Adèle McLay Bice Awan Archives

Bice Awan
Social Entrepreneur, CEO – Skylight Trust (up to Dec-14)

Social enterprises around the world are on the increase, which is a really good thing.

As defined by Social Enterprise UK, “businesses are defined as social enterprises when they trade to tackle social problems, improve communities, people’s life chances, or the environment. They make their money from selling goods and services in the open market, but they reinvest their profits back into the business or the local community.”

Meet my good friend, Bice Awan. Over 15 years ago she lead the establishment of Skylight, a New Zealand based social enterprise that supports people who are experiencing grief, trauma and stress.

Testimony to Skylight’s success, a leading Government official once told Bice that “If Skylight didn’t exist, New Zealand would be a sad place”.

Listen to my interview with Bice. Her commitment and energy for the cause is heart warming.

While having a strong community centred vision, Skylight also recognised the importance of financial independence so over the years has developed a number of revenue streams which as they continue to grow, will further support the increased financial sustainability of this wonderful organisation.

As well, the services offered are of such a high quality that Skylight is now an international enterprise, providing services to a number of countries around the world.

I’d be delighted if you shared this interview with anyone you know who is thinking about establishing a social enterprise. Bice demonstrates all that is possible when one has true belief in the cause. Enjoy.

You can listen to the original Interview with Bice Awan here:

To connect with Skylight:
W: www.skylight.org.nz

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Bice Awan
Social Entrepreneur, CEO – Skylight Trust (up to Dec-14)

Skylight Trust, a non-governmental social enterprise, was established in 1997 in Wellington, New Zealand after key community leaders identified a lack of local and national resources to support children and adults who were experiencing stress, grief and trauma. Bice, who has a significant international health consulting background, took up the role of chief executive, and spearheaded the development of Skylight, which today is a leader in providing support and resources in New Zealand and across the world to people in desperate circumstances.

Bice started the Trust as a ‘one-woman-band’ and has grown it significantly on the back of a strong vision. Not without its own business challenges, even today, Bice notes, “that the Skylight Trust is still moving along the social enterprise continuum from dependency to total financial independence.” “Social enterprise is a philosophy of balancing social missions with revenue generation, but we haven’t got to the stage yet of being fully in that position.” Bice commented that, “it is important never to lose sight of either in managing and growing the enterprise day-to-day.”

To address the issue of financial independence, Bice and her team established a publishing arm to the enterprise, and to date have published over 50 resources, which are available for purchase. The resources are of such a high quality and relevancy, that Skylight Trust has won major organisational customers and contracts in New Zealand, Australia, Denmark and Saudi Arabia, to name a few countries.

Branding and marketing has played a key role in Skylight’s development. Skylight sees itself as a ‘hope broker’; it can’t fix somebody’s trauma, loss or grief, but Skylight can give hope for the future. This message is used strongly as part of its branding and marketing strategies.

On the back of the strong branding and marketing work, which has created significant visibility for Skylight, it enjoys significant repeat business with its customers, many of which are very large organisations seeking a holistic approach to working with grief, stress and trauma in their organisations.

To be successful in developing a social enterprise, Bice believes in:

1) Establishing a board of directors who truly understand the importance of balancing a social mission and financial imperatives.

2) Having working capital available from the beginning, as most enterprises don’t and that is a real commercial challenge.

3) Developing profitable partnerships with other agencies as those associations can be very powerful and provide a way of growing a social enterprise in the early years.

Adèle’s Note:
I had the pleasure of interviewing Bice Awan for my book: BIG Profits – 12 Strategies To Substantially Grow YOUR Business Profits, in which Bice features.

Bice’s vision and drive to make a difference has been the cornerstone of Skylight’s success as a social enterprise in New Zealand and internationally, in the lives of those affected by stress, grief and trauma, and whose voices are often not heard. As a leading Government official said to Bice, “If Skylight didn’t exist, New Zealand would be a very sad place!” As well as being successful in achieving its social mission, Skylight as a business is a success. Recognising the need for financial independence, it has developed significant and profitable revenue streams which, as those continue to grow, will hopefully allow the enterprise to enjoy absolute financial security. Bice and this enterprise are a true inspiration for business owners and other social enterprise leaders.