“The business plan was instrumental to us winning £23k in funding, and also generated loads of ideas we are going to explore in the future. Nina took the time to explain every stage to us, so I really feel that it’s our business plan. I’ve been able to adapt it since we first wrote it and I also know that I’ve learned a lot of new skills myself”
Totes, T Shirts and Togetherness. Wild and Kind is an ethical garment printing studio based in Glasgow, Scotland which not only gives females designers a platform to sell their products, but all profits support projects tackling loneliness and isolation.
(C) Wild and Kind
Determined to manufacture ethically, without damaging the environment and while paying a fair price to their designers, Wild and Kind also had to contend with outgrowing their premises and changes in personnel.
Founder Trudi Donahue was operationally fully involved in the project and struggling to find the time to be strategic about all the opportunities they were seeing.
Enter CEIS Business Adviser Nina Graham who worked with Trudi to create a robust but agile business plan
“We needed a business plan for funders and partners, but we didn’t want to just have something for the sake of it. We wanted a business plan that we could actually use in the business and which would be ambitious but realistic given our capacity and circumstances.
Nina took the time to explain every stage to us, so I really feel that it’s our business plan. I’ve been able to adapt it since we first wrote it and I also know that I’ve learned a lot of new skills myself.”
Nina Graham, CEIS Business Adviser, said, “Trudi’s growing success is borne out of a runaway combination of a clear and confident vision, energy and passion, and creative drive that is balanced with a sound understanding about how social enterprise works. Wild & Kind is founded on compassion and Trudi understands that to fund projects that tackle loneliness and isolation, the creative environment has to respond to the unique needs and aspirations of artists who want to work with Wild & Kind, and their online community who want to buy from them.
(c) Wild and Kind
Trudi is bubbling with energy and ideas and I was able to help bring shape to her thoughts by working with her to structure her business plan in a way that was most useful to her. We had one-to-one meetings at W&K’s offices (a lovely, friendly and welcoming atmosphere) to work on practical aspects of the plan which enabled Trudi to work independently on those tasks she could only do herself.”
To her surprise, Trudi enjoyed the process of writing the business plan itself, “I really looked forward to my sessions with Nina. I have dyslexia and she really tailored her approach to make sure that I wasn’t overwhelmed.”
Nina notes that the future is bright for Wild and Kind, “Trudi is a dynamic personality and consummate multi-tasker. I was delighted to see her return, glowing, from maternity leave and ready to take the stage to speak at CEIS’s Policy and Practice Conference in September this year. The trick for Trudi will be to find the right people to lead, collaborate with, and delegate to, so that she can take full advantage of the exciting opportunities that she is creating.”
And the benefits of working with CEIS? “The business plan was instrumental to us winning £23k in funding, and also generated loads of ideas we are going to explore in the future. We would not have the business plan we have now if it wasn’t for Nina and I wouldn’t have felt as confident taking any maternity leave either. The plan ensures that whoever is operationally managing the business is aware of the roadmap and able to see the big picture, strategically.”