Dearden-Phillips, who writes the ‘Naked Social Entrepreneur' column in Social Enterprise and founded the mental health and disability enterprise, Speaking Up, 12 years ago, is known for his realistic, no holds barred approach to social enterprise.

He said: "I wanted to write the book I never had when I began my own journey. I started with nothing: no networks, resources or money and made some horrendous mistakes. My staff will vouch for that.

"I wanted to share my journey and I wanted to get inspiration from the 25 social entrepreneurs I interviewed for the book."

The book, published by the Directory of Social Enterprise, was launched at the House of Commons, with a speech from third sector minister Phil Hope.

Hope said he had been impressed by the book and had particularly liked its top 20 tips for social entrepreneurs.

He said: ‘Number three is "Be deeply passionate about your business". That's a very important one. Number 17 is "Hold on to the vision", but I think that should probably be number one. One of the other points is "If it moves, measure it". I think that's extremely important in terms of the social economy.'

Dearden-Phillips spoke to thank a number of people, especially the 25 social entrepreneurs interviewed for the book.

He said: "This is their book too and they have given it wisdom, depth and energy."

Your chance to change the world: The no-fibbing guide to social enterprise is available from www.dsc.org.uk/cw priced at £14.95 (ISBN 978 1 903991), or free with a year's subsciption to Social Enterprise.

For more information on the offer, visit www.dsc.org.uk/sem or cotact Deniz Hassan on 020 8983 1987 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it