While I have been so busy with the day job, I thought it would be nice to show what I've been up to. A brief report on the support I have delivered during the first year of Olmec's Step Ahead programme can be seen by following the link below. I am particularly pleased with the feedback and some of the comments on the support I provided, especially this one:
"Our advisor has a huge wealth of experience, very approachable and very helpful”. That's me that is!
http://www.olmec-ec.org.uk/main.cfm?type=YEAR1STEPAHEADREPO&objectid=2774
Saturday, 12 May 2012
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Holiday in Co-opia: A spot of Co-op tourism
No, I'm not talking about buying a holiday from your caring, sharing co-op, but some "co-op spotting" from a recent holiday. In March we were in the USA and whilst in Philadelphia, decided to check out Mariposa Food Co-op.
Mariposa Food Co-op is a consumer co-operative (i.e. its members who democratically own and control it are its customers) and serves people in its local West Philadelphia community with organic produce, wholefoods and vegetarian/vegan specialities (the reason we were there!). When we visited it had moved from a small shopfront into what had previously been a bank 100 yards down the road – the banners from the grand opening a week previously were still at the front door! As if the building itself wasn't impressive enough, inside we found an airy, well stocked grocery with plenty to tempt us. And staff who were immediately helpful, knowledgeable and good humoured when we couldn't find what we wanted. It might sound a bit cheesy, but clearly the people who work at this co-op are happy to be there!
On reaching the checkout, my partner jokingly responded to the obligatory “Is there anything else we can help you with?” with “You could open one of these in Southampton in the UK”. The cashier's immediate response was “I'm sorry, we can't do that but I can provide you with information about how you could set one up yourself”. What a result!
Here we were in the UN Year of the Co-operative and without so much as a blink of an eyelid, a worker at a co-op had offered us help setting up a new co-op. That, my friends, is the 5th Co-operative principle (Education, Training and Information) put into practice.
I quickly explained that I help people establish and develop co-ops for a living but took the opportunity to ask a couple of questions. Most of what I need to know was on the well populated (but not cluttered) notice board. Member education and recruitment of members from customers is clearly a priority. Membership of this co-op is ACTIVELY open and voluntary. (1st principle).
In a 1 minute conversation (we were holding up the queue....) I learned some really interesting stuff about this co-op:
Following our visit I was so enthused that I would not stop talking about it, hence this blog. I want to share what I found so exciting. Here is a co-op that shouts it loud and puts the principles into action as a primary means of functioning but isn't afraid to admit it could be better.
Size and growth issues
One thing that really interested me was the comment about growth and size as it challenges the orthodox approach to business growth. If a co-operative has grown to the extent that its size hampers its ability to meet its members needs it could be rightly argued to be failing in both its commercial and social objectives. All co-operatives and social enterprises should consider what their optimum size is. Most people understand that increasing turnover/customers/delivery staff can bring economies of scale and spread the costs of overheads and management. However, there is often a stage of growth at which the overheads and management systems have had to radically change to support the business and it becomes less efficient again, until it grows to the next optimum size. The inefficiencies being spread across a larger scale can be amplified and the margin for error becomes more critical. Will your enterprise get to this second optimum size? More than likely only if there is a plan in place. Should you consider a different approach? Perhaps the creation of clusters? Or a federal structure ro service co-operative providing central functions which creates new sister co-ops rather than one monolithic beast? (Yes, I know a monolith is stone so it can't be a beast...poetic licence in operation here).
Later in the same day we made a trek to the truly excellent Grindcore House in South Philly. I believe they are a co-op, but it was so busy (queuing out the door!) that we didn't have time to chat. They are a totally vegan coffee house that does excellent food and hosts meetings for various co-ops and community groups. But that isn't what caught my eye. No, it was this fella in the picture from Pedal Co-op. We spotted a trailer connected to the back of a bike, strapped up with 3 wheelie bins emblazoned with "Pedal Co-op" whizzing past as we ordered our coffee. When we were sat outside enjoying lunch it reappeared and the rider proceeded to load up all the waste from the coffee shop. On investigation it turns out that Pedal Co-op run a refuse and recycling business using pedal power rather than trucks. So, reduced carbon footprint and reduced running costs (bikes are A LOT cheaper to run than trucks!). Additionally they direct all compostable waste to community gardens which is a win-win-win situation: extra compost for the community garden, less landfill, reduced storage need for the co-op. What a truly inspirational idea. This sort of true entrepreneurialism and diversity is what I love about the co-op and social enterprise sector and why I became involved in the first place. Again, don't take my word for it, check out their website: www.pedalcoop.org
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| Impressive building outside |
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| Impressive co-op: well stocked and well staffed |
Here we were in the UN Year of the Co-operative and without so much as a blink of an eyelid, a worker at a co-op had offered us help setting up a new co-op. That, my friends, is the 5th Co-operative principle (Education, Training and Information) put into practice.
I quickly explained that I help people establish and develop co-ops for a living but took the opportunity to ask a couple of questions. Most of what I need to know was on the well populated (but not cluttered) notice board. Member education and recruitment of members from customers is clearly a priority. Membership of this co-op is ACTIVELY open and voluntary. (1st principle).
In a 1 minute conversation (we were holding up the queue....) I learned some really interesting stuff about this co-op:
- There is a tension between the old and new communities as the area is currently subjected to gentrification (the house turned into a pirate ship with countless water butts was probably the old rather than the new)
- They had opened up the shop to the whole community to move into the larger store. From this I took it that they had previously been fully mutual (only members being able to use its services) and decided to move to a more open model.
- The produce held by the co-op had changed as a result. For example, they had just started selling meat. On the one hand I like the fact that they respond to member needs, but on the other hand I was left wondering if the co-op was drifting away from its original purpose.
- As a result of their large size they cannot now pay attention to meet the diverse needs of the many local communities. My take on this is that what started as providing to the niche needs of a particular group or groups in the community has become an open market provider and had to adopt more of a one-size-fits-all where those who buy in small quantities are no longer visible enough to get their needs met. To paraphrase a famous US citizen: “You can't please all the people all the time”, or at least not when you reach a certain size.
- The cashier's analysis on the change of size was that lots of small co-ops might have been a better way to approach growth which I found both refreshing and fascinating (see below).
- Members of the co-op who work shifts once a month obtain a 10% discount on their grocery bill. This is a model used widely in the US and adopted by some UK co-ops (The People's Supermarket being the most famous). Not only does this provide the working capital in member time (3rd principle, Member Economic Participation) but it also generates a direct member benefit while simultaneously.
- In addition they have 19 paid staff, recruited from members.
- 3 of the 4 staff working in the store while we were there were African Americans which would please my colleagues at Olmec Co-operative CIC trying to bring more diversity to UK Co-ops through their Co-operative Diversity Action programme.
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| Most UK buying co-ops would be chuffed to have what Mariposa left behind! |
Following our visit I was so enthused that I would not stop talking about it, hence this blog. I want to share what I found so exciting. Here is a co-op that shouts it loud and puts the principles into action as a primary means of functioning but isn't afraid to admit it could be better.
Size and growth issues
One thing that really interested me was the comment about growth and size as it challenges the orthodox approach to business growth. If a co-operative has grown to the extent that its size hampers its ability to meet its members needs it could be rightly argued to be failing in both its commercial and social objectives. All co-operatives and social enterprises should consider what their optimum size is. Most people understand that increasing turnover/customers/delivery staff can bring economies of scale and spread the costs of overheads and management. However, there is often a stage of growth at which the overheads and management systems have had to radically change to support the business and it becomes less efficient again, until it grows to the next optimum size. The inefficiencies being spread across a larger scale can be amplified and the margin for error becomes more critical. Will your enterprise get to this second optimum size? More than likely only if there is a plan in place. Should you consider a different approach? Perhaps the creation of clusters? Or a federal structure ro service co-operative providing central functions which creates new sister co-ops rather than one monolithic beast? (Yes, I know a monolith is stone so it can't be a beast...poetic licence in operation here).
 |
| Pedal Co-op - could you get any more eco-friendly? |
Later in the same day we made a trek to the truly excellent Grindcore House in South Philly. I believe they are a co-op, but it was so busy (queuing out the door!) that we didn't have time to chat. They are a totally vegan coffee house that does excellent food and hosts meetings for various co-ops and community groups. But that isn't what caught my eye. No, it was this fella in the picture from Pedal Co-op. We spotted a trailer connected to the back of a bike, strapped up with 3 wheelie bins emblazoned with "Pedal Co-op" whizzing past as we ordered our coffee. When we were sat outside enjoying lunch it reappeared and the rider proceeded to load up all the waste from the coffee shop. On investigation it turns out that Pedal Co-op run a refuse and recycling business using pedal power rather than trucks. So, reduced carbon footprint and reduced running costs (bikes are A LOT cheaper to run than trucks!). Additionally they direct all compostable waste to community gardens which is a win-win-win situation: extra compost for the community garden, less landfill, reduced storage need for the co-op. What a truly inspirational idea. This sort of true entrepreneurialism and diversity is what I love about the co-op and social enterprise sector and why I became involved in the first place. Again, don't take my word for it, check out their website: www.pedalcoop.org
Saturday, 3 March 2012
How to market your Social Enterprise's goods and services
On Thurs 1 March I was one of the panel of "experts" leading a discussion about marketing for Social Enterprises as part of the Guardian Social Enterprise Network Live Q&A series.
Some really interesting insights available, and all for free. I would recommend spending 10 minutes browsing through it.
https://socialenterprise.guardian.co.uk/en/articles/social-enterprise-network/2012/feb/22/how-to-market-products-services
Some really interesting insights available, and all for free. I would recommend spending 10 minutes browsing through it.
https://socialenterprise.guardian.co.uk/en/articles/social-enterprise-network/2012/feb/22/how-to-market-products-services
Monday, 27 February 2012
Dragon or Enabler, what is our role?
I've just taken part in a quick Twitter poll from Co-operatives UK https://twitter.com/#!/CooperativesUK regarding who I would vote for if there were "Co-operative Oscars". One of the "nominees" was Whomadeyourpants, a worker co-op from Southampton. I did a bit of work with them at the start of their journey which made me reflect on the role of a Social Enterprise advisor.
It'll never work
Other Social Enterprise advisors had been told about the WMYP business idea and told the founder the classic "It will never work". They listened to the vision, the likely market gap and the clear social benefit potential in the idea and dismissed it. From the outset the founder was clear she wanted the business to be a worker co-operative and so luckily she was referred to me. I have to admit I am no expert on a) women's underwear, b) the fashion industry, c) developing employment for refugees. However, I do understand co-ops so I said "Yes, it COULD work if you put these things in place, and get a group of people together - because you can't be a co-operative of one". So the founder went away and did the market research, researched production techniques, worked out production space and equipment required, issues affecting refugee women and employment and we worked up a plan for how it would develop from a pre-start through start-up stage and then identified what resources were required. This business support was supported by the Co-operative Group in what was a precursor for their successful Co-operative Enterprise Hub. At any point she could have looked at the research or the considerable commitment required and decided "No, this won't work", she could have found that no-one else believed in the business, but she proved those other advisors wrong.
It did work
WMYP are now making a huge splash and although it is many years since I have worked with them, I know that finding the right sort of advisor who said "Yes, but if you sort the following issues out" may have made the difference as to whether this successful co-operative social enterprise was established.
What is the advisor role?
So, reflecting on this, what is the role of the Social Enterprise Advisor? To act like one of those self important "Dragons" from that comedic BBC TV show? (Top tip: real business isn't like that!) Is your job/role as a Social Enterprise to tell people how to run their business or to enable them to make the right decisions to run their business? A subtle but wholesale difference. Should you start from the point of scaring people away or taking on the mantle of encouraging people to explore, understand adapt and make the dreams happen? On the other hand if the client's business idea will never work do we have a duty to tell them? Clearly, but maybe it's a question of how we go about this. In cases where there is not business, my experience has led me to believe that an unqualified opinion (i.e. you don't explain why it won't work) is ignored and dismissed whereas making them confront themselves with the reality that the financial model won't stack up or that nobody will pay - so there are no customers - is more likely to make them pay attention. They make the decision not the advisor. Who says an advisor knows best anyway?
If you are an advisor, should you tell them "no" or should you empower them with the means with which to make an informed choice of "no" - or alternatively "yes, if I can just get the following resources or people in place". Do we decide or do we enable?
And all that from an innocent Twitter post about some fictional "Co-operative Oscars"....
It'll never work
Other Social Enterprise advisors had been told about the WMYP business idea and told the founder the classic "It will never work". They listened to the vision, the likely market gap and the clear social benefit potential in the idea and dismissed it. From the outset the founder was clear she wanted the business to be a worker co-operative and so luckily she was referred to me. I have to admit I am no expert on a) women's underwear, b) the fashion industry, c) developing employment for refugees. However, I do understand co-ops so I said "Yes, it COULD work if you put these things in place, and get a group of people together - because you can't be a co-operative of one". So the founder went away and did the market research, researched production techniques, worked out production space and equipment required, issues affecting refugee women and employment and we worked up a plan for how it would develop from a pre-start through start-up stage and then identified what resources were required. This business support was supported by the Co-operative Group in what was a precursor for their successful Co-operative Enterprise Hub. At any point she could have looked at the research or the considerable commitment required and decided "No, this won't work", she could have found that no-one else believed in the business, but she proved those other advisors wrong.
It did work
WMYP are now making a huge splash and although it is many years since I have worked with them, I know that finding the right sort of advisor who said "Yes, but if you sort the following issues out" may have made the difference as to whether this successful co-operative social enterprise was established.
What is the advisor role?
So, reflecting on this, what is the role of the Social Enterprise Advisor? To act like one of those self important "Dragons" from that comedic BBC TV show? (Top tip: real business isn't like that!) Is your job/role as a Social Enterprise to tell people how to run their business or to enable them to make the right decisions to run their business? A subtle but wholesale difference. Should you start from the point of scaring people away or taking on the mantle of encouraging people to explore, understand adapt and make the dreams happen? On the other hand if the client's business idea will never work do we have a duty to tell them? Clearly, but maybe it's a question of how we go about this. In cases where there is not business, my experience has led me to believe that an unqualified opinion (i.e. you don't explain why it won't work) is ignored and dismissed whereas making them confront themselves with the reality that the financial model won't stack up or that nobody will pay - so there are no customers - is more likely to make them pay attention. They make the decision not the advisor. Who says an advisor knows best anyway?
If you are an advisor, should you tell them "no" or should you empower them with the means with which to make an informed choice of "no" - or alternatively "yes, if I can just get the following resources or people in place". Do we decide or do we enable?
And all that from an innocent Twitter post about some fictional "Co-operative Oscars"....
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Speaking at SECC conference 9 June
Update: video from the event added Feb 2012
SECC from Shedlight on Vimeo.
I am speaking about my experience of working on the South East Coastal Communities project focussed on social enterprise development for users of Personal Budgets at their dissemniation conference on 9 June.
SECC from Shedlight on Vimeo.
I am speaking about my experience of working on the South East Coastal Communities project focussed on social enterprise development for users of Personal Budgets at their dissemniation conference on 9 June.
My focus will be to look at tools and approaches that did or can work with people wanting to set up a social enterprise focussed on health & wellbeing.
It will be nice to work with the team again, as they are a great bunch of people, and well worth taking a day off work for!
More info here: http://www.socialenterprisefoundation.org.uk/index.php?id=39&tx_seminars_pi1[showUid]=1
Friday, 10 February 2012
the price of everything and the value of nothing?
SROI is a great tool but if it is used when an organisation isn't ready it could spell disaster.
The famous Oscar Wilde quote above comes to mind when looking at the rapid adoption of Social Return On Investment. SROI is a great tool for displaying value if you work in a field such as employment support, business support or homelessness where there is a direct monetary value in what you do or plenty of evidence of the savings achieved that you can use as "proxies". But what if your results provide social impact that does not generate a saving for the public purse or create income for a community? Is the difference those Social Enterprises make somehow less important?
Some social enterprises I have worked with deliver real value to their beneficiaries or community yet the work involved in trying to monetise the impact would bankrupt organisations that are struggling to survive. Proxies i.e. exising research or work that establishes an accepted average (for example, the amount it typically costs the government to get someone into work) are a means of saving your organisation from time intensive or costly work that would have to be repeated each time a piece of work is delivered but, again, some organisations deliver outcomes for which no proxies exist.
I fear that there is a danger in the drive toward SROI that Social Enterprises that can easily monetise the outcomes or impacts of their work will be deemed as providing more "value" than those whose impact is less tangible. Is the Social Enterprise train heading into a landscape where only monetary value matters? Isn't this why we created an alternative economy in the first place, because the "non-profitable" activities that create a sense of place, of wellbeing and of humanity matter just as much as those that generate fiscal wealth?
When considering Social Impact it is important that we remember to include those measures that are not easily monetised so we do not lose the real value.
So, Social Enterprise members and managers, what is the point of this rant?
What is clear is that you will need to engage with the idea of Social Return on Investment if your social impact is your product, or if you want to justify your existence to certain stakeholders. My advice is that before you enter into the SROI process you double check what is important to your organisation. What are your aims and objectives? What would success look like to you? You can always measure both internal success and SROI measures for external parties - stakeholders, customers, whoever. Get your own strategic goals in place before you start SROI. But if you fail to understand what is important to you, there is a risk you could become SROI led in the way that some of the third sector became funding led and suffered mission drift in the past.
Along with the Wilde quote, I also find this Cree proverb relevant. I will leave you to interpret it how you see fit: "Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money".
If you are embarking on an SROI or social impact measurement process and you need consultancy, training or support, get in touch. I charge reasonable rates and have 8 years direct experience of developing social impact measures.
The famous Oscar Wilde quote above comes to mind when looking at the rapid adoption of Social Return On Investment. SROI is a great tool for displaying value if you work in a field such as employment support, business support or homelessness where there is a direct monetary value in what you do or plenty of evidence of the savings achieved that you can use as "proxies". But what if your results provide social impact that does not generate a saving for the public purse or create income for a community? Is the difference those Social Enterprises make somehow less important?
Some social enterprises I have worked with deliver real value to their beneficiaries or community yet the work involved in trying to monetise the impact would bankrupt organisations that are struggling to survive. Proxies i.e. exising research or work that establishes an accepted average (for example, the amount it typically costs the government to get someone into work) are a means of saving your organisation from time intensive or costly work that would have to be repeated each time a piece of work is delivered but, again, some organisations deliver outcomes for which no proxies exist.
I fear that there is a danger in the drive toward SROI that Social Enterprises that can easily monetise the outcomes or impacts of their work will be deemed as providing more "value" than those whose impact is less tangible. Is the Social Enterprise train heading into a landscape where only monetary value matters? Isn't this why we created an alternative economy in the first place, because the "non-profitable" activities that create a sense of place, of wellbeing and of humanity matter just as much as those that generate fiscal wealth?
When considering Social Impact it is important that we remember to include those measures that are not easily monetised so we do not lose the real value.
So, Social Enterprise members and managers, what is the point of this rant?
Along with the Wilde quote, I also find this Cree proverb relevant. I will leave you to interpret it how you see fit: "Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money".
If you are embarking on an SROI or social impact measurement process and you need consultancy, training or support, get in touch. I charge reasonable rates and have 8 years direct experience of developing social impact measures.
Monday, 14 February 2011
New ethical grocery for Southampton
Always one for getting myself into trouble (!!!), on top of the day job at Olmec, I am working with a group of committed activists who want to establish an ethical, meat-free grocery in Southampton. More than just a health food shop, and the founding group being highly committed, the idea excited me enough for me to offer my input to help them make it happen. Not an earner as such but a great way for me to put my skills into practice to benefit my wider community!
More to follow.....
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