The fourth iteration of the Just Enterprise programme was officially launched last month, thanks to Scottish Government funding.
Over the next 4 years, Just Enterprise (a partnership of 12 Scottish social enterprise support organisations) aims to help the social enterprise sector build financial resilience and grow, through delivering tailored support and learning opportunities to social enterprises and enterprising charities in Scotland.
What is Just Enterprise?
Funded by Scottish Government and delivered by a consortium of third sector partners led by CEIS Group, the Just Enterprise programme is designed to provide a programme of free tailored business support and resources, including advice, workshops, leadership development and one-to-one coaching
Since its inception in 2011, the programme has supported nearly 8,000 organisations and over 11,000 individuals across all local authorities in Scotland. In addition to one to one support for social enterprises at any stage of their journey, Just Enterprise delivers a comprehensive programme of workshops, covering subjects from how to start your enterprise, to governance, finance, marketing, leadership skills, and measuring social impact, amongst others.
In recent years, workshop topics have been expanded to include those covering funding, investment, and strategic planning; in addition, a suite of e-learning options has been developed to increase the accessibility of the training available.
The majority of Just Enterprise’s support and training is entirely free to access for qualifying organisations.
Consortium Partners
The 2023-27 Just Enterprise programme will be fulfilled by:
- CEIS
- CEMVO Scotland
- Community Enterprise
- Firstport
- Impact Hub Inverness
- Inspiralba
- Inspirent (formerly LESL)
- SEI UK
- Social Enterprise Academy
- Social Investment Scotland
- Social Value Lab
- The Circle
What’s New for Just Enterprise 4?
The new programme has been further expanded to cover key areas of Scottish Government’s Social Enterprise Action Plan, such as guidance on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Net Zero.
Services will pay particular attention to sustainability as well as equality, diversity and inclusion, reflecting some of the key challenges facing the third sector. This includes promoting the recently-developed net zero scorecard, which organisations can use to highlight areas for improvement, set out next steps, and pinpoint additional funding sources.
There will also be increased targeted support for those facing additional barriers due to disability, race or socio-economic factors, and a focus on producing more digital and interactive content, in line with changing audience preferences, and making sure that all content is as accessible as possible.
Additional advice will cover topics such as how to start your own enterprise, leadership skills, marketing, measuring social impact, and attracting investment. Consortium partners will also work to ensure that workshops and the support provided remain relevant to social enterprises in Scotland, covering any new issues or developments as required.
Further Information
For further information on the 2023-27 Just Enterprise programme, please visit the Just Enterprise website.
