When a Jigsaw is a Solution Not a Puzzle

For many of us, a jigsaw is a holiday activity for a rainy day, its many pieces spread out on the dining room table ready to be reworked into something that’s bigger and better once all the pieces are fitted together. It’s a great analogy for the team at Jigsaw Business Solutions, an awesome social enterprise changing the game for people with disability.

They specialise in digitisation … what is that?

If you have…

·        a storeroom full of records

·        filing cabinets overflowing with folders

·        a large expense for a storage facility to hold your company files

·        lots and lots of paper that you need to keep

… then you need to get to know who they are and what they do.

Jigsaw Business Solutions specialise in digitisation services to corporate and government in order to create Award-paying jobs, training and pathways to mainstream employment. They provide an end to end service, from pick up, scanning and uploading, to destruction.

With the NDIS roll out, many school leavers with disability found they were being placed into organisations that gave them something to occupy their time, but not a job that was purposeful and utilised their skill set.

Business with a social purpose

The Jigsaw business model is a social enterprise. That means they’re out there in the marketplace competing with the big players. The difference is that the profits they make from their services are reinvested back into maintaining a sustainable and scalable business. They receive no government subsidies and grants, and all their staff are paid award rates.

Where we got involved

When they needed computers and tech support, WorkVentures specialist Not for Profit Business Services were a great fit. As a social enterprise ourselves, we were in sync with their profit for purpose model and the need to spend wisely.

The how of Jigsaw

The pieces of the Jigsaw jigsaw link together to provide learning that fits into temping that fits into outsourcing opportunities. It means that staff can progress from work experience and training programs, where they gain classroom and workplace knowledge, to either placement in a job within Jigsaw or support to transition to a job in the mainstream workforce.

From the pilot program to this year training 30 young people, the success of the venture shows no signs of slowing down.

The why of Jigsaw

Jigsaw is one of two enterprises run by Fighting Chance with a mission to move the dial for Australians with disability and their family, to ask “What if …” and to create a different future.

Paul Brown is the General Manager at Jigsaw and had previously taught in schools with children with behavioural difficulties and later as a support worker. He had known the founders, Laura and Jordan, and their brother Shane, the inspiration behind Fighting Chance.

Shane had an intelligence and desire to work, and he also had cerebral palsy. The Day Care programs he attended didn’t occupy his mind and cater to his love of IT and computers. In their desire to create a new future for their brother and people with disability, Laura and Jordan have changed the game.

What you can do

The next time your company needs a storeroom for your ever expanding paper records, think about saving space and going digital. It’s not just about the job you need done, it’s also about the life-changing impact your choice can have on a young person’s future.

Jigsaw Business Solutions can be contacted on 02 9905 0415

or email [email protected]