Financial plan: Can you help out the Glasgow Social Centre?

jag · **Joined:** Thu Aug 12, 2010 9:55 am **Posts:** 3

Hello. My name is Johnny, I'm part of the Glasgow Social Centre collective. We are currently setting up a social centre in Glasgow. Unfortunately we're having to rent a premises because the council are total wank! Anyways, to do this we need to write a financial plan. I spoke to David on the phone (currently working in the Forest) and he said that you guys would be able to help us out.

It would be amazing if you could give us any financial plans and advice that you used in the Forest. It would also be cool to have a look at real time purchase/sales ledgers so that we can base our cafe plan on that.

If you want to give me a call my number is 07737030560.

Cheers,

Johnny

DavidW · **Joined:** Wed Nov 18, 2009 1:45 pm **Posts:** 162

I pointed Johnny here because some of the old timers would be able to give him direct experience in the history of the forest and setting it up

neil · **Joined:** Mon Jan 22, 2007 5:50 pm **Posts:** 944

I can't seem to find the original "how we started" webpage. Anyone know where that's gone?

neil · **Joined:** Mon Jan 22, 2007 5:50 pm **Posts:** 944

Oh, here is a visually unappealing version:
http://theforest.org.uk/drupal5/grow-your-own-forest

The main keys to success: Get cheap rent and sell everything for at least three times what it cost you.

Also, if you do proper stockcheck/counting/accounting of everything, you will probably get a lot less wastage and you will know what is going on better. This should help to plan things and find out if/where things are going wrong.

Jane · **Joined:** Thu Sep 16, 2004 2:10 pm **Posts:** 1557

Quote:

On the whole, the council people won't want to close you down. Essentially they want you to succeed cos you are a business and business is good.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shannon · **Posted:** Thu Aug 12, 2010 11:40 am

There weren't any real financial plans!! And they're still lacking for the most part...

Aside from the rule of three, another key element has been to make enough money during the festival to stay afloat the rest of the year!

As far as purchase and sales ledgers go, David might actually the best person for that stuff?

DavidW · **Joined:** Wed Nov 18, 2009 1:45 pm **Posts:** 162

yep im game to take him through stuff

Duncan · **Joined:** Sun Apr 10, 2005 7:22 pm **Posts:** 405

There will be really old stuff somewhere that Matthew did for the Prince's Trust.

jag · **Joined:** Thu Aug 12, 2010 9:55 am **Posts:** 3

Cheers for all this so far.

Did you guys get funding from the Prince's trust? Did you get funding from anywhere else?

David can I come in and chat to you at some point this week?

chris · **Posted:** Mon Aug 16, 2010 6:22 pm

we started self funded about a grand. then we got princes trust loan of 5 grand (which wasnt really neccessary in my view).

if you are spending more than a grand to start a place you are doing something wrong.

Shannon · **Posted:** Tue Aug 17, 2010 4:03 pm

Quote:

if you are spending more than a grand to start a place you are doing something wrong.

Really? Surely rent + deposit and a bit of stock is is going to going to run more than a grand these days... Assuming you have no equipment or costs, repair costs, etc.

But it should not cost a fortune.

For whom is the financial plan being written?

jag · **Joined:** Thu Aug 12, 2010 9:55 am **Posts:** 3

The financial plan is being written for ourselves, for the lease company and for funders.

Forest BB

Financial plan: Can you help out the Glasgow Social Centre?

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