Know your customer
Map what your customers value, so your social business offer speaks directly to their needs.
Build your business model
See how your activities, partners and income fit together to deliver your social business.
Draft in real time
Leave with draft plans for your customers and your business model, ready to refine.
Plan your next steps
Get clear on what's working, what needs more thought, and what to do next.
About the workshop
This workshop helps you get to grips with your customers and turn that understanding into a working plan for your social business. Using two practical tools, you’ll map out what your customers really need and how your offer meets it.
You’ll start by exploring your value proposition for one of your customer types, working out their pains, gains and the jobs they’re trying to get done. From there, you’ll look at your wider business model including how your key activities, partners, resources, channels and income all fit together to deliver your social business.
By the end of the session, you’ll have draft plans for both, and a clearer sense of your next steps. The workshop runs on Zoom and combines short introductions to each area with hands-on time to apply them to your own idea.
- How to map your offer to one customer type’s pains, gains and jobs to be done
- How the different parts of a social business model fit together: partners, activities, resources, channels, relationships, costs and income
- How to draft your own customer and business model plans
- How to identify realistic next steps for your social business plan
- Understand your customers’ needs more clearly, so you can shape an offer that genuinely helps them
- See how the different parts of your social business connect, from activities and partners through to income and surplus
- Leave with a draft business plan you can keep developing after the workshop
- Feel more confident talking about your customers and your business model with others
This workshop takes place on Zoom and is designed to be interactive throughout.
- Interactive: you’ll take part in breakout room discussions with other entrepreneurs, exploring your challenges and hopes for the session
- Get the concepts: the facilitator introduces key thinking, including Simon Sinek’s “start with why” approach
- Practical: you’ll work through practical exercises to draft your own vision, values and mission statement during the session, ready to refine afterwards
13:00 – Welcome, check in and learning aims
13:10 – Challenges and hopes
13:30 – The power of why
13:55 – Using your why to define your vision
14:10 – Break
14:20 – Identifying your values, and making values real through behaviours
15:15 – Break
15:25 – Creating your mission statement
15:50 – How to test your vision, values and mission, and next steps
16:00 – Close
This workshop is open to anyone to join from anywhere in the world. It’s particularly useful for people running or starting a social business who want a clearer picture of their customers and a working business plan. Anyone with a social business idea who wants hands-on practice mapping their customers and business model will get value from the session.
About the trainer
This workshop will be led by one of SSE’s specialist in-house facilitators. Each year, these facilitators deliver thousands of hours of learning and support to social enterprises across the UK. They draw on SSE’s long experience of working with funders big and small to help a diverse range of people strengthen their organisations and increase their impact.
Impact skills for anyone
Our workshops are designed for people looking to create impact, but anyone, anywhere can join.
15% off for Early Birds
A limited number of Early Bird tickets are available at a discount of 15% off.
Expert-led course
This course is delivered by one of our in-house specialists who deliver thousands of hours of learning to the impact sector every year.
Essential skills in a few hours
Strengthen yourself and your projects in less than a day. Take part in discussions and exercises. Come away with practical actions.
FAQ
If you have any questions that are not answered here, please feel free to contact us.
Yes, we can offer any of our workshops or completely bespoke training on request. Please contact us to discuss the options.
You are very welcome to book for multiple people but each individual joining the workshop must be booked on to join, even if sharing a computer. You can select your number of tickets when you make your booking.
If you are booking for 3 or more people, feel free to contact us to enquire about a group discount.
Cancellations or booking changes can be made up until 7 days before the workshop. You may change the name of the person attending at any time but only one person can join the course per booking.
If you wish to make a change or cancellation please contact us and state the name of the workshop and email address used to make the booking.
This workshop takes place online via Zoom. Once you have booked your place you will receive joining instructions in your confirmation email and in reminders closer to the time of the workshop.
All currently available dates are listed in the Book now section. We run most of our workshops repeatedly throughout the year, so if you cannot see further dates, they may not have yet been scheduled. Subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of the page to be kept up to date.
We do not record all our workshops as they are interactive workshops and watching back a recording does not provide the value of taking part live. It also allows people to speak more freely when taking part in discussions within the workshop.
Please see our section on Prices.
At the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE), we back people with purpose. With practical learning that makes sense in the real world. With funding that grows as you grow. With mentors, peers and people who’ve been there and done it. We don’t care where you started. We care about where you’re going and the difference you want to make in your life, in your community, and in the world.
Find out more about SSE here.
You can see the times under the dates in the Book Now section. All the workshops are on London, UK time.
If you have a question that is not answered on this page, please feel free to contact us.
Prices
Select a date in the Book Now section to see prices. Please note:
- The price is based on your organisation’s total annual income, regardless of profit.
- Our pricing is designed to be as accessible as possible for people wanting to create impact at any scale.
- The prices you can see are already heavily discounted, particularly for smaller organisations.
- There are no additional discounts for not-for-profits or government organisations.
Early bird tickets
A limited number of Early Bird tickets are available at a discount of 15% off.
Group bookings
If you would like to make a booking for 3 or more places please contact us to get a price for a group discount.
Bespoke training and support
We have a range of options for delivering impactful training to your organisation or organisations you support. Get in touch to find out more.
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