What does it take to be a fit social business?
Running a business is a hugely demanding task – make it a social business and not only do you need to stay strong and sustainable from a financial perspective, but you have to deliver on your mission too.
In this second episode of our Fit for the Future video & podcast series – forming part of our collection in partnership with Buzzacott accountants – Pioneers Post's Tim West hears from Buzzacott's Eddie Finch and Toast Ale's Louisa Ziane about what being a 'fit social business' actually means.
Listen below:
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Like our own wellbeing, explains Finch, some of it's to do with the organisation itself and how it is able to respond to the challenges thrown at it; other aspects are more mechanical, such as having enough cash in the business, getting investment to grow, and ensuring you have enough of the right information to help you address issues and improve.
Fitness for social enterprises, says Ziane, is like fitness for any other business – the only difference being the way profits are used for social good. "We still have that incentive to maximise profits so we can support our charitable partners," she adds. This means ensuring that the business is run efficiently, ensuring that supplies coming into the business are competitively priced as well as ethically sourced, and that the price at which they sell their craft beer is also competitive, although increasingly people are "willing to pay some premium for the social benefit"...
Watch the video above to learn more.
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