Paying It Forward cover art

Paying It Forward

How to Be a Social Entrepreneur

Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Paying It Forward

By: Josh Littlejohn MBE, Sir Bob Geldof - foreword
Narrated by: Josh Littlejohn MBE, Stuart ‘Sonny’ Murray
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £29.99

Buy Now for £29.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

THE TOP 10 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

* With a Foreword by Sir Bob Geldof *
'Essential: 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 a situation 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 one: Paying it Forward is the compass for finding your own path and making a difference in the world.

©2023 Josh Littlejohn (P)2023 Bonnier Books UK
Business Business Development & Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship Philanthropy & Charity Professionals & Academics Social Sciences

Listeners also enjoyed...

Do Good, Get Paid cover art
Forces for Good cover art
The Intrapreneur cover art
The Power of Strategic Influence cover art
Ravenous cover art
Unlawful Killings cover art
Start Before You're Ready cover art
Dreaming in a Nightmare cover art
Boy Friends cover art
Billionaires Under Construction cover art
Driven by Intention cover art
Sort Your Career Out cover art
Build the Ultimate Physio Clinic cover art
The Entrepreneur Attitude cover art
Acting Up cover art
Becoming Self-Made cover art

Critic reviews

'Josh Littlejohn is a remarkable man - who has achieved extraordinary things in a really short time. PAYING IT FORWARD is his inspirational manifesto for social change and an important practical manual for living a life filled with purpose. Josh reveals what it takes to be a social entrepreneur and how we can all use our skills and energy to change lives rather than just chase profits.' (Richard Curtis CBE)

'Josh Littlejohn is a rockstar of social impact. From opening a local coffee shop in Edinburgh to staging The World's Big Sleepout in New York, he has helped countless people. In an era where businesses put profit over people, and politicians offer platitudes but no real change to this system, PAYING IT FORWARD is a much-needed reminder about what is really important. Much more than an appeal to truly value each other - it's a manifesto for practical steps we need to take to enable this to happen.' (Irvine Welsh)

'Josh Littlejohn is a brilliant entrepreneur who has poured his heart, soul and energy into helping others - with remarkable results. I have personally slept out for four years running as part of Josh's Big Sleep Out campaigns and in doing so got a tiny glimpse into the harsh realities of homelessness.' (Sir Chris Hoy)

All stars
Most relevant  
A celebration of the power and impact that social enterprise can bring to society.

A must listen for all start up entrepreneurs, social leaders and politicians

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Listening to the Paying it Forward audiobook has left me inspired, humbled, hopeful and completely in awe of Josh Littlejohn MBE 💡

Josh has a miraculous way of turning his compassionate ideas into action. I’ve never listened to (or read) a book with such heart and authenticity.

All the stars and more…
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Moving and hopeful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Amazing story with depth to help and inspiration to encourage. Had me emotional so many times. Cant recommend enough.

A must read. I loved it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

As I listened to this book I was inspired, challenged and encouraged all at once. Thank you Josh for sharing your story and for taking the time to narrate it yourself, it’s what encouraged me to listen to it and then get a paper copy.

Inspiring story, made even better as read by author

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.