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
9.2 Working with development workers
Third sector trading organisations commonly enjoy excellent relationships with social enterprise development staff in
support agencies. But there is need for improvements in the way support overall is managed and delivered in Wales so
that limited resources can be deployed most effectively.
The challenges: Resourcing for enterprise development in the
third sector has tended to be patchy and unco-ordinated. Public
spending cuts will certainly make matters worse at a time when
the need for trading by community groups and charities is
growing substantially.
The possibilities: Developing and sustaining a vibrant and
successful trading third sector requires business and third sector
support agencies of all kinds to:
• Develop greater levels of specialism among staff so that workers
have in-depth knowledge on issues such as finance, business
planning, legal structures, quality and service procurement.
• Co-ordinate with other agencies to make best use of resources.
• Encourage links between funding and development support,
so that trading organisations can get the best possible value
from their grants, and technical expertise is delivered to
initiatives which will make best use of it (it’s an unpalatable
truth that social enterprise support is often rather wasteful, as
some sceptics delight in pointing out.)
• Recognise the value of:
− supporting networking between social enterprise practitioners
− encouraging the sharing of knowledge and experience among
enterprises through conferences, workshops, and case studies
− assisting organisations which host research and learning
visits from other groups to generate consultancy income
from doing so.
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