Sonia Ramanah

Sonia Ramanah set up StreetVibes Youth, an independent, not-for-profit youth organisation based in south London at the age of 27. Streetvibes Youth uses music and media-based activities to engage and inspire hard-to-reach young people. Here Sonia tells us how she became a social entrepreneur.

What gave you the idea for StreetVibes?

I have always been involved with local music events, I present a show on a community radio station, and young people are always asking me for advice and help to get their music heard, and to get into the music industry.

I met my now business partner, Orlando Clement, at a music industry event where he explained he taught music production and technology at a private music company, and that there was a huge demand for the courses, but that price made it inaccessible to most of the young people in our inner-city area.

We saw the opportunity to set up an organisation that provides long term support and direction for disadvantaged young people – somewhere that offers help, advice, training, creativity and direction for all.

What were you doing at the time you had the idea?

I was the public relations manager at an international software company.

What was the first thing you did to try and make the idea happen?

The first thing we did was talk – to as many people as possible, from business consultants to potential funders, and of course to the young people we wanted to work with.

Then we talked to each other, to decide exactly what we wanted to do and how we would do it.

From our discussions with young people, it became apparent that kids didn't want music activities for the sake of it – they wanted to ensure they were learning real music industry skills, and getting real qualifications.

So we designed a course that offers a BTEC accreditation in Skills for Working Life, and got it accredited by EdExcel – we are now the only UK arts organisation to offer a Department of Education and Skills-approved qualification to our courses.

We also set up a record label – www.streetvibesuk.co.uk – and released an album of original music, some of it featuring young people who had been through our courses, which was available for sale in HMV and Virgin across the UK.

Who helped you, and how?

We got seed funding from UnLtd which helps social entrepreneurs develop their ideas. Then we set about getting contracts from local youth agencies.

We spoke to a great deal of business support agencies, many of which had no idea what advice to give to a social enterprise! But it was all worthwhile, as one of the first business consultants we spoke to kept an eye on our growth and is now one of our non-executive directors.

Our greatest source of help, and our inspiration, has been the young people we work with, some of whom now work as teaching assistants for StreetVibes, and who stuck with us from the start and made our business a success.

When did the idea start looking viable?

There are plenty of youth music organisations in the UK, but none seemed to have the vision or scope that we were aiming for.

StreetVibes really started to look viable at the beginning of this year, when we managed to secure a large, beautiful building which we've transformed into recording studios, training centres and rehearsal studios available for hire, enabling us to expand our services and grow our size.

What obstacles did you encounter along the way?

All of them, and we're still facing these, although now we've learnt how to negotiate a path around them!

As a young, BME-led organisation one of the major obstacles has been in securing longer term, higher value funding and contracts, despite impressing clients with the quality and professionalism of our service.

When did the idea officially get up and running?

31 March 2004

Future plans for the idea?

We’re expanding our services, both into new markets and areas, launching our second album and touring the UK and US, watch this space.

Advice to anyone else who wants to make their idea happen?

Talk to as many people as you can, especially those in the market you intend to serve – knowing what they need, and how you can help supply, will strengthen your business tremendously.

www.streetvibesuk.co.uk