When it comes to the macroeconomic perspective, there is still a persistent perception that a social enterprise is more like a charity than a “proper business”. Yet, there is a growing body of evidence and our personal experience which indicates that not only are social enterprises doing well, but they’re playing a vital role in economic growth.

The growth of the social economy is all down to the fact that businesses that have ‘a social purpose’ at the heart of their enterprise have proven to be the ones that are best equipped to meet today’s demand for sustainability and social change. Social enterprises have been shown to not only promote more inclusive growth by strengthening employability and skills, and creating jobs, but also to build a more diversified local economy by contributing to the wider institutional and economic transformation.

The Rise 0f Social Enterprises

At present, the UK is still lagging behind other countries in terms of its social enterprises, but their contribution is slowly becoming more recognised and appreciated. Quietly, and somewhat behind the scenes, social enterprise is revolutionising the economy, offering a brand-new way of doing business. Not only that, but social enterprises are achieving this by remaining true to their values and by allowing a more diverse array of business leaders to rise to the top. 

Social enterprises today are worth around £60 billion to the UK’s economy, employing about two million people and representing around 3% of the country’s GDP (three times the size of the UK’s agricultural industry) and 5% of the UK’s employment, which is the same percentage of jobs as the UK’s creative industry sector. These figures just go to show how important social enterprises are becoming, and how they are slowly being included in the scope of economic strategies and policymaking.

A Contribution Driven by Social Purposes

Social enterprises are driven by responsibilities that extend far beyond the narrow scope of profit generation. As a sector, it makes a wider contribution to society outside its economic impact. 

In what ways do social enterprises achieve this?

• Their businesses are more diverse, fairer and work towards serving their customers to the highest possible standard. 
• Thanks to different incentives, they bring new thinking and innovation into the workplace.
• By focusing on society as a whole, they are proud of being rooted in their own communities, giving back to those that they serve on a daily basis. 

The social enterprise economy currently contributes more in terms of tax than private organizations that have no social purpose. The top five co-operatives in the UK pay more in tax than Facebook, Amazon, Starbucks, Apple and eBay. More importantly, wider social economies are more likely to give back to their local communities. It’s been shown that customer-owned retailers will invest double their profit in their local area when compared to their competitors. 

With all of this in mind, it’s clear that social enterprises are still an under-appreciated sector, but that is something that is changing. Now that the many contributions that they make are being acknowledged, the only way is up for social enterprise in the UK.

For any enterprise to be successful, you need to be able to network and form partnerships that offer mutual value and benefit. However, creating that partnership is only a first step – you have to build on that partnership to ensure that it provides the most possible value for your business.

So, how do you go about doing this? Here, we take a look at some top tips to help you to maximise your potential to build valuable and mutually beneficial relationships with your working partners.

Defining Your Partnership Goals

Before you can extract maximum value from any partnership, you need to be able to define a clear goal for it. How will it help you to grow your organisation, and how can you help theirs to grow too? 

It may sound counterintuitive, but in fact if you aim to give your partner business more value than that which you take from theirs, you’ll be surprised at just how effective that mindset can be for the growth and success of your company. So, before you even approach a new potential partner, think hard about the goal you’re focusing on so that you can communicate most effectively.

Adding Value For Clients

Although partnerships are a useful marketing tool and you should be squeezing maximum exposure and value for your company from them, at the end of the day, your primary goal should be to give your clients even better value. 

With every new potential partnership, consider what it can do to make your clients experience even better with your company. This will help you to decide whether it’s worth forging the partnership in the first place and, when it is, which direction you should be taking with it.

Increase Your Exposure To Potential New Clients

When you’re partnering with another company, you almost certainly want to bring more new clients to your company. Make sure, then, that you don’t solely focus on the value you’re going to bring to your customers. Remember to advertise the brand-new value you’ll be offering to new and existing customers alike, and use any of the marketing your new partner company has to market yourself and your own organisation, while, in return, putting your own marketing tools at your new partner’s disposal.

Offering Mutual Incentives

To make it more likely that your new partner will share your service to the max, you can incentivise them for every new client they bring you. An affiliate programme is a great way to ensure your partner gets something back for any business that they put your way with no need to pay any money upfront. Mutual incentives of this nature help to make sure that both companies benefit from referring clients to the other.

Ensuring Maximum Value For Your Partnerships

Whenever it comes to establishing new partnerships, you need to stop and consider the marketing potential they can offer you, and how you can harness that full potential to your advantage. The most important thing to note, though, is that being too demanding or over-calculating isn’t the way forward – you need to ensure you’re working together so that both of your organisations can enjoy the biggest possible exposure and value. After all, isn’t that what partnership means?