Support
Use this section to find local organisations providing information and advice to social enterprises in West Sussex. You can find answers to frequently asked questions, details of funding opportunities and also below you will find information on business planning, legal structures, finances and more.
A business plan is an essential document for any new enterprise. It will help to focus your ideas and allow you to plan for the future. It is also a document that you will be presenting to potential investors, so it is important to take time and consideration developing it. To find out more, view our Business planning fact sheet.
Social enterprises can adopt a number of legal forms and structures. To find out more about this, view our Legal Structures fact sheet.
Business often fail because of poor financial management or a lack of planning. Social enterprises are no exception and are sometimes vulnerable to pressures such as grant funding expiring or late payment on contracts. To find out more, view our How to manage your finances and Sources of finance fact sheets.
Social enterprises can have a social, environmental and economic impact that affects people, their communities and their environment for the better. But how do social enterprises measure their social outputs? How should they measure the value of achieving their social objectives? To find out more, view our Measuring your social impact fact sheet.
Marketing is the process of interesting potential customers and clients in your products and services. Marketing evolves and involves a variety of activities including researching, promoting, selling and distributing your services and products. Public Relations (PR) is a way of managing your organisation's reputation, a two-way communication between the organisation and the public. To find out more, view our Marketing for social enterprises and Public relations for social enterprises fact sheets.
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your pc to open the factsheets. If you do not have this you can download a free copy.
Remember to contact your local Social Enterprise Advisors for advice and support:
Mark McTaggart, Action in rural Sussex (AirS), 01273 473 422, mark.mctaggart@ruralsussex.org.uk
Mark Habibi, West Sussex Voluntary Organisations Liaison Group (VOLG), 01403 787940 or 07833 906592, mark.habibi@volg.org.uk
Rachel Crossey, Business Link, 0845 600 9 006, rachel.crossey@businesslinksussex.co.uk
Feedback
We welcome any feedback you may have on this site or the support received from the Social Enterprise advisers:
- Adur Furniture Network felt the advisers' support "helped us get focussed". (22/4/08)