Building Financial Confidence in Social Entrepreneurs

Learn about our new programme to help neurodivergent social entrepreneurs master the finances of their businesses.

Isle Develop CIC. Credit: Open Aye Photography

One of the biggest obstacles social entrepreneurs face is mastering the financial side of their business.

Most social entrepreneurs we support are driven by their passion and lived experience to solve a problem. But many of them don’t start with business or financial skills. This could be because of a range of factors, including:

Dyslexia or another expression of neurodivergence
Not having followed a ‘traditional’ educational path
Caring responsibilities or low income prevent them from engaging in business or financial education

We know that building a sustainable business is key to delivering sustainable impact, and we want social entrepreneurs to succeed.

To tackle some of these barriers, we are excited to team up with lived-experience social entrepreneurs from Pride Outside CIC and Wild & Kind CIC to deliver a transformative support programme for social entrepreneurs.

The programme will show social entrepreneurs how to manage their business finances with confidence – enabling them to grow their enterprises sustainably, raise funding and create positive change for people and planet.

Trudi Donahue, Wild & Kind — Trudi Donahue (she/her) from Wild & Kind

Lou (she/her) and Ellis (they/them) from Pride Outside. — Trudi Donahue (she/her) from Wild & Kind

Applications are now open

Tell me more about the course

The course is fully funded for 10 participants.
Taught over 4 weeks from 24 February to 21 March 2025. You must be able to commit up to 5 hours per week for the duration of the course.
Delivered 100% online by social entrepreneurs and experts with lived experience of neurodiversity, who have developed resources and techniques designed for dyslexia, neurodiversity and visual learning styles.
Each week, participants will learn through group workshops, 1-1s and on-demand content. The group workshops will be centrally scheduled, but participants can arrange their 1-1s and watch the on-demand content at their convenience.
Participants will learn about cashflows, forecasting, pricing and fundraising – as well as build their skills in communicating financial information, increasing their confidence and planning their growth or investment strategy as they take their business forward with their new skills!

Can I apply?

To be eligible for this course, you and your enterprise must meet the following criteria:

You must be a director of, and/or employed by, an organisation that meets the following criteria:

Scotland-based: My enterprise is incorporated and headquartered in Scotland.
Positive impact: My enterprise aims to provide direct social benefit to individuals, communities and/or the environment. I can provide evidence of the impact the enterprise can make.
Operational: My enterprise is up and running. I can provide evidence of income generation that would support a loan application.
Social enterprise: My enterprise has an appropriate social enterprise legal structure for the context and location in which it operates.
Governance: My enterprise has at least two unrelated directors/ trustees.
Prohibited activities: The activities of my enterprise do not involve political campaigning or the advancement of religion.
As an individual, I experience one or more of the following barrier(s) to growing my business finance skills and confidence:
– dyslexia and other expressions of neurodivergence
– previously disengaged from traditional forms of education
– due to low income or caring responsibilities, I have been unable to engage with business or finance education
These barriers have prevented me from growing my social enterprise as I would like to – and/or securing funding or investment.
I can commit 5 hours per week to this course for four weeks starting Monday, 24 February, including 2 hours of scheduled group programming, 2 hours scheduled by me (the participant) and 1 hour of on-demand content.

How do I apply?

Follow this link to access the application form. Apply online by noon, Monday 10 February.

Initially, we will assess applications against the eligibility criteria.

A selection process will then prioritise those who benefit most from this tailored support – those experiencing multiple intersecting barriers and with the highest prospect of securing investment or growth through increasing their finance skills and confidence.

All applicants will be informed of the outcome of the selection process by Monday 17 February.

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