Social Enterprise

Social entrepreneurs require differentiated support to that of commercial businesses, as their ethos, approach and processes operate in a slightly different way. The Social Pioneer programme is therefore a specialist programme for leaders of social entrepreneurs to address areas specific to this target group.  In addition to the main programme we also run the Social Pioneer Academy for young emerging social entrepreneur leaders.

Our Service

The Social Pioneer programme provides leadership coaching and training in the following areas:-

• Evaluation & Monitoring
• Values and Ethics
• Team Management
• Fundraising and Revenue Models
• Cause Related Marketing

Our specialist team help a social entrepreneur to balance the triple bottom line of their business, through looking at ways to maximise social and environmental impact as well as economic return to achieve sustainability.

Our Clients

We work with individuals in their community who want to make a real difference through establishing and growing their own social enterprise to address a cause. These individuals can be community champions, professionals, unemployed or young people who see an opportunity.  We support emerging talent through our Social Pioneer Academy and provide one-to-one and group training to established social entrepreneurs who work in a wide range of sectors.

Track Record

Between December 2009 and November 2010, we have delivered 250 coaching sessions and 40 workshops to 100 individuals on our Social Pioneer programme and four Summer Academies. 30 of these clients have been established social enterprises whilst the others have been individuals at the early stages of exploring or launching their own social enterprise.

As a result of our support, our clients feel they have:-  

• Improved their marketing and sales pitch
• Gained clarity on how to evaluate their impact
• Improved their team management skills
• Diversified their income streams
• Better understanding of funders requirements
• A better balance between commercial vs. social values

Zoe Stanton and Mary Rose Cook, co-founders of Uscreates

"Uscreates have recently been doing some coaching with a Striding Out coach and I just wanted to feedback how useful we have found the sessions. She has been a really fantastic coach supporting us in developing our own future. It is also evident that she has a great deal of experience, knowledge and expertise that she fed into the sessions. We plan to work with our coach further in the future development of Uscreates as we have found these sessions so useful.

Matthew Barrett, co-founder of Break Out Media Academy

“I have received coaching and training support from Striding Out through the Social Pioneer programme and within 3 months of launching the social enterprise we have successfully secured £60,000 to launch a pilot programme for training ex-offenders in London and Birmingham. I have first hand experience of how powerful this type of support can be and with the support of Striding Out I am now able to give other young ex-offenders the chance to restart their lives on a positive footing." 

Richard Wilde is the founder of online art and website community, Artybuzz.com

“Striding out have, and continue to help me with the development of my marketing strategies both online and offline. It is always useful to get an external viewpoint on how to improve business, and my Striding Out Coach has been very helpful with generating new ideas for future growth and development with regards to my marketing. Striding Out have also helped me become more organised with my daily tasks, and have helped to create some strong foundations that will lead to a much better organisational structure in the future”.

Laura Cave, co-founder of Just Trade

“When I began my business coaching sessions with Striding Out, the timing couldn’t be better. Starting up a business can be a challenging task but thankfully I had a friendly supportive coach. I was given the essential guidance when I needed to make key decisions.  My coach was extremely supportive and asked me all the right questions. I am now conducting fair trade projects overseas and have made an impact to women in Peru and hope to expand onto Ecuador and India. I would definitely recommend Striding Out to others.” 

Claire Watt-Smith, founder of Bobelle

“The coaching from Striding Out helped me massively. I had some very daunting yet exciting decisions to make and my coach helped me weigh up each option and go through stage by stage the advantages and disadvantages of each one. She helped with my business plan, offered advice on strategic directions and has been a fantastic sounding board for BoBelle's growth. Consequently with her help I have secured a loan, won a Marie Claire award, was able to buy enough stock for the Christmas rush, quadruple my festive sales (like-for-like) and gain the courage to do my first international trade fair. All in all, I would highly recommend Striding Out for business coaching”.