Helena Strand
non-profit finance director
Practical; mission needs margin
Second Shift
Marcus served time himself. His workshop is busy, grants are ending and one employee’s past resurfaces with consequences for everyone.
Planned · not started yet
Business & entrepreneurship Second chances Ethics & integrity Ambition City life Workplace Hopeful Warm
The premise
Marcus served time himself. His workshop is busy, grants are ending and one employee’s past resurfaces with consequences for everyone. He must prove the enterprise can survive on trade as well as goodwill.
The protagonist
Marcus Adeyemi-Holt — Founder of a bike-repair workshop employing people leaving prison
The council
Every council member is an original fictional character. None represents, quotes or is endorsed by a real person.
Dr Oluwaseun Baker
impact evaluator
Rigorous; measure what changes
Carol Mbeki
probation officer
Grounded; second chances need structure
How the story moves
A funding cliff and an employee crisis, then a sustainable model and a second site.
What readers take away
- Social-enterprise legal forms
- Grant versus trading income
- Measuring social impact
- Employing people with convictions
- Safeguarding and risk
- Pricing for sustainability
- Governance and boards
- Telling an honest impact story
- Write a grant application with outcome measures
- Price services to cover overheads
- Manage risk assessments for workshop staff
- Report impact to funders honestly
The books
- 1The workshop Planned
- 2The grant Planned
- 3The past Planned
- 4The model Planned
- 5Two sites Planned
Book titles are working titles and may change before publication. No book is on sale until the complete series is finished, checked and released.