THE WINNERS of the SOCIAL BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION 2009 received their PRIZES
at an AWARDS EVENT held at The Business Place Philippi on 25 November 2009.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE AWARDS EVENT:

PRIZES INCLUDED...

8 small grants and preferential loan funding to help start or grow the winners' social businesses.
Membership to The Business Place's new membership program.
The 2 *main prize winners* received grant and preferential loan funding, as well as a sponsored incubation package with office space and administration support.

THE WINNERS WERE...


Brenda Dana Glass Recycling	Marina Scheffers Volunteer Placements


Harvest of Hope Weziwe Dlwengu Linking Farmers with Markets	Care Craft Mitchells Plain Wendy Nefdt Disability Sheltered Workshop


Judith Borcherds Training for Home-based Carers	Nolwandle Qhaba Disability Sheltered Workshop


Nonceba Ngoma Soup Kitchen	Xoliswa Blom Soup Kitchen & Vegetable Production

WHAT IS A SOCIAL BUSINESS?

A social business uses business methods to address social problems.
A social business should have a solution to a problem in a community. Also, this solution must have a way of making money.

WHAT WAS THE COMPETITION ABOUT?

We were looking for people with interesting and workable ideas to address social problems in their communities and make enough money to provide them with an income and keep the business going.

The judges looked for a social business plan that:

Clearly addressed a social problem.
Showed how the activities of the business would start to address the problem.
Showed how within a reasonable time the business would pay for itself and become profitable.
The jobs created by the social business would be fair and offer a decent wage.

The people who qualified:

Already ran a social business, or had an idea for a new social business.
Lived and operated their social business on the Cape Flats - the area with the boundaries N2, Baden Powell Drive, R310 and M5 as well as Delft and Blue Downs.

The competition was open to all but we particularly welcomed entries from youth, women and people with disabilities.

Entries could be by an individual or as a business or other kind of organization – whether this was an unregistered business, a Pty Ltd, CC, sole proprietor, partnership, co-operative, Section 21 company, NPO, NGO or any other relevant kind of organization.

We helped entrants with training workshops to develop a social business plan outline that described how their idea could work. The workshops were held at The Business Place (Philippi & Ekapa branches) and at Red Door (Khayalitsha & Mitchells Plain branches).