Welcome to enp's Podcast Series

The social enterprise podcast series is produced by enp to help your social enterprise succeed. We have gathered a handful of leading experts to provide practical business information to help you plan and run a successful business!

We hope you'll listen at work, take us along on your commute, share with your board, staff and students, or listen at home. Podcasts are free to download, so listen right now or save it to your iPod or mp3 player.

Topics in this series complement the material found in the Canadian Social Enterprise Guide:

All Rights Reserved.  Special thanks to Vancity Credit Union and Nadine Krefetz, project consultant, realitysoftware.com for their support.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is Social Enterprise?

 

May 2009 | 4 Minutes: David LePage, enp Program Manager and member of the Social Enterprise Council of Canada tells us about Social Enterprise and blended value, and gives us examples of social enterprises operating in Canada. 

More resources on this topic:

 

Social Enterprise Readiness

 

May 2009 | 8 Minutes: Are you thinking about launching Social Enterprise, but not sure how to begin? David LePage, enp Program Manager and member of the Social Enterprise Council of Canada discusses the two key elements of early stage social enterprise business planning:  organizational readiness and enterprise opportunity identification.

More Resources on this topic:

 

 

Planning for Social Enterprise 

 

June 2009 | 22.5 Minutes: Joining us for a discussion of the Business Plan and Feasibility Study are:

Liz Lougheed-Green, Program Manager for Social Enterprise at Vancity Credit Union and Coordinator of Social Enterprise Programs for both Vancity Community Foundation and Vancity Credit Union.

Rebecca Pearson, Social Enterprise Investment Manager of Vancity Capital & Leadership Team member of Net Impact Professional Group, Vancouver Chapter.Liz & Rebecca tell us why these two planning mechanisms are vital to the successful planning of your social enterprise including how they are used, what they contain, and which elements are specific to social enterprises.

More resources on this topic: 

  • The resource sheet Liz & Rebecca prepared can be found, here, in our resource section.
  • Review the planning chapter of the Social Enterprise Guide, here.
  • See if your question is answered in the Business FAQ or Legal Expert FAQ.
  • Pose a new question to MBA professionals through our free "Ask the Business Expert" series hosted by enp in partnership with the Vancouver Chapter of Net Impact.
  • Pose a new question to a Charity Lawyer through our free "Ask the Legal Expert" series hosted by enp.

  • Learn more about planning a Social Enterprise by attending our Social Enterprise Orientation Sessions / Workshops offered each spring in fall in urban and rural regions across BC.

Financing Social Enterprise

 

June 2009 | 7.5 Minutes: Derek Gent, Executive Director of Vancity Community Foundation tells us how to get started with financing and dispels the mystery behind the most common finance terms including loans & grants, debt, patient capital, and investment. 

enp provides the following tools related to financing social enterprise:

Demonstrating Value

 

July 2009 | 9 Minutes:  Bryn Sadownik Project Lead of the Demonstrating Value Initiative and Steve Williams from SAP Business Objects, a partner of the project, tell us about the exciting tools available for free to social enterprises on the Demonstrating Value website.

More resources on this topic:

 

Purchasing from Social Enterprise

 

September 2009 | 9 Minutes. Enp Program Manager David LePage discusses how purchasing from a social enterprise can assist your organization in meeting its CSR objectives. We discuss social purchasing, what it is, how it works, and how to get started.

 

More resources on this topic: Review the Social Enterprise Purchasing Toolkit. The Toolkit provides a framework and action steps to assist businesses, governments and non-profits to integrate social components into their sustainable procurement and purchasing policies and practices. The Toolkit includes information, action steps, and a searchable resource database.

 

Marketing Social Enterprise

 

December 2009 | 9 Minutes. Marty Donkervoort  shares his experiences in marketing the services of Inner City Renovation. 

 

More resources on this topic:

 

 

Common Thread: A Case Study

 

December 2009 | 15 Minutes. Melanie Conn shares the story of "Common Thread" a unique cooperative that has brought together a number of organizations and women's sewing groups in pursuit of larger sewing contracts.

 

More resources on this topic: