Business Planning
French lesson, or providing marketing tips, for a fee of £5 which goes to the service provider’s charity of choice. These are enterprises built around a philanthropic business model. In the wider business community there are many entrepreneurs who consider giving to be a cornerstone of good business.
Ashley-Rae Tapping and Abi Fashesin set up their online fashion business
Loud-Culture.com a year ago, wholly funded by their own savings of £5,000. The pair also relied on their own resourcefulness and self taught PR skills to market their designs and get them featured on the pages of several top women’s
magazines.
However, stretched resources and limited finances have not deterred them from helping others following in their footsteps, with Ashley-Rae stating: “As a business owner, it’s what you should do. I know a lot of up and coming design students who are really struggling to find work placements in
ibility
the fashion industry. It’s so competitive and very expensive - you can spend a fortune on getting a few hours in a professional studio - so I’m happy for them to spend time with us and see how we do things. Eventually we plan to have our own shop, where these talented new designers will be able to display their lines, and that will benefit everyone.”
The middle of a recession may not be the best time to be buying a business, but that’s where the UK economy was in May 2010 when dentist David Hickey took on Southport Road Dental, a private practice based in Chorley, Lancashire. And in spite of the risks and challenges he was facing, one of his priorities was to get the practice and its staff of 10 involved with a business giving project.
With many schemes geared up for larger corporate organisations, the search was on for a small business- focused charity, which eventually led to Buy1Give1 (B1G1). Launched five years ago and aimed specifically at the SME sector, the charity operates on the basis of the customer purchase of a product or service being matched by a business donation to one of over 600 designated global causes, ranging from healthcare and basic life provisions, to education and conservation. Part of the scheme’s appeal was that with admin costs covered by membership fees, 100% of the donations go to the chosen projects.
David says: “I also felt it would work well with dentistry.
Patients can
get involved in choosing projects; for example, we’ve given goats to families in Kenya, and provided clean water for children in Malawi, and we get feedback on how it impacts on people’s lives. It creates a feel good factor, and because the scheme is a bit unusual, a great talking point outside the practice. The most important thing is that it makes a real difference, and more businesses should be doing it.”
Branson agrees, not least he says, because customers are now demanding that business takes a leadership role on the issues that affect everyone.
He says: “I truly believe that businesses that don’t address social
responsibility and more importantly don’t put this at the core of the operations will suffer over the medium to long term.
“All entrepreneurs at some time have had to battle adversity and challenge to build their businesses, so drive, an ability to take risks and strong belief in what you are doing are key. The first years are usually about digging in and making things work, so generosity is not often as obvious. Once established, I believe that most understand the wider responsibilities that success brings and do invest in their communities and beyond. I also like to think that if you do good, have fun, then the money will come.”
By Alison Coleman
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