Welcome to Crown Castê, your financial literacy podcast for small businesses. We publish inspiring, insightful conversations with investors and stewards of capital, about why they decided to make placements into a specific portfolio company of theirs. In today's episode, we are joined by Nathalie Richards.
Nathalie joined SEO London as Chief Exec in May 2022. A former Management Consultant (Accenture) and Geo-expansion Senior Manager (Apple), she also founded EduKit, a social enterprise dedicated to helping schools to improve the mental health and wellbeing of their students which she ran as CEO for 8 years. She has an MBA from INSEAD, a BA (Hons) in Economics & Law and an MSc in Ethnicity, Migration and Culture. She’s also a trustee of Virgin Unite, the charitable foundation of Virgin and the Branson family and has also volunteered as a youth mentor and coach for EduKit, the 100 Black Men of London and Young Enterprise.
In this episode, we discuss:
1. Understanding Social Enterprises:
How does Natalie define the dual mission of social enterprises?
What metrics are commonly used to measure the impact of a social enterprise?
How does the Social Return on Investment (SROI) metric function and why is it popular?
2. Investment and Scaling in Social Enterprises:
How has the perspective shifted from a purely for-profit model to recognizing the value in social enterprises?
What factors determine the amount of capital a social venture can attract and its potential for scalability?
Can social enterprises be both scalable and profitable, contradicting the common perception of social enterprises being small and unscalable?
3. Seeking Funding and Capital for Social Enterprises:
What methods and resources does Natalie recommend for social enterprises seeking grants and funding?
How can Google Alerts and networking assist in discovering funding opportunities?
What are some of the typical keywords used when searching for grant funding?
4. Post-Investment Support for Social Enterprises:
How do social enterprise funds typically support their beneficiaries post capital allocation?
How important is the role of non-financial support, such as mentorship and business advice, in the growth of a social enterprise?
What is the value of accelerator programs in helping social enterprises grow or fail fast?
5. Choosing Between a Social Enterprise or a For-Profit Organization:
What advice does Natalie have for entrepreneurs at the crossroads between establishing a social enterprise or a for-profit organization?
What are the key factors to consider when making this decision?
How important is passion in sustaining an enterprise, especially during challenging times?
