Scale With Purpose

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Scaling a social enterprise can feel like the only way to prove you are “serious”, but that pressure can quietly push brilliant organisations into growth they are not ready for. I’m joined by Clodagh O’Reilly, an Irish social enterprise practitioner turned researcher, to unpack what scaling really involves and why slowing down can be the most strategic move you make. We get into the reality behind the headline numbers: the messy middle where your mission, your income model, your capacity, and your leadership all collide.

Clodagh shares what she learned from years of practice and her PhD research into social enterprise scaling, including the questions too many teams skip while they rush into staffing, operations, and financing. We talk about proving your concept, pulling your model apart to find the critical success factors, and avoiding the trap of “scaling on shaky ground”. We also challenge the idea that every organisation must expand sites or turnover, exploring alternative scaling pathways such as sharing your model, influencing policy, changing behaviours, partnering well, and even considering mergers where it strengthens long-term impact.

We also zoom out to the social enterprise ecosystem in Ireland: what is improving, where support is still thin for later-stage growth, and how social procurement and public sector tenders are evolving. You’ll hear why consortium bids are becoming more common, what readiness really looks like for public contracts, and how EU funding could play a bigger role. If you care about social impact, impact measurement, sustainable growth, and practical strategy for mission-led organisations, you’ll leave with clearer thinking and sharper questions.

Subscribe, leave a review, and share the show with someone building social change, then tell us what smart scaling looks like in your work.

Find out more about Clodagh's work at: https://www.socialenterprisesolutions.ie/

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Hi, I'm Heidi Fisher, the host of the Make an Impact Podcast. I'm an impact measurement expert, passionate about helping you make a bigger impact in the world by maximising the impact your services have.

I can help you to measure, manage and communicate the impact you have better to funders, investors, commissioners and other stakeholders, and to systemise your data collection and analysis so that it frees up time and doesn't become an additional burden.

I love helping you to measure social and economic impacts, including Social Return on Investment or value for money assessments, as part of understanding the change you make to peoples' lives.

You can get in touch via LinkedIn or the website makeanimpactcic.co.uk if you'd like to find out more about working with me.