Start Your Social Enterprise
The Social Enterprise Guide
A 28-page start-up guide for people setting up a social enterprise or trading venture. After an introduction to what social enterprise is, it has chapters on mission, market, money, social impact, people, sales and marketing, legal structure, the business plan and looking after yourself, ending with a summary. Founders work through it chapter by chapter as they shape their plan.
Keywords
How to cite
Social Enterprise UK (2017). Start Your Social Enterprise: The Social Enterprise Guide. https://ie.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Start-your-social-enterprise-guide-1.pdf
Related in the library
- 15.2C190
Social Enterprises in Asia
An introductory guide to social enterprise published by Kordant Philanthropy Advisors in 2014 and held on IssueLab. It explains what social enterprises are and the main models they use, drawing on examples from Asia. It is for nonprofit leaders and founders in the region who are weighing whether earned income or a social enterprise model fits their mission.
ClassicKey manual or guideFree - 15.2C192
Trustees, trading and tax: how charities may lawfully trade (CC35)
Regulator guidance for charity trustees on selling goods and services. It explains when a charity can trade directly and when it should set up a separate trading subsidiary. It also covers the basic rules on using trading income for charitable purposes and how corporation tax applies to trading profits. Trustees and advisers use it when planning earned income or a charity shop.
ClassicKey online resourceFree - 15.2C193
Business Sustainability Planning and Resource Mobilization Toolkit and Training Curriculum
A toolkit and training curriculum from Pact for local NGOs and civil society groups. It helps organisations plan for financial sustainability, choose a business model suited to their own funding context and mobilise resources beyond donor grants. Capacity builders use the curriculum to run workshops. Organisations use the tools to draft their own sustainability plans. It is free under a Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 licence.
CurrentTool or templateFree - 15.2C194
Getting started on a social enterprise journey
A 7-page guide written by The Bridgespan Group from research with Fòs Feminista and its partners in the global South. It is for nonprofits thinking about earned income. It works through 4 questions: what are your strengths, is there real demand, what mindset shifts are needed, and what capacities and resources are required. A table sets out 5 core capabilities, from financial modelling to getting leaders on the same page.
EmergingShort readFree
Related project ideas
Get expert help with social entrepreneurship and earned income
Consulting and coaching projects built from 600+ real projects. Pick one, add your needs and hear from vetted consultants.
Funding diversification & earned income
“Two funders represent 80% of your income — and you know that's not sustainable, but you don't know how to change it.”See project
Business plan development
“You have a strong idea or growth ambition but every time a funder asks for a business plan, you don't know where to start.”See project
All 15 Fundraising & resource mobilisation project ideas All 11 Strategy & strategic planning project ideas
Work with a consultant or coach
Nonprofit Builder members can browse vetted consultants and coaches who work on social entrepreneurship and earned income, and invite them to a project.
Suggestion box
Something to fix or add here?
Know a better resource on this subject, found a broken link, or spotted a mistake in this record? Tell us.
About C191 Start Your Social Enterprise
A person reads every message. A title, a link or a few words is enough.