The Snapping Dog of Recession Is Good News for Mentors

Over the last three months, searches for mentoring, support and advice have increased by 116%, according to business directory Yell.com.  (Source)
The worrying thing about this is that so many people leave it until the snapping dog of recession is snapping at their heels to seek support.  Often by then it is just too late to [...]

Economic Gardening or Economic Hunting?

Economic Gardening and Economic Hunting are two very different approaches to developing an enterprise culture.
An economic gardening approach sets out to create jobs and entrepreneurial activity by investing in local people and their talents, cultures, passions and skills.  It as an endogenous “arising from within” approach to community and economic development.  The starting point for [...]

In the business of hope

Our work with enterprise clients is usually about helping them to make and take a decision to change some aspect of:

what they do,
how they think,
how they run their business or
their business plans.

In essence we are helping them to take decisions that are ‘hopeful’. The decisions, if acted upon, hold the potential (not guaranteed) to make things better.
‘Hope’ [...]

How to Transform a Culture – some important clues

NB  There is not a transformation plan in sight!

This is a video – but works with or without speakers as it is subtitled.
Comments welcome!

Are You Playing Enterprise Pinball or Contract Bridge?

I get to observe and work with a lot of programmes designed to promote an enterprise culture.  Broadly speaking they fall into two types – the pinball machine and contract bridge table.
In Enterprise Pinball there is a glittering array of products and services, buzzers and bells, many of which come with a bouncy castle, a [...]

Really Social Enterprise…

Two stories have really hit me in the last 12 months about the nature of real social enterprise in the UK.
The first was told to me by the people of Kintyre about the herring fishermen of Carradale.  Apparently when the herring boats went out, finding the schoals of fish was a pretty hit and miss [...]

Entrepreneurship as survival?

“Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that’s exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking.” – Anita Roddick

The Fallacy of Social Enterprise?

Can anyone show me a business that is NOT ’social’?
One that pays no-ones wages; that provides no-one with identity and respect?
That meets no customer needs?
That creates nothing that is valued by anyone?
One that does nothing socially useful with any of its profits?
It is nothing to do with legal structures, where profits go or being part [...]

Conviviality Counts!

The very best community based enterprise centres are usually described as convivial – friendly, agreeable and welcoming. That is convivial to the people whom the centre has been set up to serve – who need to feel relaxed and at home in the space.
My favourite local example of this is perhaps the Marjorie [...]

Sharing the Success Film

This film is designed to provide information to partners about the Leeds LEGI programme – Sharing the Success.
It is not primarily aimed at client recruitment.
I would be interested to hear your thoughts….