WHAT IS
THE STUDIO?

The Swinburne Social Startup Studio helps build impactful and sustainable social enterprises. We offer evidence-based, practical support, mostly for startups – but we help existing social enterprises too.

WE HAVE THREE STREAMS OF SUPPORT IN THE STUDIO:

Our Fundamentals program provides the important basics that you need to know before you think about starting a social enterprise. It’s free to access and suitable for anyone looking to, or in the process of, starting a social enterprise.

The Building Blocks for Impact Capital (BB4IC) Tool is an online diagnostic tool designed to help early-stage social enterprises identify and assess the ‘building blocks’ they need to have in place to access social finance and funding.

The Aviate program builds on the knowledge gained in Fundamentals – it’s for those with a social enterprise idea that they want to get off the ground. Aviate provides a program of advice and support, tailored to each participant.

HOW DO I KNOW IF I AM A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE?

Sometimes, it is hard to tell at the very early stages of an idea if it is a social enterprise or some other form of ‘for purpose’ business. It’s highly likely that you are a social enterprise (and The Studio is the place for you) if:

  • Your foremost reason for starting an enterprise is to solve a social and/or environmental problem; and
  • You have a plan to achieve this through the sale of a product or service.

If you need more help on this, our Fundamentals program has more information on this, including a great video and other resources.