Business support to third sector organisations contract review: research summary

3 Just Enterprise Beneficiary Experience and Benefits

3.1 The review undertook primary research, via face-to-face, telephone and online survey methods. This chapter concentrates on the service recipient experience and benefits. It should be noted that the percentages identified in the analysis relate to the proportion of the 431 organisations who responded to the survey and are therefore not representative of all individuals / organisations who have received Just Enterprise Support over the full contract periods. See Appendix A for Research Methods.

3.2 This chapter covers:

• a profile of respondents;
• analysis of how they have engaged with Just Enterprise;
• how satisfied they are with the support and the benefits they feel they have gained from taking part;
• the economic impacts achieved and forecast as a result of support;
• their plans for future engagement with Just Enterprise; and
• user recommendations for how support could be improved.

3.3 Due to the varying nature of Just Enterprise support, some of the benefits and impacts of support have been separated by the three broad types of Just Enterprise support received. These are Start-up Support, Business Support, and Leadership Support. Case studies are also used to illustrate points.

Respondent Profile

3.4 In total, 431 ^[25] organisations responded to the survey (231 completed online and 200 were surveyed by telephone). As shown overleaf in Figure 3.1, over one third (37%) of respondents were Social Enterprises, 26% were an Enterprising Third Sector organisation and 14% were Community Enterprises. The remaining 23% were ‘other’ types of organisations, mainly Charities and Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations ( SCIOs), and also Housing Associations, Credit Unions, Community Trusts and Voluntary Organisations.

Figure 3.1: Type of survey respondent organisation

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries

3.5 The respondents (413 answered this question) represented 26 different sectors with a number also selecting the ‘other’ category. These respondents tended to cover a number of sectors e.g. disability, older people and minority groups. As shown in Table 3.1, the most common sector was Community Regeneration / Development, accounting for 48 or 12% of respondents.

3.6 This is broadly reflective of the overall profile of Just Enterprise recipients. The top three sectors for the total population are Arts, Heritage and Culture, in line with our respondent profile, Community Development / Regeneration (9% for the overall population, and so slightly over-represented in our sample) and Employability and Training (7%) slightly under-represented in our responses.

Table 3.1: Respondents by sector

Sector	No. 1	%	Sector	No.	%
Community Development / Regeneration	48	12%	Third Sector Interface [26]	10	2%
Health and Wellbeing	36	9%	Older People	9	2%
Arts Heritage and Culture	36	9%	Law and Justice	8	2%
Child and Family	33	8%	Leisure	8	2%
Education	26	6%	Recycle and Reuse	6	1%
Employability and Training	24	6%	Voluntary	6	1%
Housing and Homelessness	22	5%	Food and Nutrition	6	1%
Disability	18	4%	Ethnic Minority	5	1%
Sports and Recreation	16	4%	Funding and Finance	5	1%
Mental Health	15	4%	Tourism and Hospitality	5	1%
Environment	15	4%	Transport	5	1%
Social Care	14	3%	Minority Groups	3	1%
Youth	13	3%	Women	2	0%
Other	19	5%	Total	413	100%

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries;
¹ Number of respondents.

3.7 As to be expected, the majority of respondents (399 to this question) were micro organisations, 240 (60%) employed 0.5 to nine Full-Time Equivalent ( FTE) employees and a further 54 (14%) had no employees. Of those that were larger, 81 (20%) were small enterprises, employing 10 to 49 FTEs and 24 (6%) were medium enterprises, employing 50 to 249 FTEs. There were no large organisations (250 FTEs and over). Unsurprisingly, recipients of Start-up Support tended to be micro organisations or have no employees. Recipients of Leadership Support tended to be large in size, while Business Support recipients cut across all sizebands.

3.8 Respondents (396 to this question) reported employing a larger number of volunteers than paid employees. One hundred and thirty (33%) employed one to nine volunteers, 119 (30%) employed 10 to 49 volunteers, 45 (11%) employed 50 to 249 volunteers and five employed 250 volunteers. Just 97 employed no volunteers, and these were split fairly evenly among the three types of support.

3.9 In terms of turnover in the most recent financial year, the most common category was £100,000 to £499,999, which accounted for just over one third (35%, 108 of the 305 respondents to this question). This was followed by nil or not applicable, which was reported by 17% of respondents, nearly all of whom were Start-up organisations. As shown in Figure 3.2, the rest of the categories were fairly evenly split with 12% reporting a turnover of £1 million+, 11% £10,000 to £49,999, 9% up to £9,999 and 8% £50,000 to £99,999 and £500,000 to £999,999.

3.10 When excluding Enterprising Third Sector organisations from our survey sample, this is broadly similar to the entire spectrum of social enterprises in Scotland. The 2017 Social Enterprise Census ^[27] indicates that 43% of social enterprises turn over below £50,000 (45% for our survey sample), and that 12% are turning over £1m or above (9% in our sample).

Figure 3.2: Respondents by turnover

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries

3.11 In total 323 respondents reported having received 443 instances of support over the period from 2011 to 2017. This is an average of 1.37 per beneficiary compared to the Just Enterprise monitoring information which suggests an average of 1.42 instances of support per organisation. The respondent profile, not surprisingly, generally reflected those who received instances of support in recent years: 109 instances of support in 2017, 113 in 2016, 74 in 2015, 60 in 2014, 29 in 2013, 29 in 2012 and 29 in 2011.

3.12 Following the population distribution in Scotland, the majority of respondents (421 to this question) were in the Central Belt. As shown in Table 3.2, Glasgow City accounted for the largest number at 75 organisations (18%). This was followed by City of Edinburgh with 67 respondents (16%), so that in our sample 34% were from Glasgow and Edinburgh (compared to 35% for the Just Enterprise service as a whole). Amongst our sample, 36 respondents (9%) were from Highland (in line with all Just Enterprise beneficiaries). The top three local authorities in our survey responses are therefore the same as the total population of Just Enterprise recipients ^[28] .

3.13 In all, 15% responding were from Highland and Islands (as per Just Enterprise monitoring data), versus 21% of social enterprises (Social Enterprise Census Scotland).

Table 3.2: Respondents by Local Authority

Local Authority	Number	%	Local Authority	Number	%
Glasgow City	75	18%	Moray	9	2%
City of Edinburgh	67	16%	Scottish Borders	8	2%
Highland	36	9%	East Ayrshire	8	2%
Fife	15	4%	West Lothian	8	2%
South Lanarkshire	15	4%	Falkirk	7	2%
Dundee City	15	4%	West Dunbartonshire	7	2%
Dumfries and Galloway	13	3%	Eilean Siar	6	1%
Perth and Kinross	12	3%	Inverclyde	6	1%
Aberdeen City	12	3%	East Dunbartonshire	5	1%
Argyll and Bute	12	3%	Midlothian	5	1%
Renfrewshire	12	3%	East Lothian	5	1%
North Lanarkshire	11	3%	Clackmannanshire	5	1%
South Ayrshire	11	3%	Angus	3	1%
North Ayrshire	10	2%	East Renfrewshire	3	1%
Stirling	10	2%	Orkney Islands	1	>1%
Aberdeenshire	9	2%	Total	421	100%

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries

Beneficiary ^[29] Experience

Awareness of Just Enterprise

3.14 Almost six in 10 beneficiaries become aware of Just Enterprise support through referrals or via word of mouth. As shown in Figure 3.3, the most common way for respondents (407 to this question) to first become aware of Just Enterprise is by being referred from another organisation. However, whilst the most common route, this is still reported by less than three in 10 (118, 29%) of respondents.

3.15 Referrals are more common amongst Start-up Support recipients. The most common route of referrals has been from Business Gateway, although this is only 8% of all routes into Just Enterprise. Smaller numbers of organisations were also referred through Firstport, the enterprise agencies, the Social Enterprise Academy and local authorities and Community Enterprise Ltd.. Other, smaller referral sources included other consortium partners ( CEMVO Scotland, InspirAlba, CEIS, HISEZ) and the Development Trust Association for Scotland. Many of the referral routes in have been via consortium partners and one may have expected referrals into Just Enterprise to be higher, including from Business Gateway and via Third Sector Intermediaries.

3.16 The next most common form of service awareness was word of mouth, which accounted for a similar share (111, 27%) of respondents, which varied little among the three support types.

3.17 Direct contact from Just Enterprise (via email or an advisor) was reported by 53 respondents (40 and 13 respectively) (13%).

Figure 3.3: How respondents first became aware of Just Enterprise

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries

Motivation for Accessing Just Enterprise

3.18 Respondents (406) reported a number of different motivations for accessing Just Enterprise support. As shown in Table 3.3, amongst the most commonly cited reasons were to develop new or existing skills, which was reported by 186 (46%), almost half of all respondents to this question. Further, one in five specifically were seeking to develop leadership, reinforcing the perceived value of this element of support.

3.19 Growing the organisation is a strong motivator, reported by 161 (40%) of respondents to this question, as is increasing the sustainability of the organisation (37%). This is encouraging, given the first objective of the service is to ‘help organisations to become sustainable businesses or grow where appropriate.’ With growing the organisation a stronger motivator than sustainability, there could perhaps be a more explicit objective to achieve organisational growth. Further, almost one in four were seeking to increase their trading activity.

3.20 Just over one in five (21%) were seeking to develop services and products and almost one in five were seeking to access finance for growth (19%), reflecting the importance of investment readiness and ability to access funding, perhaps in greater volume than the Just Enterprise service has to date been offering.

Table 3.3: Respondents by motivation to take part in support (multiple responses ^[30] )

Motivation	Number	% of respondents
To develop the skills of the organisation	186	46%
To grow the organisation	161	40%
To increase the sustainability of the organisation	150	37%
To support the start-up of the organisation	132	33%
To increase trading activity	99	24%
To deliver more services or products	87	21%
To develop leadership	80	20%
To access finance for growth	76	19%
To access more markets	62	15%
To overcome trading difficulties	31	8%
Other	34	8%
Total number of responses	1098
Total number of respondents	406

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries

Application Process

3.21 Table 3.4 shows that the majority of the 406 respondents to this question found the application process to be a positive experience with 40% giving it a rating of five out of five (very good) and 32% rating it four, so that just over seven in 10 (72%) rated the process good or very good.

3.22 However, almost one in 10 beneficiaries (9%) rated it as one out of five (very poor) or two (poor), and a further 20% a rating of three. In all, over one quarter (29%) rated the process between one and three out of five, which does suggest some room for improvement.

3.23 Disaggregating this further, it was the support and responsiveness of the Just Enterprise team that was rated highest (74% rating this four or five out of five), followed by the level of paperwork (71%) and the length of the application process (70%) (Table 3.4). The support and responsiveness of the Just Enterprise team also had the highest percentage of five out of five ratings, with 44 percent rating this five out of five. These views were supported by qualitative responses with the most representative qualitative responses commenting:

"[The most beneficial aspect was] the ease of application and good advisor. This saved us volunteer time."

"[The most beneficial aspect was] the ease of access to great support and at no financial burden to the enterprise. Simple application process, speed of decision making and quality of support put in place. No charge applied."

"[The most beneficial aspect was] it's quick and easy application process so you get the support when you need it. This is in comparison with other support organisations and their application processes."

3.24 Although the Just Enterprise team support is valued highly, as Table 3.4 shows there is suggestion for some room for improvement in the overall process, the level of paperwork involved, the length of the application process and the support and responsiveness of the Just Enterprise team ^[31] .

Table 3.4: Satisfaction of application process (1=very poor, 5=very good)

Satisfaction	1	2	3	4	5
The application process overall	3%	6%	20%	32%	40%
The level of paperwork involved	2%	5%	22%	33%	38%
The length of the application process	3%	6%	22%	34%	36%
The support and responsiveness of the JE team	6%	5%	17%	30%	44%

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries

Experiences of those Not Taking up Support

3.25 As well as engaging with recipients of Just Enterprise support, a telephone survey was carried out with 50 Third Sector organisations who had applied to Just Enterprise but had either not been offered, or did not take up support. The main aim of this strand of the research was to uncover what barriers there are to accessing Just Enterprise support and why some people may choose not to engage after having initially applied for support.

3.26 As shown at Table 3.5, the majority (52%) of respondents were not sure of the reason their organisation did not take up Just Enterprise support. Overall, there is not one clear barrier to support. A small number of respondents cited issues around quality with two saying they didn’t feel participating would be worthwhile and another two preferring a different type of support to that available. Logistical barriers were more often cited, five were too busy and for four, the support was too far away for them to travel, which illustrates the value of support being available locally. Just one felt accessing support was too costly in terms of travel, and this respondent was based in Orkney.

3.27 Ten respondents (20%) cited other reasons. These included ill-health and deciding not to go ahead with setting up their social enterprise for various reasons, including moving into employment and starting a family. Only one stated they found a more suitable course from a different provider, although no details were provided.

Table 3.5: Non-beneficiaries by main reason for not accessing support

Main reason for not accessing support	Number	%
I was too busy / didn’t have the time	5	10%
The support was held too far away	4	8%
I didn’t feel the support would be worthwhile for my organisation	2	4%
I wanted a different type of support to workshops/courses	2	4%
The support was too costly to access	1	2%
I wanted to access support but was not accepted	0	0%
Insufficient information available about Just Enterprise	0	0%
I was unaware of what Just Enterprise offered	0	0%
Other	10	20%
Don’t know / unsure	26	52%
Total number of respondents	50	100%

Source: Context Economics survey of non-beneficiaries

Beneficiary Satisfaction

3.28 Returning to those who accessed Just Enterprise support, beneficiaries reported high levels of satisfaction with various elements of the Just Enterprise support. As shown in Table 3.6, across six different aspects (relevance, quality, expertise, engagement method, length and timing), a minimum of 42% reported that they were extremely satisfied (five out of five) (the total number of respondents was between 405 and 408 for each category).

3.29 Beneficiaries were most satisfied with the level of expertise of the support provider, with 81% rating this four or above out of five, and over half (53%) rating it a five (extremely satisfied). Beneficiaries rated the quality of the service, the method of engagement and the timing of support, in relation to the stage of the business, similarly. Even the element with the lowest rates of satisfaction, the duration of support, had a positive response with 72% of respondents rating this four or above out of five, and over four in 10 (42%) being extremely satisfied with this.

3.30 These are good satisfaction levels, although it is important to learn lessons, wherever possible, from those who are less satisfied. Almost three in 10 did not find the duration of support as appropriate. This varies little by geography, although a small number of qualitative comments from non-Central Belt recipients stated that advisor travel time should be shown and paid for separately, access to one-to-one support should be carefully considered, and that the support needs to be updated to reflect those recipients not from the Central Belt.

Table 3.6: Satisfaction of support (1=not at all satisfied, 5=extremely satisfied)

Element of support	1	2	3	4	5
Relevance of the support	5%	3%	14%	33%	46%
Quality of the service	3%	4%	13%	29%	52%
Level of expertise of the support provider	3%	4%	13%	28%	53%
The method of engagement	2%	3%	14%	34%	46%
The duration of support	4%	5%	19%	30%	42%
The timing of support	3%	4%	14%	30%	49%

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries

3.31 These satisfaction levels compare somewhat favourably to other national support programmes. One large scale and high profile evaluation of a national volume business support programme ^[32] found that service users were satisfied (rating four or five out of five) with the service staff's level of expertise (71% - Just Enterprise 81%), relevance of support (73% - Just Enterprise 79%), and professionalism (82% - Just Enterprise quality of service 82%).

Benefits of Support

Morale, Confidence, Aspirations to Grow and Motivation

3.32 Respondents reported that Just Enterprise support has had a very positive effect on their organisation’s confidence, with 83% of the 404 respondents to this question reporting a positive effect, and 44% reporting a significant positive effect, as shown at Table 3.7. Around one in eight (12%) reported no effects to date from use of the service, and 5% cited a negative effect.

3.33 Beneficiaries were equally positive about the impact of Just Enterprise support on their organisation’s motivation, morale and aspirations to grow. Fewer than one in 10 respondents had experienced a negative effect on any of these as a result of the support.

Table 3.7: Effects of support

Rating	Significant negative effect	Small negative effect	No effect	Small positive effect	Significant positive effect
Morale	4%	1%	18%	37%	40%
Confidence	3%	2%	12%	39%	44%
Motivation	3%	2%	16%	38%	42%
Aspirations to grow	4%	1%	15%	38%	42%

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries

3.34 Respondents (53 to this question) who had benefitted from Leadership Support were more likely to report positive effects from the support, followed by Business Development beneficiaries, and then Start-up beneficiaries. This was similar for the effect of Just Enterprise support on the recipient’s confidence and motivation.

Leadership support for a Housing Organisation

The positive effects of Leadership support were highlighted by a housing organisation that participated in the research. The member of the team who participated in an ILM workshop in 2015 and Your Next Step Leadership Workshop in 2017 commented that the support had had a particular impact on his confidence. He felt that this had led him to challenge himself and rethink his leadership style. From this he felt that he had been able to become more active in his decision making and in turn this has helped the organisation to trade more effectively.

3.35 For Leadership, this reinforces work by the Social Enterprise Academy, the delivery partner, that found that impacts on beneficiary organisations arising from Leadership Support often increase over time. The findings are also supported by the in-depth consultation work with Leadership beneficiaries; the group setting of the courses where like-minded individuals from different social enterprises came together was highly valued motivationally and inspirationally.

3.36 Start-up beneficiaries were slightly more likely to report a negative effect. While there were almost no reported negative effects from Leadership and Business Support beneficiaries, around five per cent of Start-up beneficiaries reported a negative effect on their organisation’s aspirations to grow, morale and motivation.

3.37 Qualitatively, some Start-up beneficiaries stated that their more negative view was due to a lack of follow-up / aftercare, feeling ‘lost’ because support did not last long enough or they did not have enough one-to-one advisor time, or content being too profit-focussed. At the same time, there is always likely to be a greater mismatch between a service beneficiary’s expectations at the start-phase, where some expectations may not be realistic, when compared to more established organisations.

Respondents Reported Economic Impacts

Reported Impacts to Date

3.38 In all, Table 3.8 shows that 161 of 390 organisations (41%) who answered the question reported that they had achieved economic impacts to date as a result of the support they received through Just Enterprise. A smaller proportion, 122 organisations (31%) felt it was too soon after the support to make a judgement, whereas the remaining 107 organisations (27%) reported that they had not achieved any economic impacts to date.

Table 3.8: Economic impacts

Economic impact	Number	%
Economic impacts achieved	161	41%
Too soon to say	122	31%
No economic impacts	107	27%
Total	390	100%

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries

3.39 The types of economic impacts reported as being achieved are shown in Table 3.9 (multiple responses were allowed) ^[33] . Increasing turnover, creating new jobs and new volunteering positions are the three most common impacts experienced by beneficiaries.

Table 3.9: Types of economic impacts achieved to date

Economic impact	Number	% of respondents
Increase in turnover	72	45%
Jobs created	68	42%
Volunteer positions created	51	32%
Safeguarded turnover	46	29%
Jobs safeguarded	36	22%
Increase in profit	36	22%
Securing social investment	32	20%
Cost savings	31	19%
Volunteer positions safeguarded	21	13%
Saved or recovered business/organisation	18	11%
Total number of responses	411
Total number of respondents	161

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries

3.40 A reflection of the stage of the organisation, Business Support and Leadership recipients were more likely to report economic benefits than Start-up Support recipients.

3.41 Leadership and Business Support recipients were therefore much more likely than Start-up Support recipients to have increased their turnover or profit as a result of the Just Enterprise support. Reflecting this, a higher proportion of Start-up recipients (40% of 84 respondents) felt it was too soon to report any economic impacts compared to Leadership (37% of 38 respondents) or Business Support (22% of 150 respondents) recipients ^[34] .

3.42 Overall, of the 72 organisations that reported increased turnover to date as a result of Just Enterprise support, 33 were able to estimate this value, which ranged from £600 to £700,000 (with a median ^[35] of £50,000).

Generating Turnover Impacts

Two examples where beneficiaries highlighted the positive impact of Just Enterprise support on their turnover focused on help with procurement and funding applications. A community business highlighted how Just Enterprise support with sourcing and applying for funding had been instrumental in the organisation being awarded £150,000 to deliver workshops.

Another example came from an educational theatre company. The organisation’s confidence was dented when it lost a contract it had held for nearly 20 years, but procurement support from Just Enterprise helped the organisation to win back the contract. This was important as a confidence booster and also for their turnover, as the contract is worth £250,000 per annum.

3.43 Of the 68 organisations who reported they have created new jobs to date as a result of support, 50 were able to estimate the number, which ranged from 0.5 Full Time equivalents ( FTEs) to 14 FTEs (with a median of 2 FTEs). In terms of creating volunteer positions, 36 of the 51 organisations reporting this impact were able to estimate the number, which ranged from 0.5 FTEs to 100 FTEs (with a median of 4 FTEs).

3.44 Finally, 18 respondents indicated that the support through Just Enterprise had saved or recovered their organisation.

3.45 In all, 46 respondents reported safeguarded turnover as a result of support, although only 15 were able to estimate the value of this, which ranged from £15,000 to just under £1m of safeguarded turnover (with a median of £50,000).

3.46 Similarly, 36 respondents attributed safeguarding jobs to the Just Enterprise support, and 22 were able to estimate the number, ranging from 1 FTE to 18 FTEs (with a median of 2 FTEs).

3.47 Beneficiaries who had achieved economic impacts were asked to what extent they would have been achieved without the Just Enterprise support. Fewer than one in four, (33 beneficiaries) felt that the impacts would have been achieved anyway, and 26 reported that their impacts would not have been achieved at all. Of the remainder who were able to quantify, the impacts would have been achieved but would have taken a longer time to accrue or would have been to a smaller scale.

Home support organisation

One beneficiary highlighted that Just Enterprise supported them in their bid as part of a consortium for a contract with a Local Authority. They felt that the support from Just Enterprise was invaluable and assessed that without the support they would definitely not have won the contract, which was worth a total of £1.6 million for the consortium.

Respondents Reported Forecast Economic and other Impacts

3.48 In line with business confidence data presented in the Social Enterprise Census, respondents were slightly less optimistic about achieving economic impacts in the future (Table 3.10). Just fewer than four in 10 organisations (150 of 394 who answered this question, 38%) expect to achieve economic impacts in the next three years as a result of support received. Three in 10 organisations (119, 30%) felt that it was too soon to say whether impacts would be achieved and a similar share (125, 32%) were not expecting any economic impacts as a result of Just Enterprise support.

Table 3.10: Achieving economic impacts in the future

Economic impact	Number	%
Economic impacts expected	150	38%
Too soon to say	119	30%
No economic impacts	125	32%
Total	394	100%

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries

3.49 However, Just Enterprise recipients who responded to these questions are confident the economic benefits they forecast will in fact materialise. The 150 organisations forecasting future economic impacts were asked how confident they were that these benefits will be achieved, between 0% (no confidence) and 100% (full confidence), ranging from 10% to 100% confidence (with a median confidence level of 80%).

3.50 The most common forecast impacts are an increase in turnover and job creation. It is noticeable that around one quarter of beneficiaries who answered this question (24% of the 387 respondents ^[36] ) expect to increase their turnover within three years as a result of the support received. Forecast impacts are set out at Table 3.11 (multiple responses were allowed).

Table 3.11: Economic impacts forecast in the future

Economic impact	Number	% of respondents
Increase in turnover	94	24%
Jobs created	72	19%
Increase in profit	62	16%
Safeguarded turnover	51	13%
Volunteer positions created	47	12%
Jobs safeguarded	43	11%
Securing social investment	43	11%
Volunteer positions safeguarded	32	8%
Cost savings	32	8%
Saved or recovered business/organisation	17	4%
Total number of responses	493
Total number of respondents	387

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries

3.51 In contrast to impacts achieved to date, forecast impacts are spread much more evenly across the three different support types. At least 40% of Start-up (33 of 82 respondents), Business Support (61 of 154 respondents) and Leadership Support (17 of 39 respondents) recipients ^[37] who answered this question anticipate achieving economic benefits over the next three years as a result of Just Enterprise support.

3.52 Also in contrast to impacts to date, Start-up recipients who answered this question are much more optimistic about increasing their turnover in the future (30% of 82 respondents in the future, compared with 15% of 84 respondents to date). Again, this will reflect the stage of these organisations. This is slightly greater than the share of Business Support and Leadership recipients expecting to increase their turnover in the future as a result of Just Enterprise support. There is a similar split for forecast job creation.

3.53 Overall, of the 94 organisations who expect to increase their turnover as a result of Just Enterprise support, 50 were able to estimate the value, ranging from just £50 to £1.75m (with a median of £40,000).

3.54 In terms of job creation, 41 of the 72 organisations expecting to increase their posts as a result of support were able to estimate how many jobs, ranging from 1 to 12 FTEs over the three year period (with a median of 2 FTEs).

3.55 Similarly, 25 of the 47 organisations expecting to increase their volunteering positions as a result of support were able to estimate how many, ranging from 1 FTE to 50 FTEs (with a median of 8 FTEs).

Additional Economic Benefits

3.56 The following section assesses the additional economic-related qualitative benefits identified by beneficiaries who responded to our survey.

3.57 Around half of respondents reported additional economic benefits they have achieved as a result of the support (multiple responses were allowed). As shown in Table 3.12, the most commonly reported benefit was improved strategic and business planning, which was reported by 116 (30%) respondents. This was followed by greater sustainability and resilience in the organisation (85 respondents, 22%) and having more efficient working practices (also 85, 22%).

Effective business planning – sports sector social enterprise

Support with strategic and business planning was highlighted by one community sports organisation. Just Enterprise support allowed the organisation to develop business plans and forecasting required by Sportscotland. This support was very important for the organisation and Just Enterprise also helped them to apply for a Social Investment Scotland Loan, without which it is likely the organisation would not have survived.

3.58 Half of supported organisations stated that they had either not achieved any additional economic benefits to date (147, 38% of the 387 respondents) or were unsure (47, 12%). Unsurprisingly, Start-up beneficiaries were most likely not to report any benefits to date (43% of the 83 respondents), being too soon for these impacts to materialise.

Table 3.12: Additional economic benefits

Additional economic benefit	Number	% of respondents
Improved strategic and business planning	116	30%
Greater sustainability and resilience within the organisation	85	22%
More efficient working practices	85	22%
Improved organisational image or reputation	73	19%
Increased scale of the organisation	53	14%
New product / service markets accessed	39	10%
Improved cashflow	37	10%
New or wider portfolio of contracts held	32	8%
We have set up as a result of support	29	7%
New geographical markets accessed	22	6%
Other	9	2%
None	147	38%
Don't know	47	12%
Total number of responses	774
Total number of respondents	387

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries

3.59 Compared to the 43% of Start-up beneficiaries reporting no additional benefits to date, the proportion was 31% (48 of 155 respondents) for Business Support service users and just 19% (7 of 37 respondents) of Leadership beneficiaries. Leadership beneficiaries were more likely to report having achieved additional economic benefits – 59% (22 of 37 respondents) had improved their strategic and business planning, 43% (16 of 37 respondents) had implemented more efficient working practices and 43% (16 of 37 respondents) had greater sustainability and resilience as an organisation ^[38] .

Wider Social and Environmental Benefits

3.60 Perhaps surprisingly, given that these are unintended consequences of Just Enterprise support, around half of respondents reported wider social and environmental benefits from accessing support (53% of the 377 respondents) (again, multiple responses were allowed). Table 3.13 shows that almost three in 10 (27%) positively reported expanding their network through new relationships with other Third Sector organisations, reported by some 100 respondents (27%). Almost as many (95, 25%) now have a clearer organisational purpose. These are unexpected, or unintended consequences of the Just Enterprise support service. Some one in six beneficiaries now have more clearly defined social values / ethos, as a result of their support. At the same time, almost half of all respondents either did not know if wider social or economic benefits had been realised (50, 13%) or reported none of these to date (130, 34%). Again, Start-up beneficiaries were the ones least likely to report social or economic benefits at the time of the survey.

Table 3.13: Wider social or economic benefits

Wider social or economic benefit	Number	% of respondents
New relationships with other Third Sector organisations	100	27%
A clearer social purpose of the organisation	95	25%
Providing employment or volunteering positions	76	20%
Identifying social needs or gaps	63	17%
More clearly defined social values / ethos	59	16%
A greater understanding of equalities issues / organisations	42	11%
Delivering environmental benefits	33	9%
Other	15	4%
None	130	34%
Don’t know	50	13%
Total number of responses	663
Total number of respondents	377

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries

3.61 The networking element of the Leadership programmes is evident. In all, more than half of the Leadership beneficiaries surveyed (53% of 38 respondents) reported new relationships with other Third Sector organisations. Leadership beneficiaries who responded also reported a higher rate of achieving a clearer social purpose and more clearly defined social values / ethos.

The benefits of networking

One example of networking as a result of Leadership support was highlighted by a housing charity. In this instance the recipient had attended a Leadership course in 2016 but was still taking part in regular meetings with the group, which they had organised so they could share their experiences. He felt that it had been particularly useful to be able to meet and learn from Third Sector organisations outside of the housing sector. As well as taking part in a new learning network, the beneficiary had also cascaded his learning throughout the organisation.

3.62 Start-up beneficiaries were also more likely to have developed a clearer social purpose (32% of 81 respondents) and more clearly defined social values / ethos (23% of 81 respondents); clearly further (unintended) benefits from interacting with Just Enterprise. Whilst these are not objectives of Just Enterprise it is clear the service helps to assist new social entrepreneurs to gain a wider understanding of the social value and purpose of social enterprises.

3.63 By contrast, Business Support beneficiaries were more likely to provide employment or volunteering positions as a result of the support (29% of 151 respondents).

Further ‘Intangible’ Benefits of Support

3.64 Increasing confidence to trade as a Third Sector organisation was the most common ‘intangible benefit’ achieved by beneficiaries (multiple responses were allowed), as shown at Table 3.14, with 129 (33%) respondents reporting this. Just Enterprise has also given organisations a greater understanding of trading in the Third Sector, reported by 107 (27%) respondents. One in four respondents stated they had achieved no intangible benefits, and a further 11% stated that they did not know whether intangible benefits had occurred or not.

Table 3.14: Intangible benefits

Intangible benefit	Number	% of respondents
Increased confidence to trade as a Third Sector Organisation	129	33%
New networks developed	120	31%
Improved leadership skills	114	29%
Greater understanding of trading as a Third Sector Organisation	107	27%
Acquisition of specific knowledge	54	14%
Other	7	2%
None	98	25%
Don’t know	42	11%
Total number of responses	671
Total number of respondents	391

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries

3.65 Leadership and Business Support beneficiaries were much more likely to have derived some intangible benefits as a result of Just Enterprise than Start-up support recipients ^[39] . Twenty-four per-cent (20 of 83 respondents) of Start-up beneficiaries had not achieved any intangible benefits compared with 15% (23 of 155 respondents) of Business Support and 8% (3 of 39 respondents) of Leadership beneficiaries. Across all beneficiaries, a further 11% were unable to say whether intangible benefits had occurred, or not.

3.66 Increased confidence to trade as a Third Sector organisation was particularly reported by Business Support (40% of 155 respondents) and Start-up Support recipients (39% of 83 respondents). This was similar for those reporting a greater understanding of trading as a Third Sector organisation. As would be expected, Leadership beneficiaries were by far the most likely to have improved their leadership skills (79% of 39 respondents), while all three support types had developed new networks.

Beneficiaries Future Plans

3.67 Almost two-thirds of respondents (62% of 360 respondents) stated that they planned to access support from Just Enterprise or another business support organisation in the future. Most of these were planning to access Just Enterprise support again. Others mentioned that they planned to access Business Gateway, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Development International, local authority support (e.g. East Ayrshire’s beReady programme), Firstport Start It and Build It funding, and Scottish Government’s Developing Social Entrepreneurs programme ^[40] .

3.68 As shown in Figure 3.4 (multiple responses were allowed), the greatest need for Third Sector Business Support going forward is for finance (181 of 349 who responded to this question, 52%) and for business planning (168, 48% respondents). However, there was significant reported interest for all Business Support areas, including Marketing / Web Design (132, 38%), Leadership (117, 34%), Tendering (93, 27%) and Sales (76, 22%).

Figure 3.4: Future needs for business support

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries

Beneficiaries Recommendations

3.69 Beneficiaries were broadly positive about Just Enterprise support with many stating they had no recommendations for improvement as they felt the service was already of a very high standard.

3.70 Whilst generally respondents were positive about the content of support, some recipients felt that the content could be more up-to-date and specific. One respondent stated that ‘the content seems tired occasionally perhaps not totally relevant to the context today’, and another felt that ‘more tailored’ content would be useful.

3.71 Again, many respondents were positive about the delivery of support with one person describing it as ‘excellent’. In terms of recommendations for change, there were comments on the pace of delivery with one respondent recommending that delivery is ‘perhaps a little quicker’ whilst another said ‘something over a longer time period would have helped’. Overall this may suggest that, as with content, it would be useful to tailor the pace of delivery to beneficiary needs. One respondent commented delivery should be ‘paced to suit the needs of the organisation – especially where staff resources are limited.’

3.72 As with support delivery, a number of recipients described resources as ‘excellent’. Recommendations for improvements tended to focus on increasing online resources and providing documents to show areas of support covered and examples of best practice. Examples of respondents’ comments included ‘perhaps greater online resources would encourage further engagement’ and suggestions were made to provide ‘toolkits’ and ‘best practice information’.

3.73 Based on their experience of Just Enterprise, respondents suggested that key lessons for business support providers to the Third Sector were to appreciate the specific needs of Third Sector businesses and provide experienced trainers. For example, one respondent said that ‘having experienced practitioners is really important. People have to learn, but direct experience of the issues being advised upon is vital’. Another commented that support organisations need to ‘be aware that although Third Sector organisations are effectively businesses, they often operate in a different way’.

3.74 Respondents were asked about the most beneficial aspect of Just Enterprise support. Their responses are shown at Figure 3.5, with the size of words representing the frequency as to which they were reported. The most frequently used terms were ‘confidence’, ‘networking’, ‘understanding’, ‘knowledge’, ‘help’ and ‘understanding’.

Figure 3.5: Survey word cloud

Source: Context Economics survey of beneficiaries

Summary and Conclusion

3.75 There is some very positive feedback on the Just Enterprise service from those who have used it (participants / respondents to this review), with good levels of satisfaction with the quality and relevance of support, and this has translated into organisation and wider benefits.

3.76 Social enterprise benefits cover those that may be expected from Just Enterprise, such as improved business planning, and a more sustainable organisation, key objectives for Just Enterprise. However, a range of wider benefits have also been derived, including more confident organisations, who are more motivated, and with greater aspirations to grow. Not all respondents have derived benefits, although these are more typically Start-up beneficiaries, where impacts may yet be realised.

3.77 Some of the wider benefits can be seen as unintended consequences of the support, such as a more clearly defined social purpose, and new relationships formed with other Third Sector organisations.

3.78 There are pointers in the survey responses on areas for improvement or consideration going forward. By no means all have been satisfied with the application process, and this is not confined to Start-up organisations. Levels of referral into the programme are low, including from mainstream Business Support agencies, and this is another area to be investigated further.

3.79 Future demand looks strong, and more than six in 10 plan to use Just Enterprise or other Business Support going forward, with demand strongest in the areas of finance and business planning, but also in other areas that are not as strong in the current Just Enterprise offer as they could be, such as marketing, online and social media.

3.80 Good satisfaction with the Just Enterprise support offer, and the benefits this has resulted in, translate into economic impacts. For those that responded to these questions, more than four in 10 have already achieved economic impacts as a result of support, increasing and safeguarding turnover and creating and safeguarding jobs, and these are economic impacts that on the whole would not otherwise have been achieved without the Just Enterprise support.