why I helped to kill a C.I.C.

I've never made a secret of my personal views about the Community Interest Company legal form that was designed by the government to better support and encourage social enterprises - but I've also always been clear that if there's a clear advantage that it can offer to an enterprise based on their specific circumstances, then I'm happy to throw my weight behind them in making sure that they gain this status.

Over the years I've been asked on numerous occasions by CIC's how they might 'un-become' a CIC after its become apparent that they've incorporated with this form on the basis of poor or mis-informed advice. All have then come to realise that the hassle and implications to undoing this form outweigh the cost of their carrying on with it. All, that is, until recently when I was invited to formally meet with the Directors of a CIC to help them decide if they should dissolve it, after they felt that this status was hindering more that helping them.

It transpired that winding up the CIC was the best thing they could do - because having this status was actually damaging their potential to achieve their social goals: 

- partner organisations (including some statutory agencies) just didn't 'get it' so they were wasting time regularly educating different people in the same organisations as to what it meant to be a CIC, 

- the investors they were targeting didn't want to get involved because of the statutory caps that would limit their return to below market rates, 

- through customer dialogue it had been identified that all the contracts that they were winning were on the basis of the quality of their service and had nothing to do with their legal status or identity as a social enterprise,

- and perhaps most dangerous of all, there was a culture emerging of 'just doing enough' rather than striving for excellence as owing to those statutory caps and the asset lock, staff didn't feel motivated to take risks or put in the extra effort that can make or break a growing enterprise as there was no mechanism that would allow their 'sweat equity' to be rewarded at at future date...

So - the papers have now been signed and the process of dissolution is formally in motion. By the end of the month there'll be one less CIC on the register.

But why share this story of apparent failure in the otherwise rosy world of social enterprise? Because sometimes things go wrong because we're offered bad advice and guidance and don't always know how to spot it; because legal forms can sometimes put the success of an enterprise at risk through no fault of its own; but mainly because sometimes we need to be told its OK to feel that what everyone else is raving about as being brilliant isn't working for you.

the paradox of taking holidays and why tents need plug sockets...

So - its September and I missed sharing any insights or encouragements last month. Sorry about that, but I've a great excuse - you see, I was technically 'on holiday'!!

Holidays are a strange feature in the third sector - if asked, just about all of us would agree how important it is that people are supported, nurtured, encouraged, and that includes being well rested: taking holidays! But for those of us in formal leadership or senior management roles, lets face it: how easy is it really to be able to give ourselves those things that we're prioritising amongst the people we're supporting/working with/walking alongside?

Well, this year I was away for a whole week and 2 weekends (mixture of camp-site and a friends' cottage in the South Lake District) - may not sound much, but was the longest official break I've taken from being self-employed for about 3 years. But every day, I trekked about half a mile to be able to get a signal on my phone to get for any urgent messages or emails - and despite scheduling client projects and contracts so that nothing should suffer for my absence, there were 2 contract opportunities that arose that I've missed because I'd promised my family that I wouldn't be bringing work with me (and frankly, working on a camp-site can be a tad tricky with precious few plug sockets!).

But I'm back and feeling good for having been able to devote myself solely to my tribe for that time - sharing new adventures and (mainly) enjoying spending time together. The only downside has been knowing how hard it was to be able to schedule just a week, and then seeing the 'out of office' emails from others in public bodies and larger private companies, saying how they're away for up to 3 weeks!!

super-powers revealed!

so - thanks to all of you who answered my 'call' a few weeks back when I asked what my superpower is.

it was humbling in places to read what high esteem some of you hold me in (and comforting to know that there are some of you I can always rely on to make sure I keep my feet on the ground...)

I've copied all the responses below for reference (anonymised, naturally - got to protect those secret identities!), but what seems to be coming out of them is that my superpowers are:

1) the ability to take complex information and ideas and present them in ways that are easy to understand and relate to

2) connecting diverse and wide-ranging sources of information to help cut through issues quickly and concisely

thanks to you all for 'playing along'.

Adrian

• laser-beam analytical skills
• the ability to understand people/scenarios/language quickly (a hugely under rated talent IMO) and its obviously 'super' (difficult) because of the sector that you choose to ply your trade in, most social entrepreneurs have their own 'language' in my experiences to date !!
• When I ask you about something, you form a web of interconnections and links, allowing us to swing straight over ground which has been previously trodden, and avoiding existing pitfalls
• conviction. You always demonstrate a clear belief in what you are doing or saying
• vastly useful in-depth knowledge of charities, social enterprises, and co-operatives, and their role within our economy
• respond to a complex question in a factual and personable manner. I have seen you do this on several occasions, putting the questioner at ease with not only the response but also the manner of the reply
• Stats and normal distributions could b used to categorise you in the six parts per million category....... or even at one in a thousand that’s 99.9% of them not as good as you
• You are Hyper efficient, easy to reach, informative on most subjects and a jolly fellow to work with.  Why do I call you, because you are easy to speak to, a good listener and able to discuss through what are often tricky situations as well as offer advice.  You get things done quickly and are always willing to go beyond what is required of you to support me in my quests.  There!  Supportive, efficient, good communicator, get things done and never let me down
• Being able to translate strategic vision into something useful on the ground. 
• Insightful and being able to reference good practice and findings from the work you've been involved in and topics you've researched and reflected on over the years
• Being able to spot weaknesses/gaps and challenges in a proposal and make useful suggestions  
• Sensible but also entrepreneurial - a risk taker
• Honest, ethical and fair and challenging authority where necessary 
• translating legal structures and governance into something none legal people can understand 

Some people also likened me to:

• professor X
• the A team
• being a Babel fish (hitch-hikers guide)
• spider-man

secret super-powers...

we all have one - something we can do that others struggle to, and that people are in awe of us when we use it: a skill or ability that marks us out from the crowd, and is the thing that makes us special in the eyes of those we work with;

and I'm wondering what mine might be - don't get me wrong, I'm pretty clear about my various skills and abilities (just check out my 'modest' profile), but I'm not sure I'm that clear on which of them the people I walk alongside cherish and value the most;

I've therefore decided to ask. So - if you get a message from me in the next few weeks, this is your chance to tell me what you really think it is that I can do that's better than anyone else. 

And why am I doing this? Well, I'm curious, and its been a while since I did some good evaluation on myself other than taking recommendations on Linkedin (of which I seem to gathering quite a few!) and seeing people tweet about me occasionally. And because its only by better understanding how other see me that I can best strengthen and enhance myself against any future super-villains and their kyrptonite... 

why every business should play musical chairs

As a kid, one of my favourite party games was musical chairs - especially at friends' birthday parties as invariably there'd be a prize if yours was the last bum seated.

But I grew older, started to work and learnt that 'musical chairs' is still played in some businesses - although its more about temporarily swapping roles, rather than competing for that prized party gift...

Recently I was fortunate enough to share some of my experiences and insight about various aspects of starting up your own enterprises with a group of students at a start-up boot-camp in Salford. There were a dozen of them, all packed into a small room and had been talked at for most of the day by other experts before I arrived...

Naturally energy levels were dipping, and I picked up that some participants had struggled to relate some of the earlier content of the day to their ideas.

The answer? I got them to play musical chairs - I asked all of them to stand up and go and sit somewhere else before I began. For some, this provoked mild looks of concern: they'd spent so long in the same chair it had moulded itself to the contours of their bum and surely no other chair could be as comfortable... 

But very quickly they 'got it' and having a physically different perspective on their classmates and the room meant that they all quickly perked up and seemed to gain a refreshed excitement about engaging in the subject matter.

The lesson from this? Everyone who spends time regularly sitting in the same chair or position to engage in their work should periodically move to another desk or sit on the other side of the room. Gaining a renewed excitement for what you do can be as cheap and easy as changing the way you physically look at it - so what's stopping you? Start rearranging the future today!

a taxing question for social impact reporting

Some of you will be aware that I recently made my debut appearance on the stage of the Comedy Store in Manchester - sadly not to tickle peoples’ funny bones (well, not purposefully), but to speak at the national Social Impact Awards. And as part of my encouragement and challenge to the participants, I took the opportunity to share and publish my annual social accounts for 2012/3 (don’t worry, if you weren’t there - they’re on line now).

The reasons why I’ve committed myself to this annual report on my social impact / value / achievements are written about elsewhere, but I wanted to share the reasoning why I’ve decided to start monetising one of my measures - specifically the cash value of the pro bono support I offer.

Like many other businesses that offer professional services, I offer some of my support on a pro bono basis because, well, because it’s the right thing to do: why should people be denied support and advice on the basis that they’re not in a position to be able to pay for it (or have it paid for)?

For the last 2 years, I’ve struggled with if I should track the extent of my pro bono work, and if so, for what reason - after all, as a freelancer I only have so many resources I can devote to monitoring and evaluation so I need to know that there’s a valid benefit from what I invest resources in measuring and reporting against.

And I’ve decided that I should measure it - to help me reflect on how much support I am able to offer to people who would otherwise ‘go without’, and to make sure that I’m keeping this in balance with my need to make sure that I’m still earning enough to pay the bills. Given that this pro bono can take many forms, but all are based around time, I decided that the best way to track this would be by monetising it. That then raised the question of what should I use as my proxy value? After all, different services can attract different fees and what I charge can vary according to client … so in trying to keep it simple and transparent, I’ve taken a national proxy from a survey of other consultant’s fees.

It’s too soon to say what the effect of this new measure in my social accounts will be in how they (and I) are subsequently received and perceived, but I’m already considering another indicator - that of tax.

Private businesses are facing increasing demands for transparency in their tax affairs, and I realise that my current measures don’t have anything that allows me to reflect on the extent of my impact on wider society (I’ve already got the local economy, environment, and 3^rd sector covered). The proportion of my sales that are subsequently paid in taxes seems to therefore be a simple and effective way of strengthening my transparency and also reflect on how much I’m contributing to the benefit of the wider society in which I live (assuming that the bulk on my taxes and being spent on beneficial things such as training teachers, paying for healthcare, etc).

But what do you, dear reader, think? Am I right to be valuing my ’corporate love’ (pro bono), and should I really be talking about how much tax I’m paying with anyone other than the tax office given some of the cultural taboos we have in the UK around talking about how much we earn and pay in taxes…?

new support for local communities to raise startup finance from their neighbours

The consultancy.coop, a small Co-operative Development Body (CDB) based in south Wales has recently set up a new website aimed at helping new and growing co-ops with their Community Share Issues.

Alex Bird, one of the partners in the co-op, realised after working with a number of community co‑ops trying to finance projects through share issues, that whilst they could market themselves easily to local people, communicating to the wider public wasn’t easy on a small budget. He and his colleagues have worked with community shops, community centres, pubs, football and rugby clubs, festivals, food co‑ops, bike shops, off-road cycle centres, recycling projects, gyms and energy co‑ops, and all had difficulty marketing their share issues. Many didn’t proceed with a share issues because they couldn’t see how they would get sufficient share sales and the activists involved looked to other sources of finance such as grants and loans.

Some projects they’ve worked with have been very creative in their share issues, linking up with credit unions and CDFIs to enable people to get lines of credit or save up to buy shares, but they still find it difficult to contact their diaspora, and you can only raise so much from local people.

Many projects have a wider appeal than just their immediate neighbourhood, and there is a large body of people across the UK and further afield who don’t have a project nearby but would like to support one.  Real ale pubs, vegetarian and vegan shops, football clubs, and of course ecological and green energy projects are examples of projects with a broader appeal, but many such projects weren’t getting through to their potential share buyers, and at times weren’t hitting their finance raising targets.

After many discussions about who wasn’t doing what and whose job it was to sort out this problem, and why “they” should be doing it, consultancy.coop did what co-operators always do in the end – got on with it themselves. Using the well-known open source software from WordPress and with the help of Co-operatives UK Internet Services they have set up a .coop site from their own resources.

The new website is up and running at www.shares.coop and features all the Community Share Issues they know about free of charge in a classified style listing, plus lots of advice and guidance. The site is presently entirely self-funding, although as it develops they hope to bring some sponsorship on board in order to raise income and grow the site, so they offer paid for features as well as the basic free listing.