Iridescent Ideas | Creating a social enterprise economy

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  • Home
  • About
    • Meet the team
    • Social enterprise community
    • What is social enterprise?
    • Contact Us
  • Services
    • Start it
    • Fund it
    • Grow it
    • Prove it
    • Events
    • Resources
  • Online Courses
  • SHE - Supporting Her Enterprise
  • SHE Plymouth
  • SEAS Programme
  • Our impact
  • Our clients
  • Thoughts
    • Blog

Opinion | Iridescent says....

The Beauty of the One-Page Business Plan

30/4/2025

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​Starting a small business is exciting and running a business is a beautiful adventure - but without a clear plan, that excitement can quickly turn into overwhelm. A business plan doesn’t need to be a fifty-page, glossy document for investors or banks. In fact, we love concise business plans! It’s a vital tool for every small business owner. Whether you’re launching a new venture or growing an existing one, a business plan helps turn ideas into action.

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SEAS Partnership Powers Social Enterprise Success

24/1/2025

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On the 4th of October 2023, Plymouth City Council awarded a contract to deliver social enterprise business advice to a partnership headed by Iridescent Ideas. This venture became known as the Social Enterprise Advice and Support Programme or ‘SEAS’ for short.
 
With two months left to run, the programme has been incredibly successful and smashed 117% of its targets. Take a look at some of our impact so far:

  • Over £90,000 of external investment raised – nearly double the value of the contract - added value which wasn’t originally expected
  • 21 new social enterprise businesses created
  • 20 jobs created
  • Over 150 people and organizations reached with advice and support against an original target of 100.

​So what’s been behind this success?

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Years and years of POPideas - Reflecting on a decade of impact

17/10/2024

 
What a difference ten years can make! Iridescent has been a partner to POP in delivering the POPideas service in Plymouth for a decade. Read more about our thoughts on this amazing project.

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A week in the life of a social enterprise

26/6/2024

 
​Last week was a busy one at Iridescent towers – those twinkly, radiant, spires of optimism.
 
Monday: Zoom meeting on train (well that was awks, all chat no speaking) ...

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The confidence to fail by Jo Dench-Owens

20/3/2024

 
It has been nearly a year of our SHE Plymouth project. What a journey we've been on. We've learned a lot. But what does it take to support a woman to succeed in business?

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Six months of SHE Plymouth! by Jo Dench-Owens

29/11/2023

 
Through Iridescent Ideas we have been running the SHE -Plymouth project since May. And what an adventure we’ve had, providing tailored and bespoke business support to the women of Plymouth. We have ploughed straight through our yearly target to support 60 women, with almost 80 members signed up to our programme already.
​
As a dedicated Business Advisor for the SHE project, I’ve loved seeing the project grow and blossom.

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The social entrepreneurial identity: Is it right to call ourselves social entrepreneurs?

9/10/2023

 
Am I a social entrepreneur? Are you a social entrepreneur? I steadfastly refuse to call myself one. I think that it is for others to say. However, I am very happy to say that I started, and I run a social enterprise. Where does this nervousness come from? And, is it right for everyone to proudly proclaim themselves as social entrepreneurs? The answer is not as straightforward as it might seem.

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SHE Plymouth - four months in - by Mel Tucker, Director

28/9/2023

 
Our experience and research showed that Plymouth’s workplace is problematic for women wanting fairly paid, flexible work. Many women were taking matters into their own hands to find solutions. We could see that there was a need for tailored, flexible, expert support and advice for women in Plymouth starting their own business, social enterprise, charity or community group. Thanks to the generous support of The Rank Foundation and Livewell Southwest, who have jointly funded the project, we have just delivered our first four months of SHE Plymouth, and realised we had NO IDEA just how great the need really was!

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Creating SHE Plymouth - One Month In by Jo Dench-Owens, Business Advisor

28/6/2023

 
It's been a whole month since I started in my post as Business Advisor for the brand new SHE Plymouth Project through Iridescent Ideas. And what a wonderful welcome I've had from Mel, Gareth, and the team. 

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How can we do workplace wellbeing well? By Mel Tucker, Director, Iridescent Ideas CIC

6/6/2023

 
On the back of Mental Health Awareness Week, it seems an appropriate time to talk about mental health and well-being at work - a subject we’ve been thinking about and discussing a lot over the past few months.

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