Shekinah Mission
Shekinah Mission, based in Plymouth, supports people who are homeless, have substance misuse issues, are ex-offenders or feel socially excluded.
Since 1992, Shekinah has evolved into several projects, including a social enterprise, Shekinah Trading.
The first social enterprise that Shekinah set up was a carpentry workshop operating with three years funding, but which closed after three years when the project was not making a profit. The commercial failure of this first venture was an important lesson when it came to setting up the current social enterprise model.
Shekinah Trading
Shekinah Trading was set up without a budget and although there was funding for the post of Business Development Manager for a year, post-holder, Steve Weymouth, was committed to not relying on funding this time around. The aim was to create income for the charity whilst at the same time working with homeless individuals to increase their employment skills. The social enterprise was set up as a Limited Company by shares with 100 per cent of those shares owned by Shekinah Mission
Shekinah researched gaps in the local market, identifying potential partners such as local housing associations and councils and speaking to existing companies. They found there was a clear demand for quality deep-cleaning services of properties and decided to base their social enterprise around this as it was something they felt they could quickly develop.
Steve started with two helpers, some basic equipment and six properties to clean and learn on the job. He gradually picked up contracts with housing associations and increased his staff. They are now aiming for a £400k turnover in 2011-2012, and are looking at ways to expand the social enterprise.
As the project is run purely as a commercial venture it doesn't use volunteers. Instead it takes clients who are ready for employment and who are keen to take on this kind of work. Shekinah is committed to investing in the client base and providing training. As a result the two individuals who Steve helped establish the social enterprise with have now progressed to be team leaders.
Lessons from running a social enterprise
Shekinah learnt that although it was helpful to initially lean on being a charity, fundamentally they needed to market themselves as a business, focusing on the quality and value of the service they offer, for them to be sustainable. They also spread out across customers, a range of businesses and geographically to be best prepared for fluctuating markets.
Finally, one of their most positive lessons was to be ambitious. Shekinah set itself the goal of completely funding its day care centre, and with its current growth is on track to do just that.