Looking at value and breaking down customers (who pays), users (who handles) and beneficiaries (who sees the benefit) of impact-focussed commercialisation is vital, as well as potential supporters and potential blockers in the area of work. This allows you to set out where the value of the project output lies and what opportunities to scale up exist with your support.

Charities are often popular among academics but in reality, can be very slow to launch, a larger time burden for all involved and heavily restrictive once running.

Community Interest Companies, Coops and many other dedicated social enterprise legal structures are more popular among KE staff as they balance robust financial models with clear impactful values. However, traditional limited companies can also be a useful option to consider when tied with internationally recognised accreditation processes for social value (B-Corp / United Nations Sustainable Development Goals)

Within Social Enterprise, it is not only common for more diverse customers to be a key income source (government tenders, mission project funds, community/public services). It is also very common for ‘jigsaw’ funding to continue past the seed phase of venture creation, where a mix of trading income, investment and grants make up the enterprises income long-term.

• Social Enterprise UK’s guide: How to Start a Social Enterprise: https://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/get-involved/start-a-social-enterprise/
• GOV.UK’s CIC Guides: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-of-the-regulator-of-community-interest-companies
• UN Sustainable Development Goals: https://sdgs.un.org/goals
• B-Lab (B-Corp) network: https://bcorporation.net/en-us/movement/about-b-lab/
• The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)’s support pages: https://www.ncvo.org.uk/about-us/our-services/support-small-charities-voluntary-organisations/
• Good Finance: https://www.goodfinance.org.uk/