Omnitopia Capital

What is Social Enterprise?

Written By: Steve Williams - Oct• 13•11

The social enterprise sector is gaining momentum in Australia. But what is social enterprise?

By Steve Williams, Manager, SEED

My favourite definition of social enterprise is perhaps the simplest one; a business for a social purpose – generating social value by selling goods and services through the market. Social Traders, an organisation working to support social enterprise suggests different forms of enterprise, the three most prominent being:

A social firm – a not-for-profit social enterprise with the specific mission of creating employment in a supportive environment for people excluded from the labour market as a result of mental illness, disability or other disadvantage.
A Co-operative Social Enterprise is a democratic enterprise that is formed to meet a common social need of its members.
Charitable business ventures are run by not-for-profit organisations to raise income which is reinvested in their charitable purpose. They include smaller ventures, such as opportunity shops and community book stores, through to large trading companies.

I manage a social enterprise, the Sandgate Enterprise for Economic Development (SEED), which operates in the social firm model, employing long term unemployed people to deliver services in landscape maintenance, commercial cleaning and domestic mowing. We currently have contracts with State Government, Brisbane City Council, community organisations, and many private individuals.

A recent study on Social Return on Investment found that for every $1 invested in SEED $2.45 is created in social value through lowering of government spending on welfare, and greater connection to community; proving that intelligent purchasing from social enterprises creates economic and social value.

If you are in Brisbane and have an office that needs cleaning, or some horticultural work to attend to please contact Steve on 0422 718 850 or seed2@sandbag.org.au or visit www.seedppm.com

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Second Workshop

Written By: Casey Archbald - Oct• 07•11

Entrepreneur Chris McGaughey is proving to have quite a lot of
get-up-and-go. After opening Browns Plains Mechanical’s first workshop
and hiring his first apprentice just a few months ago, Chris has decided to do
it all again. The opportunity came up when Mix Mechanical at the 7-11
service station on Browns Plains Rd closed, providing an opportunity to secure
an additional mechanical workshop with rare main road frontage.

By doing much of the fit-out work himself, and by securing some
quality second hand machinery, Chris was able to save nearly half the forecast
start-up funds provided by Omnitopia Capital. Browns Plains Mechanical
will open the second workshop with the option of an additional $10,000 line of
credit. While the second workshop only has two hoists, larger jobs like
engine rebuilds can be performed at the first workshop, which is larger but
without main road frontage.

While this is not a large amount for second round capital, it
shows what can be achieved by working closely with entrepreneurs and carefully
matching capital requirements with the needs of each business.

Second round funding can be important. Without the
provision of a facility, the business might not have been able to make the
expansion. Entrepreneurs seeking initial investment should find an
investor who understands their business and has the capacity to provide second
round funding as necessary.

Safe Places for Children becomes a Not for Profit

Written By: Casey Archbald - Jun• 27•11

Safe Places for Children was created in 2005. For five years my wife Katrina and I worked night and day to grow the organisation from the ground up. We both resigned from senior management positions at Twin Rivers Care and put a second mortgage on our house to fund the new enterprise. It was exciting: no jobs, a large mortgage to pay, chasing a dream to make change in the lives of very disadvantaged children. We even checked that our friends would put us up for a while if things got really tough.

For the first year we did much of the direct youth work ourselves, with only a few casual youth workers. During the day I would meet with the Department of Child Safety, do the book-keeping and payroll, setup houses and assemble furniture. At night I was either working or on call for new youth workers caring for children with severe behavioural problems.

Fast forward to 2011 and Safe Places is a dynamic organisation with over 200 employees. It’s teams have over 50 homes in Queensland and Western Australia looking after children with the highest of support needs. it was an exciting journey, but sadly such intense work over many years took it’s toll on my health, inflaming a pre-existing condition of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

A few months ago, we turned Safe Places for Children into a Not for Profit organisation and appointed independent directors. Being a Not for Profit provides employees with better salary packaging arrangements, and allows the organisation to own it’s own future. I’m very excited for Safe Places in the next part of the journey! Omnitopia Capital continues to help out by developing the Safe Places System of care, particularly it’s hosted online management system – or ‘the portal’ as it’s known to employees.

Omnitopia Capital does more than just Startup Capital for businesses – we’re also looking to support new Not for Profits, maybe even help an entrepreneur with a good idea like Safe Places. I’d love to hear from you if you’ve got an idea for a business or Not for Profit.

Posted in New Ventures, Safe Places, Social Enterprise | No Comments »

Browns Plains Mechanical

Written By: Casey Archbald - Jun• 27•11

I’d like to congratulate Chris McGaughey for creating Browns Plains Mechanical. A qualified and mechanic and promising entrepreneur, Chris had set up and successfully operated several workshops for a previous employer. Chris has now leased a premises, installed vehicle hoists, tyre balancing and disc machines, as well as putting together work benches and doing some minor refurbishments. He has since hired an apprentice mechanic and commenced servicing vehicles.

Being a father himself, Chris wanted to start a business that was family friendly for both customers and employees. In selecting the workshop, the focus was on proximity to a major shopping centre. Being just 500 meters from Grand Plaza, customers can go shopping while their vehicle is serviced. Chris has also set up a child friendly waiting area, and for customers who needed additional convenience, loan car with child seats can be provided.

Chris worked with me for a few months to bring his concept to reality. A business plan was written covering marketing, financial, human resources and operations. Writing the business plan helped to identify some common issues associated with new ventures including hiring the right employees. Omnitopia Capital provided a loan to purchase equipment and will provide business mentoring to assist Chris to lead the new venture through each stages of its growth.

As well as communicating with customers using traditional methods like signage and brochures, Chris has started to make use of social media in promoting his business and has set up Browns Plains Mechanical on Facebook. Eventually he would like to allow customers to book services online, and he has some creative ideas to help people with low incomes keep their vehicles safe and properly serviced.

It’s a rewarding experience to provide some guidance and capital to new entrepreneurs who have the experience and commitment to bring an idea to reality. Again, congratulations Chris on the first few steps in the journey of creating a successful enterprise. Visit Browns Plains Mechanical at 7/77 Eastern Road, Browns Plains, Australia 4118 or give Chris a call on (07) 3800 4964.

Posted in New Ventures | 1 Comment »

Projects #1

Written By: petershipway - Dec• 20•10

This is the first in a series of blog posts outlining the OCPM’s various stages, highlighting the benefits of not only the OCPM but the benefits of any chosen Project Methodology (assuming it is working with and towards Project Goals, not against).

As previously mentioned the OCPM is a unique Project Methodology that is a subset of large more standardized PMS. The OCPM outputs a deliverable in each stage of the Project. To quickly recap the Stages:

The 9 stages of the OCPM are

Project Proposal,
Project Plan,
Current Business Processes,
New Business Processes,
Technical Specification,
Development,
Testing,
Go-Live,
Feedback,

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Projects #OCPM

Written By: petershipway - Dec• 15•10

It seems like everyone has their own (or at least preferred) Project Mythology today. However it’s amazing just how may attempt to tackle huge projects without defining the Methodology to be utilised.

It’s an easy to understand oversight, large projects are complex have numerous influences (not only in terms of key decision makers, but resource availability and busy period deadlines). Despite this it’s important to utilize the correct Project Methodology to ensure that the large monstrous projects are brought in at bite-sized manageable chunks.

(more…)

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Business Plan

Written By: Casey Archbald - Dec• 14•10

Starting a business today is very different to even five years ago. Everything is simpler – think incorporator.com.au vs dealing direct with ASIC. Even interactions with Government Departments are easier with AusKey – auskey.abr.gov.au.

The biggest change I’ve noticed is the progress in the use of IT inside companies (e.g. SharePoint that actually works) and social media outside companies (think Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin). Everything is online now and getting into start-up mode again makes me realise just how far behind the technology curve businesses that I started even just five years ago are. It’s hard to change too. It’s much easier to embed new technologies and new ways of thinking at start-up than in a mature business.

Part of the challenge for business that Omnitopia Capital invests in will be to deal with legacy systems. This is going to require some pretty hefty business process mapping and cultural change. That’s one of the reasons I plan to focus on small companies with rapid growth potential rather than large established ones.

For my part, with Social Media I get to feel like I’m part of a community. It would have been sacrilege to put your business plan online even just a few years ago – but here it is!

OC Brief Business Plan - Please have a read and leave your comments.

Posted in New Ventures , business planning | No Comments »