 Hi everyone, I've just finished emceeing a conference on social enterprise here at Woodkey in Dublin It's a gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous venue for a start But I wanted to record this video because there's a lot of learnings that I felt came out of the conversation for a start but secondly they really do transfer to all sorts of Enterprise and the two key panel discussions were focusing on achieving real social impact and developing social enterprise space Now we ran a mentor meter and we asked the audience a range of questions and one of them is how do you feel most misunderstood? And the key thing that stood out is people were just saying how we can often think that social enterprise is not for profit And that's not necessarily in the case in some instances. It's not at all at all at all the case So when it comes to social enterprise, there's a definition first there's criteria for it and there's a policy first in Ireland the policy came about in 2019 and I always think in Any type of conversation that I'm moderating if it's a conference that I'm emceeing in any type of an interview that I'm having I always try to ask the question and get the answers to who isn't in the room What question isn't being asked and what is the silent barrier? And it's all of those insights that I wanted to bring to you today So let me sit down here now with you and I'll bring you through the key things that came out of the discussion First of all social enterprise one of the speakers said is enterprise for the common good It's what we need to do in all aspects of business is be able to tell stories because the depth of the impact of social enterprise are indeed again lots of enterprises isn't easy to convey with a number and Also, we need to be clear on outcomes and whether they're being achieved And again, this is what struck me is that whether that is in social enterprise or traditional enterprise that really is the case Now another speaker and by the way, all the speakers are tagged in this is Four questions. What would a curiosity strategy look like if curiosity was a value of your organization? What is the entrepreneurial drive that you have in order to make whatever you want to happen? How can you develop your sustainability policy and not just a policy that sits in a drawer and gathers dust But that can drive decision-making within your company and how do you make it visual? How can people really understand what it is that you're trying to do? Now on from there then there was the next part of the conversation was Focusing on procurement is that a lot of us can use our procurement our supply chain how we purchase to Effect social change or environmental change, etc so she was particularly saying the contracts need to embed social clauses and Website where we can find social enterprises is by social.ie again. I've tagged that in this post as well That also we need to look to our own supply chains and be very critical of them from the point of view of the impact that they're Respectively having and of course where we put our money is also what can have its own respective impact now? Another speaker spoke about the fact that in any case But particularly when you're looking at the social side of enterprise is that there needs to be respect for the people that you're Dealing with and that it shouldn't just be about imposing solutions except the individual and work at their pace now That context was perhaps it is dealing with people who are previous offenders Perhaps it may be people who come from a different socio-economic background Perhaps it could be somebody with disability perhaps it could be somebody from a cultural differently different place But one can't assume that one has the right answer or the right solution without meeting the individual where they're at He particularly said ideas are great But sometimes the delivery is wrong and there can be the lack of continuity over support He also said that sometimes what the public wants and what the person needs are two different things the public might want a Strong tough approach for example again, particularly in the context. Let's say of offenders who find themselves in jail Whereas instead what the person needs Given the fact that they may come from a background of addiction or a Family background of intergenerational unemployment or would have grown up in very tough circumstances is what that person needs is is kindness He said there is absolutely no substitute for kindness and the people who deal at the front line with the social side again Of enterprise there it can be extraordinary human beings There is a lot of burnout that happens in that area and we need to take care of them So in that context of the human might need something different to what the public May want and that is its understanding in building the bridge in between the two Now when I asked the question about who's not at the table one person also said then that investors are missing from the social enterprise table is Understanding the language of return and investment from a social enterprise point of view That is what is really important and for social enterprises or enterprises with who are socially entrepreneurally minded Also need to be able to have that conversation with them so that that can be factored into the equation as well She also said that it's important that we look to the long term and that we look to hybrid models of finance And then the last part of that conversation focused on again measuring real social impact And the question was brought up about if somebody feels fulfilled or if somebody goes has a dramatic increase in their self-worth For example, if they have a lot more skills that can subsequently become become employable How to measure that and and what's more is that the more effort you put into measuring that and telling that story the less Can then be put into actually making that impact happen Of course Then you can also say but if the story isn't told and if the measurement doesn't happen Well, then how can you engage the funders or the people who would be buying from those social enterprises again? And that's that's a tough question that I'm not sure there is an answer to but a constant effort going into it When I asked the question who is not no I asked the question What is the silent barrier to all of this like what is the silent barrier that prevents progress in this area happening? The answer was inequality in its infancy So whether that could be poverty and social inclusion and does social enterprise react to problems that are being made or Is is the root cause being addressed whether that would be through any sector whether it's private enterprise social policy whether it's government whether it is charity and They could the conversation here said there's almost certainly people being born into a reality today that will hold them back That won't let them reach the potential and the lack of support and intervention at the right time Then means that there is a need for that social and social enterprise then to have the impact then later on now We went from there then into a conversation around developing the space So the we start off by determining like what is the space? What is developing the space etc? and I wanted to first of all point out the fact that there was data being released tomorrow in Ireland and the the panel discussion Evolved to where they were saying like how has there not been this data released already, but and the questions that need to be addressed in This is where is social enterprise happening? What is the income level? What is the employment level what what areas of the country have the most what is the opportunities for growth? What is being measured and if it's if it's getting in then to? Policy well then policy needs to lead to a deliverable and what is that deliverable and how is that respectively measured etc? So she said there's lots of gray areas and but by having this data in the first place It gives a measure of what success could be and then to identify a plan towards getting there now speaking of measurement though it was also interesting then to hear about from an EU point of view is that there is a moving target, but where the EU wants to get to is towards 10 to 12% of GDP and Some countries are there already like France But the if the EU target is a 10% the challenge for Ireland is how to get there in a leaner fairer more sustainable way We also heard from a range of practitioners CEOs of of social enterprise etc And like I say everyone has mentioned in the post up here I just I'm not mentioning all the names because there was 12 people that I interviewed and it would Take up loads of time to tell you exactly who they all are But one of them then said what they wanted was an intern body to stand in between Themselves and another party who couldn't take the risk on a social enterprise And also a place for professional services to be tailored for housed in an accessible for social enterprises Like HR accounting governance etc. So that the social entrepreneurs have a place to go in order to access these services in In an environment where the people that they're accessing from are Understanding of the different challenges that they face and to make them accessible for them as well Now in addition what also came up there is how Social enterprise does make a difference to our society broadly if you were to never engage with it directly How does it benefit us indirectly? So they talked about the fact that it promotes democracy social justice as the sustainable development goals Reduces inequality and presents an alternative economic model that can help all of the above They did indeed talk about the fact that there is never enough funding for social enterprises But again again again again again the conversation also looped around the fact that there needs to be a focus on the enterprise of Social enterprise as well and that social entrepreneurs face many of the same challenges as entrepreneurs with an extra layer on top So there needs to be a focus as well on how to help social entrepreneurs develop their traded income So how did they develop the enterprise of social enterprise? They also there's an OECD report coming out in the summer And there's going to be a new policy in Ireland out in October November as well In addition, there was a focus as well Looking at the specific challenges of the social entrepreneur like what about the exit strategy? What about the sustainability for much bigger projects are Longer funding how to scale up a social and on enterprise And but also if they can spend things like money on taking staff out for lunch to reward them for putting in an extra effort or Buying flowers for volunteers things like that is that there can be a question over how that money was spent then because it's a social enterprise Where it wouldn't be if it was an enterprise as well as the legal structures that come with it and the commitment of directors An absolute whistle stop tour such a brilliant brief to work on Thank you so much indeed to Oakfield Trust for giving me the opportunity to work with you on this