Author Patrick Nash shares his lifelong passion and mission to create businesses that make a positive difference to society and the environment. Sharing the highs and lows of the starting up and leading 12 social enterprises. Patrick started aged just 22 setting up a workers cooperative that grew grew to £3million turnover in 2 years.
Creating Social Enterprise delivers as a first-class ‘how-to’ guide and inspiring memoir, whilst bursting with sage learnings and explaining what it takes to really make a difference.
Media Contact: Patrick Nash: patrick.nash@enterprisevalues.co.uk
With social enterprises currently outperforming their profit-focussed peers, lifetime social entrepreneur Patrick Nash modestly shares his life story in Creating Social Enterprise: My story and what I learned
Detailing how he delivered lasting positive impacts for the communities they support, the environment and changing people’s lives, the author also explains how this innovative approach to business should be considered at the forefront of tackling the triple threat of economic stagnation, social division and environmental meltdown.
Responsible for starting or growing twelve hugely successful social enterprises (a mix of companies, charities and cooperatives), this fascinating entrepreneurial innovator immerses readers in stories of rapid growth to being perilously close to financial cliff edges, with his integrity and humour shining throughout.
Always keen to explore and investigate something new, and believing empathy to be a leadership superpower, Creating Social Enterprise should be considered a must-read for anyone in business who is looking to put their values at the forefront of their organisation.
Over 40 years I have set up, scaled up and grown 12 social enterprises, including companies, charities and co-operatives. I have lectured on social enterprise and coach social entrepreneurs. I’ve written news articles and blogs and told stories. This book is my social enterprise story interspersed with top tips, great learnings, steps to success and more that I have learnt from and what has resonated from other social entrepreneurs.
The book tells of the four main enterprises that have made a positive impact on the lives of people and the environment. These are
• The emerging vegetarian food industry in the early 1980s
• Building an ecological village in Scotland
• Creating a UK-wide counselling service for schools and teachers, and
• A job-creating and life-affirming enterprise in South Wales that provides support to people struggling with mental health, poverty, debt and much more
Patrick Nash shares stories of highs and lows, mistakes and accidents, as well as how to make great working relationships and how to leave a sustainable enterprise. He draws out what he has learned about how to manage conflicts, encourage people, stay financially solvent and most of all, change the world and the lives of others.
“The UK has 100,000 social enterprises contributing £60bn to GDP. This is good, but not good enough. If we are to solve the problems that the world faces, we need to inspire a whole new generation of social entrepreneurs.
“Many books on this subject are more like textbooks or guidebooks. This is primarily a story that tells all the ups and downs of starting up, growing and leading a variety of social enterprises – all of which I have attempted to tell with humour, honesty and inquisitiveness – as well as over 40 key learnings and we my 12 great qualities of a social entrepreneur.”