“I now understand my wider community” - social enterprise case study
In June 2021, Gary Booth — founder of Chequered Flag Motorsport — found himself in a position where he needed professional assistance regarding his business plan and the opportunities for growth. He reached out to Jet Social in the hope he’d be able to gain some guidance on the next steps for the social enterprise and how he could facilitate more motorsport experiences for people with disabilities.
The challenge
A major priority for Booth was acquiring partners and financial support in order to get events off the ground. When Jet Social’s relationship with him began, he had spent a year being inundated with participation requests from those wanting to join in with the events, meaning he needed support quickly before that interest waned due to inaction.
“I needed sources of income to keep my social enterprise going, but I’m the sort of person who doesn’t like to just take,” says Booth. “So it wasn’t a question of holding my hand out to the corporate entities and saying, ‘Can I have X amount of money, please?’ It was about wanting to give something back. And that’s where Jet Social and its sister brand Racing Mentor came in.”
The main barrier to the development of Booth’s venture was, simply, self-confidence. While he has 100% confidence in his product and his ability to communicate its worth to sponsors, there was an undeniable element of imposter syndrome that so many of us suffer from. “It’s like having a devil on your shoulder, so to speak,” says Booth. “There’s a nagging doubt that says, ‘Why would anybody want to get involved with this?’”
Facing the problem head-on
Helping Booth develop the confidence he needed was a major step in our early relationship with him. “I now understand my wider community, and where I could go, as well as how to build that brand,” Booth explains. “Those are, obviously, the foundations upon which you build your whole funding program.”
Chequered Flag is run by Booth alone, meaning he’s left to make all the difficult decisions by himself. That can be daunting, but the Jet Social team worked closely with him to create a commercially-minded narrative and cohesive, supported plan of action — something Booth was missing previously.
We agreed on a working period of four weeks, including the following resources:
One-to-one coaching sessions
An actionable strategy plan
Website audit and content review
Creating a new commercially aware marketing brochure
A branding refresh, including PR messaging and content creation
The results
The transformation for Booth and Chequered Flag Motorsport has been incredible. “I’m doing an awful lot better than I was before,” he says. “I’ve put a lot of smaller sponsorship contracts in place and I’m in conversation with bigger ones. One of the major things I’ve learned from it is realising and noticing where those opportunities lie within my wider network.
“One of the things that's also really amazed me and I'm absolutely gobsmacked by it, is how widespread and well-known what I'm doing has now become. Within the social enterprise community, and to a degree within the motorsport community, they've heard of Chequered Flag Motorsport. And from that, we are having more and more conversations. Every time, it just blows me away.”
For someone who admits he can be self-deprecating, this is a huge deal for Booth. And Chequered Flag is only going to get bigger, bolstered by the support he has gained by acquiring our assistance. “Jet Social has been a great help – and I needed it,” he states. “The team has been very understanding, and it’s led to the creation of a community that I definitely feel part of.”
More successes from Chequered Flag Motorsport
Successful event with Red Bull F1
Chequered Flag Motorsport named as a finalist in the StartUp Awards
Joining Porsche for a special event
If you’re looking for more direction in your business, we’d be happy to help. Go ahead and book a discovery call to see how Jet Social can support you.