The social enterprise sector is buzzing with activity. Over 1300 delegates attended the Social Enterprise Exchange in Glasgow, where UK's best social entrepreneurs gathered to debate, exchange ideas and do deals. Skoll World Forum and OxfordJam, are bringing together seasoned social entrepreneurs and a new generation of young entrepreneurs. And Deloitte has just announced its first group of Social Pioneers – a brilliant mix of emerging social businesses ready to hit the big time.
There are challenges but the sector remains lively with focus on new partnerships, different investment models and international collaboration.
It's a perfect time for Impact Arts, the arts organisation I founded in 1994, to look for a new chief executive.
Impact Arts started with an idea, a borrowed computer, and determination to create a business. Social enterprise didn't exist back then, I just thought running a business delivering a social product was the best of both worlds. I started as a sole trader.
We have been around for 18 years now, a national charitable business with creative projects across 12 local authorities, over 40 staff and bases across Scotland. Partnerships with large and small organisations across the country.
Our first project involved Japanese drumming in a Glasgow estate, and this weekend we are running a music festival in the woods of another Glasgow estate doing just that. In between, we have been working with over 4000 people, young and old, every year in a wide range of programmes.
We use interior design as a tenancy sustainment tool in our Fab Pad programme. Craft Café has been developed to combat social isolation with older people. We have created Eco Chic Boutique, a retail training ground for young people which Mary Portas would be proud of, and this month we opened Scotland's first gallery dedicated to children and young people's art.
It's a pretty exciting time to be handing over the reins of Impact Arts. There's lot of change, turmoil even, in the public and social sectors at the moment, with no clear view of how things will improve in the near future. We are subject to the same funding challenges as many other social enterprises and voluntary sector organisations.
However, for every challenge we see opportunity and we think the future is bright. Although public funds are tight, the phone keeps ringing, every day, with people interested in partnering with Impact Arts. This shows the potential we have to survive and grow in challenging times.
As I prepare to work with our next leader on the handover of this very special arts organisation, I've been reflecting on what's changed since 1994. The level of public sector support from central government is remarkable by comparison.
I am excited, not suspicious, about the huge interest the private sector is taking in the social enterprise agenda, and in nurturing social entrepreneurs. I wholeheartedly believe the convergence of the social and private sectors, provided it is done ethically and collaboratively, is a brilliant opportunity to change the world, and we need to grab it with both hands.
After summer, I'll be launching my next social business. What lessons have I learned that I'll be taking into my new venture?
Values are the heart of a business. I'll be establishing them early, sticking to them and using them as the guide for all business decisions, especially recruitment!
I involve "can do" people, and then work as fast and hard as I can with them to achieve results.
I'll put the systems in place for growth at the beginning, so that "scaling up" doesn't become an obstacle. Key dependency on the director is a weakness in any business, especially social ones, and we have all witnessed what can happen when that goes wrong.
Measuring the social change we make at Impact Arts is hugely important, and is a powerful tool when talking to stakeholders. I'll certainly take that discipline forward into the future – it's the only way to tell your story.
It's often said that the best time to start a new business is during a recession. This is the first major recession we have had since the social enterprise movement came into being, and while things are incredibly tough for all social enterprises, I believe the time is perfect for a new era of social entrepreneurs.
Susan Aktemel is a non-executive director at Scottish Social Enterprise Coalition
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