How to Scale Rural Enterprise

This how-to guide sets out how community organisations who are skilled at engaging and supporting rural businesses to use digital can scale this support as an extension of the services they already provide.

This how-to guide sets out what we know about how community organisations can work with other individuals and organisations to support rural SMEs with digital. It sets out how community organisations who are skilled at engaging and supporting rural businesses to use digital, can scale this support as an extension of the services they already provide.

All the advice is based on findings from a Digital Enterprise pilot project run by Good Things Foundation from October 2018 to March 2020, funded by Prince’s Countryside Fund. It aimed to test how community organisations who are skilled at engaging and supporting rural businesses to use digital can train other community organisations or individuals to carry out a similar role.

Thanks to A1 Community Works, Airedale Enterprise Services and all the Champions from the Digital Enterprise pilot for all their hard work and input into this How-to guide.

The Scaling Rural Enterprise project was a 12 month pilot delivered by Good Things Foundation in partnership with A1 Community Works and Airedale Enterprise Services, it was funded by the Princes Countryside Fund.

The aim was to test a Digital Enterprise Champion volunteering model to see how digital support for rural businesses could be scaled to ensure they aren’t left behind. Two Digital Enterprise Hubs were recruited. The Hubs in turn recruited, trained and provided guidance to Digital Enterprise Champions who volunteered to support learners with specific digital business needs.