Anyone who's done it knows that starting a Social Firm, like any social enterprise, takes a lot of hard work, determination, resources and an ability to juggle the twin demands of running a profitable business and creating employment for disadvantaged people. Traditional approaches to business development have been time-consuming and risky in terms of one or both 'bottom lines'. For those who want to see the sector scale up and achieve bigger and better things, the holy grail has been to find a way to reduce the time it takes to achieve both financial profitability and social impact.

This project allowed Social Firms Scotland to turn its attention to a less prominent type of business development - acquiring an existing business and converting it into a Social Firm.

The Business Acquisition project was set up to investigate in more detail, the possibilities of fast tracking Social Firm development through the acquisition of existing businesses. There is growing evidence from other areas in the UK that buying the right business could reduce the start up time, costs and create jobs in an existing business.

Download the report that looks at lessons for Scotland in acquiring businesses and turning them into Social Firms

Acquiring Business for Good - Buying into Social Firms