For Commercial Organisations

Enhance the business skills and life experience of your employees

Change in business is constant and accelerating. New Opportunities need new approaches and new approaches need new perspectives.

But faced with the day-to-day routine, how do we acquire these new approaches and perspectives? We need “intra-preneurs” that think outside the box.

“Intra-preneurs” need to learn and experience entrepreneurial skills but these can be hard to find within the confines of a well-established organisation.

And the best way to learn to think outside your own box, is to experience the world from a radically different box – in a totally different environment.

WE² builds social enterprise projects that bring the experience of the whole gamut of entrepreneur skills – strategy, marketing, sales, operations and finance – in the microcosm of a small project for a charity in the developing world – a radically different “box”!

And coincidentally what the developing world needs to develop, is business and commercial expertise and experience. Therefore, we have the exchange of business expertise for the life and practical experience of a project in Africa. The mission of WE² is to bring these opportunities together to make a difference.

Benefits

Develop the new competencies needed to capitalise on the opportunities of an ever-changing business landscape
Experience all the elements that comprise a successful business, in the microcosm of a small enterprise
An ideal capstone project for your graduate intake program
Unlike a “Business Game” this is a real world situation that delivers real value and social impact
Team building – that is more business oriented than just “building a raft”
Adding to your CSR and PR by making a real impact on people lives
A customised package to address your training and business needs
A complete program devised, managed and implemented

Our Projects

Past, present and some ideas for future projects here -

How the model has been successfully implemented

Projects currently being developed

How our projects can help charities

An example challenge

Situation Overview

Young people in Uganda leave secondary school with good academic results. However, in a primarily rural community they do not have the vocational skills to become economically self-sufficient.

The charity would like to establish a vocational training centre to give students the life, technical and business skills to build their own businesses and so become self-sufficient. This facility needs to be commercially self-sustaining as income from donations is not predictable over the long term.

Deliverables

A feasibility study and budgetary model, making recommendations to the charity on the best approach.

Key considerations

What vocational skills are the most marketable in the specific region?
How can the centre become self-sustaining?
Resource requirements, finance, facilities, staff
Social impact and Government legislation
Collaboration with complementary organisations
Monitoring, evaluation and business reporting
Ongoing review processes to ensure market alignment

Timeline

Over a period of three months, the team spend a few hours a week

Understanding the situation
Liaising with the charity
Researching similar projects across the world - their success, issues and critical success factors
Consulting with appropriate experts within their own organisation
Planning and scheduling their time for the field trip

A two week field trip to the charity in Uganda

Initial in-country orientation
Review their findings to-date with the charity
Understand the practicalities and limitations of operating in a developing country
Interview and consult with local stake holders – community, partners, potential students, schools & universities, local government, companies, customers, etc
Evaluate similar schemes in the region
Present initial findings to the charity

A two week period back in the UK