Dear Whittlesea Community Member

You are invited to take part in a brief survey to help our community to better understand and support social enterprise* activity within the City of Whittlesea. Whether you are familiar with social enterprise or not, we encourage you to participate. The survey is about the resources and networks that exist today and the potential for them to support social enterprise. It is not about how much you or the community currently know about or supports social enterprise. This is why the survey asks questions about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial* activity generally, rather than social entrepreneurs specifically.

The survey has been sponsored by the City of Whittlesea, and is being undertaken by Social Enterprise Academy and ACRE using their Thrive Framework, which takes a systems-based approach to innovation, ideas, new business and community engagement and applies it in a place-based way. The Thrive Framework provides the structure for how communities can launch a process to stimulate the growth of a thriving social enterprise sector.

The survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete and will guide you through the 16 indicators of the Thrive Framework. You can provide as much or as little information as you like and you may select "Unsure" for any questions you can not answer. Again, it is not expected that every person who completes the survey will be able to answer every question.

*Definitions:

Entrepreneur - in this survey we use entrepreneur to describe someone who identifies an opportunity in business and is prepared to take on risk to grasp that opportunity. An entrepreneur may have a mindset that creates new opportunities, shares ideas freely and celebrates so-called failures as learning and growing experiences.

Social Enterprise - a business that trades to intentionally tackle social problems, improve communities, provide people access to employment and training, or help the environment, which gives at least 50% of its profit to its social purposed earns a substantial proportion of its revenue through trade of goods or services.

Privacy Statement
The information you submit via this survey will be governed by ACRE's privacy policy, a copy of which can be requested by emailing info@acre.org.au.

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* 1. This question is about Culture and Aspiration
The way the community feels about entrepreneurs and the way entrepreneurial activity is viewed, has a big impact on whether people choose to start businesses or not.
Please indicate the degree to which you agree or disagree with the following statements:

  Strongly Agree  Agree Neither Agree or Disagree  Disagree  Strongly Disagree Unsure
People who create businesses are valued as much as other professions and jobs in my community
Starting a business is a viable work pathway in my community
In my community we support people to explore ideas and develop businesses
There are prominent and inspiring entrepreneurs in my community
These entrepreneurs are recognised for the work they do and the value they deliver to my community

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* 2. This question is about Culture and Aspiration
The way the community feels about entrepreneurs and the way entrepreneurial activity is viewed, has a big impact on whether people choose to start businesses or not.
Please indicate the degree to which you agree or disagree with the following statements:

  Strongly Agree  Agree Neither Agree or Disagree  Disagree  Strongly Disagree Unsure
People who create businesses are valued as much as other professions and jobs in my community
Starting a business is a viable work pathway in my community
In my community we support people to explore ideas and develop businesses
There are prominent and inspiring entrepreneurs in my community
These entrepreneurs are recognised for the work they do and the value they deliver to my community

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* 3. This question is about Education and Training
Experiential education or 'learning by doing' is a proven way to develop entrepreneurial mindset, skills and behaviours in young people.

  No availability Some availability High availability Unsure
How available is experiential entrepreneurship education in Primary Schools?
How available is experiential entrepreneurship education in Secondary Schools?
How available is experiential entrepreneurship education in tertiary or VCAL education?

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* 4. This question is about Networks and Support
Entrepreneurs need to be connected to support networks of people, places, services and money to develop and accelerate their ideas.

  No availability Some availability High availability Unsure
How available are individuals and organisations that identify and connect capable entrepreneurial talent to the support they need?

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* 5. This question is about Networks and Support
Incubators and accelerators are programs that help entrepreneurs to experiment in a supportive environment surrounded by subject matter experts and networks.

  No availability Some availability High availability Unsure
How available are incubators and accelerators for local entrepreneurs?

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* 6. This question is about Networks and Support
Mentors and coaches help entrepreneurs to address specific issues within their business or idea in a more focussed environment.

  No availability Some availability High availability Unsure
How available are coaches and mentors for local entrepreneurs? 

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* 7. This question is about Networks and Support
Business or entrepreneurship networks help entrepreneurs at every stage, to test and share ideas, learn from and challenge each other and connect to useful resources.

  No availability Some availability High availability Unsure
How available are business and entrepreneurship networks for local entrepreneurs?

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* 8. This question is about Physical and Digital Infrastructure
Business innovation clusters and precincts are places where entrepreneurs can share resources for innovation and research to reduce costs and increase collaboration.

  No availability Some availability High availability Unsure
How available are business innovation clusters or precincts?

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* 9. This question is about Physical and Digital Infrastructure
Coworking spaces allow people from different industries to share a workspace and access the different skills and perspectives that each individual brings.

  No availability Some availability High availability Unsure
How available are coworking spaces? 

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* 10. This question is about Physical and Digital Infrastructure
Many communities across Australia are left with redundant assets (such as unused buildings or spaces) from days gone by. Owning and operating these assets provides an opportunity for the community to come together and build businesses and initiatives that are important to them.

  No availability Some availability High availability Unsure
How available are assets owned or operated by the community that support collaboration and new initiatives?  

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* 11. This question is about Physical and Digital Infrastructure
Enabling digital infrastructure such as high speed, accessible broadband can be a large factor in an entrepreneur’s decision on where to locate their business.

  No availability Some availability High availability Unsure
How available is digital infrastructure, including high speed accessible broadband?

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* 12. This question is about Funding and Capital
Risk tolerant and patient capital is funding which seeks to do good (like charitable giving) and make money (like investing) and is particularly important for supporting social entrepreneurs.

  No availability Some availability High availability Unsure
How available is risk tolerant and patient capital?

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* 13. This question is about Funding and Capital
Financial capital (or money) is the lifeblood of any business and grants and business funding programs provide much-needed access to cash for entrepreneurs.

  No availability Some availability High availability Unsure
How available are grants and business funding programs for local entrepreneurs?

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* 14. And finally, a few questions about you...
What is your postcode?

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* 15. Please select a statement that best reflects you

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* 16. What is your gender?

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* 17. How old are you?

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* 18. Is there anything else you would like to share that you feel may be relevant?

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* 19. If you are happy for us to contact you about your answers or with further information that may be relevant, please provide your contact details here

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