Starting a social business
Starting a Social Business

Once you are confident that you have a viable business proposition and the people needed to execute it, you are in a position to start your social business.

The next stage is to begin putting together your business plan. This master plan will outline the structure and governance of your enterprise in clear, concise terms while also showcasing the social purpose or social return as an additional feature.

Your business plan will also include financial projections and proposed options for start-up finance, as well as an outline of how you plan to manage both projects and employee relations.

Once you’ve completed your business plan, you will be ready to run a social business.


In this section:

Social Enterprise Business Plan

Guide to business planning: how to put together a business plan that accurately describes you and your proposed business in detail.

Social Business Structure

Social businesses typically involve more than one person in their governance, so creating a legal structure for your business is an essential step.

Financing a Social Business

Outlining start-up finance requirements and proposed strategy for remaining sufficiently capitalised.

Social Business Employment Relations

Often, relationships with social business employees are more complex. In this section, we look at the best approaches to employment relationships.

Social enterprise project management

Creating a new social business or undertaking change in an existing one requires the effective co-ordination of strategy and implementation.

For a detailed guide to the social business start-up process of a social business, head over to Co-operatives UK’s Simply Start-up.