre Menter Enterprise Village, leased<br />
from 3M.<br />
• Environmental and alternative technology projects: Some<br />
<strong>third</strong> sec<strong>to</strong>r organisations are struggling <strong>to</strong> find a foothold<br />
among new ‘green’ businesses, because they need <strong>to</strong><br />
operate on a small scale and <strong>to</strong> compete with private sec<strong>to</strong>r<br />
companies (or establish complex joint financing partnerships<br />
with them). There may be a pioneering motivation <strong>to</strong> reduce<br />
waste, conserve energy or find less environmentally damaging<br />
alternatives. But there is increasing evidence that power<br />
generation schemes can be a way <strong>to</strong> make profits which are<br />
large enough <strong>to</strong> fund community projects.<br />
20