Navigating COVID & Exploring Growth with The Social Outfit
One of the perks of being an intermediary in the social enterprise sector is that we get to work with a range of amazing organisations across Australia. The meaningful impact these organisations make to the communities they serve is really shifting the dial, making a difference to people and planet.
One organisation that we’ve had the privilege of working closely with over the past few years is The Social Outfit (TSO) - an ethical fashion label and social enterprise providing employment and training to people from refugee and new migrant communities in clothing production, retail, design and marketing. COVID-19 has challenged many social enterprises and TSO have been no exception. With a customer facing store in Sydney’s Newtown, TSO were faced with the realities of lockdown for extended periods, seeing dramatic reductions in revenue as it was forced to close the store which generated most of their sales.
Collaborating with TSO
Social Impact Hub’s RISE program was the catalyst for our collaboration with TSO. RISE is an initiative supported by the Paul Ramsay Foundation, KPMG and Westpac Foundation to offer vital business support to social enterprises during COVID. Connecting the TSO team with our expert consultants from our Professional Impact Network, we worked together to ensure that TSO could build resilience and effectively navigate the impacts of COVID.
As the effects of COVID subside, we continue to collaborate with TSO, helping the team with their growth planning. We have conducted market analysis to gain insights around the size and nature of the contract sewing and manufacturing market in Australia. These insights informed TSO’s longer term growth strategy as it expands its operations into new, larger premises in Marrickville. To further support strategic planning we also assisted in the development of financial models to help TSO consider different growth scenarios.
If you’re a social enterprise looking for support to grow and access capital, please reach out to us. We’d love the opportunity to support you on your journey.
