Training
 A local learning initiative wanted to put on some business start-up training for clients at different stages of business development.
Work House Solution:
- Consultation via a focus group with the entrepreneurs to ascertain exactly what outcomes and help they require.
- Working within the required budget to deliver a range of activities, including - group and 1-1 delivery, resources and referral.
- Supporting the clients throughout the process; facilitating the set up of a peer mentoring / support group.
- Liasing and working with Business Link to ensure smooth transition onto 'mainstream' provision for clients.
- Ensuring that all had first stage business plan and had progressed on to the next level by the time our involvement ended.
- Project monitoring and evaluation, generating a report of both 'hard' and 'soft' outcomes. This enabled the learning initiative to evidence the success of the project and to apply for future funding.
Social Marketing
 TV shows like Dragons’ Den have raised awareness of entrepreneurship, but still many people percieve self employment as something ‘you can’t do unless you have a degree and wear a business suit’. In fact, self-employment is a very real option for people from all walks of life, and many find an improved work-life balance, health and mental wellbeing – and the challenge was to bring this message to rural areas of Norfolk.
Work House Solution:
- Research into the current barriers people had to access business support.
- Gathering of key stakeholders, community groups, networks, relevant publications and infrastructures.
- Runing an awareness campaign/roadshow to encourage people in rural areas to consider self employment as an option.
- Planning and facilitating a mix of events to engage with the public and invite discussions about potential business ideas.
- Signposting of interested people to sources of further support and facilitating first steps towards business planning.
Social Research
 A parish council has received funding to re-furbish an empty building as a learning and enterprise centre. The funder wants 'evidence of the impact that the project has on the local economy and on the wellbeing of the wider population, not just the immediate users of the centre'. The council has no experience of such qualitative evaluation.
Work House Solution:
Design of a bespoke, simple social research methodology that can be embedded in the ongoing quantitative evaluation and monitoring activities of the project. The consultancy includes the design of questionnaires, timetables for implementation and staff induction. Support can be provided for the writing of the final report.
Full Service Package
 A local authority wants to offer enterprise
taster sessions to the residents of a rural
isolated area -
Work House Solution:
- Consultation with LA about the aims of the project and the needs of the client group.
- Design of the delivery model (mix of open mornings, workshops and training courses).
- Writing training materials.
- 1:1's with participants, collection of baseline data for evaluation.
- Delivery of open mornings, workshops and courses.
- Evaluation of 'social return on investment' by conducting a 'follow up' study with participants of the project.
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