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Here, Tokunbo tells
us in his own words how he defeated the ‘fear bandits’ to run a
dynamic social enterprise for young people…
Turning an idea into reality can be
one of the most daunting, yet rewarding experiences that life can
offer. Before even thinking about forming a social enterprise, I had
to defeat an army of ‘fear bandits’ that were running riot in my
mind screaming “the risk is far too great”.
I decided to take the leap of faith
after a period of working in the charity sector and noticing its
limitations. Another contributing factor was working with some
excluded young talent on a ‘learning through journalism’
programme.
I saw that learners had nowhere to go
when they became too old to be involved. They weren’t quite ready
for the cut-throat professional arena, but with a bit of support and
nurturing they could be.
Simple concept…
The concept for my social enterprise
was simple: I wanted to champion young media talent that couldn’t
get experience elsewhere. Being quite a meticulous individual, I
embarked on a two-year journey of developing Catch 22, leaving no
stone unturned.
The outcome is a dynamic triangular
model, consisting of a magazine training academy, a commercial
magazine and a communications agency.
“At the journalism programme I previously worked on, the young people had nowhere to go onto after the course finished.”
Although we prioritise recruiting
excluded young adults, Catch 22 is open to a wide spectrum, from the
disaffected and marginalised to those graduates who academically
excel and yet still frustratingly remain unemployed.
Following their involvement with Catch
22, our beneficiaries boast an increase in confidence, experience and
ability. To date, we’ve supported some of our members in securing
experience and paid employment from the likes of Grazia
magazine, Haymarket Publishing and the London Development Agency.
Loony liberals
In the current climate, I see being a
social enterprise as a real challenge because the incorrect
perception is quite often formed. We’re usually pigeon-holed as
loony liberals that have lost all sense of reality and often we’re
not even seen as real businesses.
For me, being a social enterprise is
definitely about real business. However, I see it as being about real
business with integrity. Because we’re competing against those in a
hard-nosed corporate world, it is so important for social enterprises
to have a strong business case.
We can’t rely on being taken
seriously just because we have morals and ethics with aims to ‘do good’.
In the charity world, being positive might suffice, but within the
ruthless business world it does not stand up on its own.
A pioneer like the late Dame Anita
Roddick was a great inspiration while developing Catch 22 - she
proved there is a third way and confirmed it is possible to achieve
significant financial rewards and make social change simultaneously.
It was this inspiration that encouraged me to become one of the
ambassadors.
Currently our staff team consists of
two full-time members, two part-time members and a handful of
volunteers. The job satisfaction that’s associated with being
involved with a social enterprise is simply second to none. For us at
Catch 22, it is the creativity, opportunity and independence being
generated that is so empowering for all involved.
Learning curve
Running a social enterprise has been a
massive learning curve. Although I conducted intense research from
the outset, it only counted as theory until the idea was put in
motion and tested.
Along the journey I’ve learned a
number of key skills including making the most of limited resources,
being flexible and probably most importantly, listening to my
instincts and the art of defeating the ‘fear bandits’.”
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