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Starting
a Community Enterprise
An
Interpretation of a Social Enterprise
- A Social
Enterprise is a Community Business which gives people the
opportunity to create work or activity for themselves.
- The
Enterprise allows its employees to develop their skills
while the business grows.
- The
employees have control of day to day operation to develop
strategies to increase turnover.
- The
Enterprise is conscious that there are many people out of
work, therefore, surplus funds employ additional staff each
year.
- Some
Enterprises create new jobs, others provide valuable service to the
community with volunteers gaining access to resources to perform
their tasks.
- Above
all everybody involved, WINS. It
builds a community spirit that demonstrates capability and
harnesses energy to give opportunity to all.
FEO has
been successful in starting a number of community enterprises,
including On Track Training &
Employment; Eaglehawk
Recycle Shop
; Enhance; TradeStart;
&
Community Recycling
Ventures.
FEO also
manages Workspace Australia
Ltd. providing
accommodation and support for small businesses.
A most
informative summary of how to start a community enterprise can be
found in a book titled "From Mondragon to America"
Experiments in Community Economic Development, by Greg MacLeod;
UCCB Press, email - uccb_press@uccb.ca
Here is an
excerpt from the book:"
Getting
Started"
Some
Resources to get you thinking about Social
Enterprises
To
stimulate our thinking books are a great way to get new
ideas. You don’t necessarily have to read the whole
book. Use the index and obtain what you need. The
internet also offers a world of ideas. “We just have to
get out of old ways of thinking.”
Websites
www.mondragon.mcc.es -
Spanish Co-operative
www.ashoka.org -
Change around the world
www.newdawn.ca -
Canadian Social Enterprises
www.getabstract.com -
Abstracts from books (1,000s of books)
www.communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au -
Community action
Some
books
Work for
All - Langmore & Quiggen – Melb Uni Press 1994
Breadwinner
II - Tom O’Toole – Crown Content 2003
From
Mondragon to America - Greg Macleod – UCCB Press 1997
Jobs of
Our Own - Race Mathews – Pluto 1999
Shutdown -
Caroll & Manne – Text Publishing Co 1992
Minding
Their Own Business - Gloria Meltzer – McGraw-Hill
2001
Coaching
at Work - Zues & Skiffington – McGraw-Hill 2003
Dirt
Cheap - Elizabeth Wyn Lawson – MacMillan 2005
If you
always do what you've always done,
You’ll
always get what you’ve always got.
Is
it enough?
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