Magic Egg
Magic Egg productions is a social enterprise operating across Scotland to make information more accessible to people in the Deaf, Deafblind (BSL User), and Hard of Hearing Communities. Co-founded by Titus and Rachel, Magic Egg were inspired by the BSL Scotland Act in 2015.
Magic Egg Productions spoke to Firstport about their social enterprise journey.
What was your inspiration for starting Magic Egg Productions?
Having been involved in the Deaf Community in Scotland for over 10 years, both I and my Co-Director are all too aware of the barriers to accessible information for Deaf and Deafblind British Sign Language users. For most BSL users, English is very much a second language and – as it is a spoken language – it can be difficult to both receive and produce information in this language with no translation. So we set up our business – translating written English information into BSL videos with subtitles (to make the videos accessible to Hard of Hearing people) and voiceover. We were inspired by the thought of access to information becoming a natural consideration instead of an afterthought and the recent BSL Scotland Act 2015 spurred us on to believe that we could make our idea into a reality.
What was most challenging when setting up your social enterprise?
At first, we found it challenging to envisage what the social enterprise might look like in future. However, with guidance from Firstport, that soon came into view. Then, following the Start It Award, we then faced the challenge of getting our heads around the likes of Companies House and incorporation as a Community Interest Company. Again, Firstport proved invaluable and they put us onto SenScot Legal who supported us there. Along the way there have been (and continue to be) other challenges every day, such as how to approach speculative marketing and how to increase our online profile. We try to embrace these challenges with positivity as sometimes they can feel a bit overwhelming.
What are your plans for the future of Magic Egg Productions?
We aim to secure a place in the market as a reliable go-to organisation for accessible videos. We’re proud to have standards and good relationships with our Deaf BSL presenters but we do want more feedback from the Deaf, Deafblind and Hard of Hearing Communities so we are in the process of putting together a Steering Committee for the organisation. We are also in the process of growing our Deaf presenter pool.
Do you have any tips for social entrepreneurs?
Enjoy how efficient you can be at this stage in your organisation. Use the excited energy that you have for your business and channel it into doing lots of marketing and increasing your online presence
We would really like to thank you Firstport for everything – you’ve been an absolutely fantastic support!