BGP and Social Entrepreneurs
We are welcoming increasing numbers of social entrepreneurs onto BGP. In recent years founders of social businesses attending BGP have included Ali Clabburn of Liftshare, Vivien Woodell of the Phone Coop, Jason Holt of Holts Academy and Uday Thakkar of Red Ochre.
On our most recent BGP programmes we have had a number of participants from the social enterprise sector: Michelle Clother and Sam Conniff of Livity, Sally Chalk of Clarion Interpreting, Ben Ramsden of Pants to Poverty, Tim West of Society Media and Michelle Wright of Cause4. Read what they have to say about their experience of BGP below.
Thanks to the generosity of Coutts & Co, we are able to offer a limited number of bursaries to social entrepreneurs with proven, scalable business models and the ambition to grow. If this sounds like you, contact BGP Programme Director David Molian at d.molian@cranfield.ac.uk
Michelle Clothier and Sam Conniff, founders Livity
With a 10 year old business, my business partner Sam Conniff and I felt as daunted as we did excited at the prospect of the next 10 years. We had numerous successes under our belts, had enjoyed continued growth and had overcome many of the challenges of both starting up and establishing the business. To be very open and honest, whilst our ambition and belief for what we could achieve through Livity has never wavered or been in question, we did feel tired and a tad beaten up.
Being offered the Coutts & Co Bursary to participate in BGP was a turning point and without it we simply wouldn't have taken that all-important time out of the business to start working 'on the business' (a BGP favourite mantra).
We were incredibly nervous at the thought of going back to school - the last time we had sat in a classroom was when we were 16. How on earth were we going to manage at a University? But from the very first lecture, the first counselling group and the very first dinner, we realised we were in a trusted environment with peers, who, whilst running very different businesses to us, were sharing similar issues, opportunities and situations.
The breadth of learning on BGP is wide, yet completely joins up over the weeks, and to be sitting there learning about 'stuff' you can apply immediately to your own business, was a learning experience like no other. We even enjoyed the homework!
Six months on from Presentation Day, we have our business plan by our side every working day and have achieved so much of what we pledged and planned to address in order to make the business more profitable, with stronger foundations and frameworks and to put ourselves in a situation where we could deliver more positive social benefit for young people - even in such gloomy times. In fact, BGP has set us up to deal with such external and economic gloominess with a renewed and robust set of tools and attitude.
We are in no doubt a far stronger business than before BGP and we're on track to achieve the majority of the ambitious targets we set ourselves by the end of our financial year. And whilst we are busier than ever, what BGP also reminded us and encouraged us to think about was valuing ourselves and our lives outside the business. As a result we've addressed a number of things in the business to ensure that we are leading happy and healthier lives outside work too... something that our partners, families and friends are also appreciating and which probably makes us better leaders at work. Win/Win. Thank you, BGP.
Ben Ramsden, founder Pants to Poverty
I came on BGP with a bursary from Coutts & Co when they suggested that we would benefit from some real hands-on and tailored support for our rapidly-growing business. Now, scarcely one month after Presentation Day, I can safely say that the course is playing a massive role in transforming both my business and my life! Over the past five years we’ve increased turnover by 100% year on year and transitioned from social movement to social business, and are now about to scale our brand onto the high street. Without BGP, I would have the aspiration but not the ability or confidence to make it happen.
From the very first session I felt amongst friends who I could relate to in many ways, despite the fact that very few people understood social enterprise. However, business is business after all – we just do it better! In some ways, it felt like entrepreneurs anonymous, where problems are shared amongst peers and resolved through dynamic exchange, using either the immediately applicable frameworks that the course provides or the no nonsense raw talent of other participants or counsellors. With BGP, you get the theory, the tools, the practice, the support and the networks. Since being on the course, we have completely restructured the business, launched a brand new “Pants Bond” on course to raise £250,000 to finance our growth, are implementing new IT systems with support from another BGP participant and have a dynamic business plan to see us through to becoming the international underwear brand we need to be!
If you want to learn about yourself and your business to make them both stronger and able to co-exist better, and to grow in line with your dreams, then do BGP. If you don’t, then I’d go look for another job. If you can afford it, jump in, if you can’t, then persuade someone else to pay for you!
Tim West, founder of Society Media
I arrived at BGP with a pretty good business: consistent growth, decent profitability, a strong team and some great clients. We deliver marketing and communications for organisations who put social responsibility and social innovation at the centre of their business – so we feel good about what we do as well.
But we had reached a point where we felt stuck, with no clear vision or strategy for where we were heading. With the help of a bursary from Coutts, I was able to take some time on the BGP to work things out.
Cranfield does not offer Alice in Wonderland’s magic ‘eat me’ cake – growth isn’t magic, although heading out to the Bedfordshire countryside every other Friday and Saturday did sometimes feel a bit surreal.
What it does provide is a strong dose of reality, through a powerful elixir of well-honed theories combined with decades of real experience from those who have gone before and - really importantly - from the other businesspeople there learning with you.
I can’t over-emphasise the value of taking yourself out of the daily grind and talking through what drives, excites and worries you with a group of fantastic people who want to help each other to succeed. There’s a healthy amount of bravado, but it’s good fun and the focus is on a dynamic but honest approach to both your business and your personal goals – it has to work for you as a person, for your family and your business.
Thanks to Cranfield, I now have the confidence, courage and clarity to know where we want to go, and a pretty good map for getting there. And I am even more fired up about the potential of a business that makes a profit at the same time as making a difference.
Sally Chalk, Director of Clarion Interpreting Limited
2010 was our year for planning for growth and I spent the Spring and Summer researching training for myself; from EMBAs at Cambridge to MBAs at the Open University. When I found the Business Growth Programme at Cranfield however, I thought that it was just perfect and thanks to a grant from “Beyond 2010” I was able to attend the course. Beyond 2010 provides higher level training support to businesses in the East of England via Essex County Council and the ESF.
As the owner of a small business, most of my days were spent fire-fighting, dealing with customers and staff or trying to plan. Coming onto BGP was like a drink of a long, cool glass of water and one of the most enjoyable experiences of 2010. The presenters were inspiring, incredibly knowledgeable in their subject area and humorous all at the same time. It was also enormously cheering to meet business owners, from all market sectors, coming up against the same issues and grappling with the same challenges and constraints to their businesses as myself.
In terms of what I gained from the course, this can be summed up by three points. Firstly, a complete refresh of my management style and much more confidence in my ability to make decisions. When I was 23 I was iconoclastic, idealistic, worked very rapidly without recourse to weighty systems and procedures and, infinitely excited about the ability to effect change in the provision of traditional services. Thanks to BGP I have regained my freshness and delight in the way that the world works and the fact that I still can, at the age of 44, break a few outmoded rules.
Secondly, I have a beautiful, clear, short business plan that has meant I have significant capital funding to take my vision and company forward through these difficult economic times. I have already sent one of my senior managers on the follow-on course at Cranfield.
Finally, and most importantly, I use the skills and knowledge gained every day at work; whether this is putting our new strategic plan on the wall, making a decision how to reward high- performing teams or deciding to throw away my “to do list” and have the afternoon off.
To summarise, I have nothing but the highest of praise for the course, the leaders and the participants. Thank You.
Michelle Wright, founder and Director of Cause4
Cause4 is just two years old but at a time when the development and fundraising for charities and social enterprises has never been more important, we have grown quickly.
We came to BGP supported by a bursary from Coutts & Co. Our motivation to attend was really two-fold – to make good decisions about growth when lots of new opportunities were presenting themselves and on a personal level to connect with social entrepreneurs and others running their own businesses to get a healthy dose of challenge from peers doing the same thing.
We wanted to focus our strategy and make sure that we were taking on the right projects at an important time for the sector when funding is scarce. Many of our clients present with a fundraising problem, but in actuality the issues holding them back are invariably wrapped up in the way that they operate and in the way that they have developed their programmes. We needed to focus on developing outstanding projects and programmes that could achieve maximum impact for the charities and social enterprises that we represent .
One month after presentation day and with an ambitious and focussed new business plan BGP has really helped us leap-frog to the next stage. We have concentrated our core business in strategy and development on 10 major clients and we have launched a new Philanthropy Service working with sports stars, musicians and artists to develop their own charitable foundations and activity. We have also launched a new website www.cause4opinion.co.uk aimed at being the sector’s voice for critical commentary in the areas of fundraising, philanthropy and social enterprise.
These were all projects that we had been discussing for a while but without Cranfield and the BGP we would probably still be at the discussion stage. BGP gave us time for reflection and the confidence to just go for it.
I’m also really enjoying being part of the BGP network – a degree of healthy challenge from peers is exactly what’s needed to continue to develop your business in the right way. Thanks to Cranfield and Coutts & Co for the opportunity!