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 />
3: Business planning<br />
3.1 Do we really need a business plan?<br />
The funding of <strong>third</strong> sec<strong>to</strong>r <strong>trading</strong> projects in the UK often does little <strong>to</strong> encourage well-planned projects, and may even<br />
provide a disincentive <strong>to</strong> serious business planning. The problems with European funding for social enterprise – which<br />
seems specifically <strong>to</strong> have excluded business which might become successful enough <strong>to</strong> be competitive – is perhaps the<br />
most obvious example. This chapter describes what funding applicants are up against, exposes the weaknesses of grant<br />
applications which set out <strong>to</strong> deceive the funders, and shows how inexperienced workers can produce good quality<br />
proposals which attract funding and create sound enterprises.<br />
Planning terminology: There is no universally agreed terminology<br />
for different kinds of research and planning documents required<br />
by funders and produced by project managers and consultants.<br />
At the risk of offending purists, here’s a rough <strong>guide</strong> <strong>to</strong> what the<br />
different names mean.<br />
• ‘Business Plan’: This is a general term for any planning document,<br />
which is now widely used as much for conventional non-<strong>trading</strong><br />
community activities as it is for commercial activities large and<br />
small. It can refer <strong>to</strong> an overall plan for an organisation or <strong>to</strong> a<br />
specific business activity either being planned or at any stage in its<br />
development. Its precise content is commonly governed by who is<br />
intended <strong>to</strong> read it. You should assume nothing.<br />
• ‘Feasibility study’: Strictly speaking this is research carried out<br />
<strong>to</strong> determine whether an activity is worth pursuing.<br />
− It specifically answers questions such as: is the idea practical?’,<br />
‘is there a market?’, ‘what will it cost?’, ‘could it earn enough’<br />
and ‘can the obstacles be overcome?’<br />
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