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Paying It Forward: How to Be A Social Entrepreneur
* With a Foreword by Sir Bob Geldof *
' full of heart, honesty, humour and helpful advice' - Sir Richard Curtis CBE
'Josh Littlejohn is a rockstar of social impact' - Irvine Welsh
When Josh Littlejohn started a small sandwich shop in his home city of Edinburgh, he would never have thought that, within ten years' time, it would be frequented by Hollywood megastars, that he would have opened a string of successful cafés across the UK, and that he would be honoured with an MBE by the Queen. Not to mention raising over £25 million to combat homelessness around the world. And all set in motion by a person in need of homelessness, named Pete, walking into his café one day and sheepishly asking for a job.
Paying It Forward is part memoir, part manifesto for social entrepreneurship, and part manual for putting purpose ahead of profit. It reveals what social entrepreneurship is and how it can make a difference. How if only 20% of entrepreneurs became social entrepreneurs our world would be in a much better state. How we can 'Calculate Risks', why we should 'Help Just One Person' every day, and that 'If You Don't Ask, You Don't Get'.
The path to being social entrepreneur is never a smooth Paying it Forward is the compass for finding your own path and making a difference in the world.
' full of heart, honesty, humour and helpful advice' - Sir Richard Curtis CBE
'Josh Littlejohn is a rockstar of social impact' - Irvine Welsh
When Josh Littlejohn started a small sandwich shop in his home city of Edinburgh, he would never have thought that, within ten years' time, it would be frequented by Hollywood megastars, that he would have opened a string of successful cafés across the UK, and that he would be honoured with an MBE by the Queen. Not to mention raising over £25 million to combat homelessness around the world. And all set in motion by a person in need of homelessness, named Pete, walking into his café one day and sheepishly asking for a job.
Paying It Forward is part memoir, part manifesto for social entrepreneurship, and part manual for putting purpose ahead of profit. It reveals what social entrepreneurship is and how it can make a difference. How if only 20% of entrepreneurs became social entrepreneurs our world would be in a much better state. How we can 'Calculate Risks', why we should 'Help Just One Person' every day, and that 'If You Don't Ask, You Don't Get'.
The path to being social entrepreneur is never a smooth Paying it Forward is the compass for finding your own path and making a difference in the world.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 15, 2024
A fascinating insight into being a social entrepreneur. If everyone had Josh’s mindset the world would be a better place
August 6, 2024
Always inspiring to hear the story of an organisation right from its founder or founders. In the early years they are one with the company: entrepreneur == company.
Josh took it as his life's mission to uplift the homeless. That he had a privileged upbringing did not preclude him from a life of service.
The feats his team has pulled off with his vision are nothing short of amazing, including:
- kickstarting and growing a new genre of fundraising events called Big Sleep Out, where hundreds or thousands of people sleep out in the cold one night. This begets empathy for the homeless and solidarity in ending homelessness. They managed to shut down places for this that you wouldn't have thought could be shut down, like Times Square! Besides raising millions of pounds, they managed to garner enough clout to turn the dial on policy.
- markedly improving the state of lives of hundreds of homeless people through gainful employment and a Housing First approach. Housing First was championed in Finland which saw steady reductions in homelessness. It is the strategy of addressing their immediate predicament, i.e. that they don't have a safe and clean place to call home, so that they will be in a better state of mind to fix any other parts of their lives that need fixing, e.g. drug addiction, mental health etc. Putting a roof over their heads, and a good roof to boot, is utterly necessary to pull them out of vicious cycles.
- getting megastars (e.g. George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith), politicians, and CEOs to personally back Social Bite.
- surviving Covid 19 as an F&B business.
Fascinated by some of the structures and models described here. In Singapore, majority of social enterprises are private limited companies, followed by limited partnerships and sole proprietorships. What Josh describes as Social Bite's model is closest in Singapore, I believe, to the Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG) that is owned as a business subsidiary by a Charitable Trust that has qualified for charity status/Institution of Public Character (IPC) by applying in to the Commissioner of Charities (COC). In Singapore, such institutions would fall under the category of SSAs, registered as 'Ltd' members of NCSS, rather than with raiSE. Yes, acronyms.. There are no shareholders in a CLG, no share capital either. All revenue less expenses including salaries, in other words, profits, will be reinvested in the public company or charitable efforts. Apart from the directors of the CLG, the trustees of the charitable trust have a significant role to play in stewardship of charitable donations as well as funds raised through business activities of the CLG.
So, one of my takeaways is that what a social enterprise is and is not is very much dependent on each country's own legal structures. Irregardless of how a social enterprise is manifested, the unifying factor across all social enterprises is that all lie on a continuum between non-profit and for-profit' they are never at extremes. From another perspective, they employ for-profit means to non-profit ends.
Some other things that are memorable to me:
- the role of luck, miracles delivered by the universe, seemingly precipitating out of nowhere as long as you are in it for the right reasons and stick it out through thick and thin.
- a pay it forward scheme applied to the homelessness situation. Social Bite offers customers a choice to pay for a homeless person to have a food item and a hot drink.
- that as a social entrepreneur you don't give jobs to people; the people you serve through employment give you your job.
- being ready to handle staff issues, no matter how uncomfortable it might make you feel
- Josh's conviction that if only 20% of all entrepreneurs were to be social entrepreneurs, the world would be drastically improved.
Josh took it as his life's mission to uplift the homeless. That he had a privileged upbringing did not preclude him from a life of service.
The feats his team has pulled off with his vision are nothing short of amazing, including:
- kickstarting and growing a new genre of fundraising events called Big Sleep Out, where hundreds or thousands of people sleep out in the cold one night. This begets empathy for the homeless and solidarity in ending homelessness. They managed to shut down places for this that you wouldn't have thought could be shut down, like Times Square! Besides raising millions of pounds, they managed to garner enough clout to turn the dial on policy.
- markedly improving the state of lives of hundreds of homeless people through gainful employment and a Housing First approach. Housing First was championed in Finland which saw steady reductions in homelessness. It is the strategy of addressing their immediate predicament, i.e. that they don't have a safe and clean place to call home, so that they will be in a better state of mind to fix any other parts of their lives that need fixing, e.g. drug addiction, mental health etc. Putting a roof over their heads, and a good roof to boot, is utterly necessary to pull them out of vicious cycles.
- getting megastars (e.g. George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith), politicians, and CEOs to personally back Social Bite.
- surviving Covid 19 as an F&B business.
Fascinated by some of the structures and models described here. In Singapore, majority of social enterprises are private limited companies, followed by limited partnerships and sole proprietorships. What Josh describes as Social Bite's model is closest in Singapore, I believe, to the Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG) that is owned as a business subsidiary by a Charitable Trust that has qualified for charity status/Institution of Public Character (IPC) by applying in to the Commissioner of Charities (COC). In Singapore, such institutions would fall under the category of SSAs, registered as 'Ltd' members of NCSS, rather than with raiSE. Yes, acronyms.. There are no shareholders in a CLG, no share capital either. All revenue less expenses including salaries, in other words, profits, will be reinvested in the public company or charitable efforts. Apart from the directors of the CLG, the trustees of the charitable trust have a significant role to play in stewardship of charitable donations as well as funds raised through business activities of the CLG.
So, one of my takeaways is that what a social enterprise is and is not is very much dependent on each country's own legal structures. Irregardless of how a social enterprise is manifested, the unifying factor across all social enterprises is that all lie on a continuum between non-profit and for-profit' they are never at extremes. From another perspective, they employ for-profit means to non-profit ends.
Some other things that are memorable to me:
- the role of luck, miracles delivered by the universe, seemingly precipitating out of nowhere as long as you are in it for the right reasons and stick it out through thick and thin.
- a pay it forward scheme applied to the homelessness situation. Social Bite offers customers a choice to pay for a homeless person to have a food item and a hot drink.
- that as a social entrepreneur you don't give jobs to people; the people you serve through employment give you your job.
- being ready to handle staff issues, no matter how uncomfortable it might make you feel
- Josh's conviction that if only 20% of all entrepreneurs were to be social entrepreneurs, the world would be drastically improved.
August 2, 2024
TACKLE SOCIAL PROBLEMS THROUGH BUSINESS SOLUTIONS = SUSTAINABILITY.
THE VAST MAJORITY OF HOMELESS PEOPLE HAD HARROWING CHILDHOODS. THE NO.1 REASON FOR HOMELESSNESS IS NOT FROM MAKING BAD CHOICES, RATHER ITS CHILDHOOD POVERTY OR ABUSE - BEING BORN INTO A SITUATION OVER WHICH THEY HAD NO CONTROL.
Helping others is the key to happiness.
100% of the shares of Social Bite are owned by a parent entity. The funds are used to tackle homelessness. Provides employment opportunities for the homeless (1 in 4 staff have to have been homeless at a point) and customers can pay it forward by buying a sandwich or coffee for when the homeless come in.
A social enterprise differs from charity because its funds come through selling a product or service rather than via donations.
If you wish to raise donations as part of your work, then your best option is to create a registered charity.
Launched the village in 2018.
It is important to research worlds best practice for tackling the issue you care about. When you are working to solve a social problem others are keen to share their learnings.
Global sleep out 7/12/19 in 52 cities by 60k people - raised US$10m which enabled all homeless who come into Social Bite cafes to get something.
For those you had to fight for it, life has truly a flavour the protected will never know - Theodore
Roosevelt.
THE VAST MAJORITY OF HOMELESS PEOPLE HAD HARROWING CHILDHOODS. THE NO.1 REASON FOR HOMELESSNESS IS NOT FROM MAKING BAD CHOICES, RATHER ITS CHILDHOOD POVERTY OR ABUSE - BEING BORN INTO A SITUATION OVER WHICH THEY HAD NO CONTROL.
Helping others is the key to happiness.
100% of the shares of Social Bite are owned by a parent entity. The funds are used to tackle homelessness. Provides employment opportunities for the homeless (1 in 4 staff have to have been homeless at a point) and customers can pay it forward by buying a sandwich or coffee for when the homeless come in.
A social enterprise differs from charity because its funds come through selling a product or service rather than via donations.
If you wish to raise donations as part of your work, then your best option is to create a registered charity.
Launched the village in 2018.
It is important to research worlds best practice for tackling the issue you care about. When you are working to solve a social problem others are keen to share their learnings.
Global sleep out 7/12/19 in 52 cities by 60k people - raised US$10m which enabled all homeless who come into Social Bite cafes to get something.
For those you had to fight for it, life has truly a flavour the protected will never know - Theodore
Roosevelt.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2023
This book which is on Audible and BorrowBox is an inspirational listen and I would recommend to everyone. I quote " The Path to being social entrepreneur is never a smooth one. Paying it Forward is the compass for finding your own path and making a difference in the world". The book is written by Josh Littlejohn MBE. i try when ever possible to pay it forward.
March 18, 2025
Un libro que te hace volver a creer en la sociedad, un bálsamo para el corazón.
Narra la aventura de Josh Littlejohn creando una empresa social (Social Bite) de ahí trabajando arduamente por las personas son hogar.
Muy recomendable de fácil lectura.
Narra la aventura de Josh Littlejohn creando una empresa social (Social Bite) de ahí trabajando arduamente por las personas son hogar.
Muy recomendable de fácil lectura.
January 29, 2026
Absolutely loved this
Truly inspirational. Highly recommend to hear the story of social bite and all the good work done!
Truly inspirational. Highly recommend to hear the story of social bite and all the good work done!
April 6, 2025
Inspirador, realista, inteligente, admirable y motivador. Un pequeño libro que te abre los caminos a movimientos que cambian el mundo de muchas personas
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews