The first period of the new Just Enterprise programme is now complete and it has been an exciting and productive 10 months seeing us delivering a range of business support services to social enterprises and third sector organisations across Scotland.
Here are some key highlights from 2023/24:
One of our biggest successes was the incredible demand for our start-up services. Between webinar views and enquiries we exceeded our target of 750 and our Start Up advisers worked with 134 new clients providing dedicated one-to-one support, 30% higher than projected. Helping new enterprises get off the ground is a core part of our mission and it is encouraging to see so many coming forward to access our services.
Existing organisations also turned to us in big numbers for business support and advice. We received 323 enquiries for one-to-one assistance, approving 274 for specialist support against a target of 178. In addition to the usual high demand for support with business planning and strategy, we also saw an increase in social impact measurement assignments. As the current economic challenges continue, we have also seen demand for crisis reviews increase. Throughout this work, we maintained an exceptional 95% client satisfaction rate.
Developing strong leadership is key for organisational success, so we were pleased to provide multi-day training programs to 119 individuals in addition to one-to-one leadership coaching. The feedback has been outstanding, with 98% saying they would recommend our programmes.
Our learning events continued to be popular, with 456 organisations attending business skills workshops. While start-up workshop attendance was lower than projected, we are implementing plans to keep innovating and improving upon our offering to keep up with evolving client needs and interests over the coming year.
True to our tagline “National support, delivered locally”, we engaged with organisations in each of Scotland’s 32 local authorities in 23/24, thanks to our geographically diverse partnership. Roughly half of these organisations primarily serve groups with protected characteristics like disabilities, ethnic minorities, and more. Reaching and assisting these communities is vitally important and we are committed to making sure that programme participants are representative of Scotland’s demographic make-up.
As we look ahead to Year 2, we’ll build on the momentum achieved in Year 1 with some key priorities. We’ll drive demand in the areas that were underrepresented this year through targeted marketing and outreach. Our learning events will get a revamp to ensure we’re delivering the most relevant, valuable content. Most importantly, we’ll continue providing the highest quality one-to-one business support and leadership development. Helping social enterprises and third sector organisations become more sustainable and impactful is the sole reason we exist and we are in a strong position going into 2024/25 to continue having a positive impact on this vital aspect of Scotland’s wellbeing economy.