What is a Social Enterprise? 
A social enterprise is a business that trades for a social and/or environmental purpose. It will have a clear sense of its social aim – what difference it is trying to make, who it aims to help, and how it plans to do it. Unlike a traditional business which focuses on making profits for its shareholders, a social enterprise uses business practices to achieve socially positive goals; most often the enterprise still makes a profit, but would responsibly reinvest it back into the company’s social aims. They can be both community interest companies, have charitable status or be a community benefit society or credit union.
Most of its income will be made through selling goods or services and it will have clear rules about what it does with its profits, reinvesting these to achieve its social aims.
Social enterprises are innovative, independent businesses that exist to deliver a specific social and/or environmental mission. Their profits are reinvested in their mission. Social enterprise is a dynamic, ethical and more sustainable way of doing business. There are more than 6,000 social enterprises in Scotland, generating more than £2.3 billion for Scotland’s economy, and supporting more than 88,000 jobs.
What We Do
VSGWL supports your social enterprise creation or development by helping you to:
- Understand the basic principles
- Decide on the best structure, get set up and start operating
- Examine whether your group could operate as a social enterprise
- Make plans which underpin best practice, sustainability and getting results
- Provide funding information and other news through our website and social media channels
- Host networking events that align to Social Enterprise organisations and people
- Provide Local Authorities, NHS procurement & Community Benefits support
- VSGWL draws on a lot of help from other local and national delivery partners for Social Enterprise support
Funding
Find funding for your group, project or social enterprise using our free funding finder tool. Updated fortnightly from small grants to big projects, we can help you track down the funding you need to make a difference in your community.
Governance
Whether you are just getting started and looking for some information on that first step, or thinking about the future and growing and developing your organisation, or perhaps even dissolving an existing organisation, the Information Resource kit is a great place to start. There are 7 information sections; each with several sub-sections with PDF fact sheets available for download.
Resources
VSGWL Resource Bank provides access to templates, guides, weblinks and contact details to support your organisation.
Links
Business Gateway
Start up and growth help is available for any local company – this includes social enterprises. VSGWL works closely with Business Gateway West Lothian. They offer support, information and training on a wide range of areas
https://www.bgateway.com/local-offices/west-lothian/local-support
Community Enterprise
Start up and growth help is available for any local company – this includes social enterprises. VSGWL works closely with Business Gateway West Lothian. They offer support, information and training on a wide range of areas
https://www.bgateway.com/local-offices/west-lothian/local-support
Social Enterprise Scotland
Social Enterprise Scotland is the collective and campaigning voice of social enterprise, and provides access to Scotland’s social enterprise community. They are an independent membership led organisation that works to raise the profile of social enterprise, and represent members’ interests at a national policy level. They work to bring together all the relevant information and different aspects of the social enterprise com.
https://socialenterprise.scot/
Social Enterprise Academy
Since 2004, the Social Enterprise Academy has been providing learning and development opportunities for people and organisations enabling social change in Scotland and more recently the rest of the UK as well. Using social franchising and impact partnerships, they offer learning programmes in communities worldwide. Their work internationally supports the mutual exchange of global best practice in leadership and social entrepreneurship.
https://socialenterprise.academy/scotland-and-uk/
Other Useful links
https://www.gov.scot/policies/third-sector/social-enterprises/
https://www.mygov.scot/social-enterprise
https://www.the-sse.org/schools/scotland/
