Tom Savage

How would you describe a social enterprise? How can we encourage more young people to set up social enterprises?

The strict definition is of a company that principally re-invests it’s profits back into itself, and is fundamentally set up to the benefit of wider society. However, I think that definition can be too strict and that many businesses are ‘social enterprises’. My definition would be any organisations that does as much as it can to maximise it’s social/environmental benefit.

We need to demonstrate to young people that you don’t have to sacrifice a good salary to work in social enterprise, and that there are great rewards in working on something that you really care about. I believe that social enterprise, in the definition I gave above, is the future.

Do you think there are enough role models of young people who have set up their own businesses? Who if anyone has inspired you?

Yes, I do think there are plenty of role-models. Whether or not they are always suitable or appropriate is a different question! For example, I think the Dragon’s Den or Apprentice style of management isn’t necessarily representative of the wider market out there. Integrity, passion, intelligence, enthusiasm are, for example, traits that I think are far more important and ones that will get you further in the business world than being hard-nosed, or tough.

A number of people have inspired me: my dad for starters, who runs his own business; the founders of Innocent Drinks; Warren Buffett; Tim Smit; Leonard Cheshire; Gandhi.

How did your idea become a reality?

I’ve always flung myself at as many opportunities as possible in the hope that some would ‘break’… and one in 100 always does. I think when we started Blue Ventures our break was that nothing broke – in that it was such a difficult venture to get started that we were lucky that nothing went irreversibly wrong!

All of my ideas have been passions that then turned into more concrete businesses. I think that’s the only way – do something you love and then you’ll fight to do it more, bigger and better.

With Blue Ventures, it was running expeditions whilst at university that lead us to go on to start the business. We realised that we could  turn what was a hobby into a business and actually pay ourselves to do it?

What made you decide to set up as a social enterprise?

When we set up Blue Ventures, we thought long and hard about the business models available. We believe that profit can be good, as it demonstrates that a company is doing well, especially if that company does good through its products and services. However, because we are working in conservation, we felt that we couldn’t make the company for-profit, because we didn’t ever want to have to think about cutting costs, or not spending the money in the areas in which we work if there’s a surplus – it has to go back into the communities in which we work. That being said, I don’t believe that profit is necessarily a bad thing – often it can be a fantastic incentive to do things well.

How did you get access to finance?

For Blue Ventures, we used the last of our student loans and borrowed a couple of thousand from our respective parents – a total of £6k overall. My latest business, Bright Green, has significant investment from a established entrepreneur. Now that I’ve proved myself, finance is less difficult to raise – although by no means easy!

Who is the one person who has been most influential in your success?

Probably my dad. Although he isn’t a true entrepreneur in the classic sense of the word, he does run his own company and as such has provided me with the enthusiasm, support etc to try starting my businesses… and I guess I owe him a few meals in the future! He’s always been there to listen to business problems and to ask about strategy, issues and always gives fantastic advice. Also, my parents let me use their house for my offices – Blue Ventures is still based in their house, even though I’m no longer there full-time – and I am hugely thankful to them for their patience and kind support.

Have you ever been a part of a network which has helped your business?

Absolutely – networks are a crucial part of becoming and being an entrepreneur. I belong to quite a few online networks, including MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn (which helped me find my current business partner), Make Your Mark Connectors and I-genius. Although I try to limit the amount of time I spend on such sites, they are very useful for finding good contacts – but it’s a fine line, especially with something like Facebook!

Have you ever worked for someone else? How was the experience?

Yes, I worked at an investment bank, which was horrible, and I’ve worked at the Make your Mark campaign, which was brilliant!

What would your advice be to someone thinking about setting up their own business?

Well, it’s not easy… but it’s a gazillion times better than investment banking, even with the differences in money. I think the more of a plunge it is, the harder people will work to make it succeed, so it should be difficult.