Writing about Social Enterprise

I recently submitted a chapter for the book The Great Enterprise: Creating a New Civilization through Social Entrepreneurship and Responsible Business Practices, which discusses how social entrepreneurs and innovative social business practices and models can help make our world more sustainable. Edited by the Goi Foundation of Japan and scheduled to be published by Oekom Publishing (Munich) later this year, the book features articles from authors all over the world. This summer I also signed a contract with Jossey-Bass to develop a book based on my Sustayne curriculum. I felt honored to be asked to participate in both of these projects.

As I sat down to write the chapter "Social Enterprise and Social Entrepreneurship: Tools to Achieve a More Balanced World" for Goi, the reality of starting with a blank page and trying to create something meaningful hit me hard. After all, it's easy enough to engage in lively conversation, even to deliver workshops about the topic I care so much about. But writing 8-10 pages for an unknown audience about how I think social enterprise creates change in the world ended up being a daunting task. After some serious procrastinating , including asking for an extension or two, it finally all came together. In writing, I was forced to get really clear about why social enterprise and social entrepreneurship are important. Sure, it makes me feel good to do work that aligns with my personal values, creates financial sustainability and positively impacts society. But how does it change the world and how does my work help contribute to that?

The answer I came up with is that we need to get back to a more holistic view of our actions, of our relationship with the earth and how we live. I got inspiration from a Native American fable about a time when we were in more harmony with the earth, a time when innovations and ideas were valued by how they benefitted society. I realized that social enterprise and social entrepreneurship are tools that can be instrumental in helping us get to a place of knowing and acting on the belief that our social, environmental and economic activities are inextricably linked. An organization that embodies this and which is featured in the chapter is MA'O, an organic farm in Hawaii that has one of the most holistic models I've seen. They teach native Hawaiian youth how to be entrepreneurs and farmers by running a successful organic farm. The ripple effect of this is that it helps the youth connect back to the earth and their native culture, gets healthy, locally grown food into the community, provides youth with job skills, training and hope for their futures and provides revenue to do additional education and awareness in the broader community.

As for how Social Enterprise Group's work helps change the world, I've discovered that as we help to scale technical assistance through our clients like MA'O , we’re also creating a ripple effect. We help by making tangible, effective tools broadly available and by providing a "bird's eye view" of the field. In the past eight years, we've worked with hundreds of organizations in workshops and trainings and with many more each year through in-depth consulting projects. This fall more of our Sustayne curriculum will be available via our workshop series. We'll be offering a free teleworkshop on September 9th for those of you who want an overview of what social enterprise is. And, for the first time, in our "Horror Stories from the Field" workshop, we'll have a session that highlights three projects that didn't go so well, the lessons learned and ways you can learn from these mistakes. All of our workshops are delivered via a one hour phone call, so you can participate from wherever you live and work. Check out www.sustayne.com for information on our workshops, speaking and consulting services.

So, for all you social entrepreneurs out there, keep on changing the world and let us know how we can help.

Download A More Balanced World here

The "big" ripple effect

I live on an island and have 2 young kids. Thankfully, going to the beach is a regular part of our lives. Recently, my 5 year-old son and I were at the water's edge, enjoying a gorgeous Northwest summer day. He was throwing rocks into the water, watching the ripples as they went out from the place where the rock entered the water into ever-increasing concentric circles. After a while, he said "look Mama, the more you throw in, the bigger the circles." I assumed he was talking about the ripples that go out from throwing one rock into the water. He wasn't - he was focused on the bigger picture - he had noticed that with each rock he threw in, the individual circles joined up to create a bigger set of circles that just kept getting stronger. The more rocks he threw in, the bigger the "big" ripple effect got.

I realized that is exactly how I believe social enterprise and social entrepreneurship add up to big change in the world. There are an ever-increasing number of social entrepreneurs out there in all sectors. Each one, working hard to create a ripple effect in the area of the world they are focused on. All of these efforts combine to make powerful change in our society as a whole. More and more consumers are thinking about the choices they make about how to spend their money. More and more Americans are getting engaged and re-engaged in the political process. More and more businesses are realizing that they must take societal and environmental impacts into consideration. More and more social sector organizations are applying enterprise-based concepts to strengthen their mission-based activities. I see every social entrepreneur and social enterprise as another, important rock thrown into the water of our world that, together, are making an important big ripple effect that is being felt by us all.

A Holistic Business Value Proposition: society, the environment and money

Developing a business value proposition is key to being able to articulate what VALUE your business brings to its customers. I would like to challenge you to think broadly about the value your business brings to the world: Does it add value to society? How? Does it minimize impact on the environment or, better yet, address an environmental problem? Does it have a viable financial model that will help ensure its long-term sustainability? How do all of these elements create maximum value for the customer you are trying to serve?

The following Lessons from Sustayne will take you through a process of identifying what your business value proposition is and asking yourself key questions about environmental aspects of your business. Then, you can take your results and consider how you have articulated the integration of the social, environmental and financial aspects of the value your business brings to the world. It's a great way to find out where you've got your business model set and where you need to focus on improvement.

Business Value Proposition Generator
This tool will take you through the key elements required to be able to clearly articulate the value your business brings to its customers. It helps you think through things like market positioning, pricing and customers. You'll end up with a fairly awkward statement. Don't worry - this just serves as the jumping off point for you to take the information, personalize it and make your own, pithy elevator pitch. It also helps you figure out what elements of your business model you need to do more research on - who is your competition? How are you different? What price will you come in with? What value do your customers get for that price?

Sustainability Checklist
Created by our friends and content partners at Sustainable Business Consulting, this checklist will help you think through major areas of environmental sustainability (e.g. water, waste, shipping, recycling) to determine whether and how they are integrated into your value proposition. You'll end up with a list of environmental sustainability areas to focus on as you further develop your model.

As many of you know, Sustayne (TM) is a straight forward and effective set of tools developed by Social Enterprise Group and Bainbridge Graduate Institute to help guide you through the development and growth of your social venture. If you want more on Sustayne, consider signing up for one of our oil-free, low-cost summer teleworkshops.

We'd love to hear from you - post a comment here or contact us at info@socialenterprisegroup.com to let us know if you have questions or just to let us know how the tools are working for you.

Coming mid-June: Business Value Proposition and Sustainability

Look for a blog and links to Sustayne worksheets on developing your business value proposition and the importance for ANY organization to think through environmental sustainabilty issues when determining their value.

Coming mid-June: Business Value Proposition and Sustainability

Using consultants to maximize your impact

I've been an external and internal consultant for all of my career. I've also been a consulting client. I've had some successes and some failures both as a consultant and as a client. I have learned a lot over the years and spent a considerable amount of time figuring out what works and what doesn't when it comes to consulting engagements that are successful from both the client and consultant's perspectives. Here are a few tips I'd like to offer to help you in considering when and how to use a consultant and how to set up a consulting relationship for mutual success:

1) When should I use a consultant?
Consultants are best used on specific projects with clearly defined outcomes. As humans, we sometimes know what we want but not necessarily what we need. I've seen many consulting project start with a request that doesn't really get to the root of what's needed. Although it will cost a bit more, it is often useful to work with a consultant in an exploratory phase to determine what the project goals are and how best to achieve them. This can go a long way in heading off trouble down the road.

Ideally, consultants should be used as resources to transfer knowledge into your organization. In other words, when the consultant leaves, your organization should have a bag of tricks and tools that it can use long after the consultant is gone. If you need someone to fill a skill gap for the long term or find you're using a consultant to do the same type of work over and over again, you may need to consider whether you need to hire a staff position or contract employee. It's great to establish a relationship with a consultant and use them for future projects. They know you, know your organization and the relationship and work is a known entity. However, your organization should be learning new skills with each new project, rather than having a consultant do the same type of work into infinity.

Also, attending workshops and conferences is a great way for your organization to gain skills. It's great to do this and then be more educated on how you can bring in a consultant to take what you've learned and go to the next level with it.

2) How do I set up a consulting relationship for success?

1. Define the project - understand what your goals, budget and timeframe are and what role you want the consultant to play and what project deliverables you expect. Also, provide an overview of how project deliverables will be used (e.g. reports to the board, communication to stakeholders, decision making tools, funding support) and what format will be most useful to you (e.g. a concise presentation, dynamic excel spreadsheet, written report).
2. Ask the consultant how they work - the consultant's skills are important, but so is their style. Does their personality fit with your organization's culture? Can they adeptly navigate the political and other sensitive issues that may arise? Are there any inherent conflicts of interest that should be worked through? Can they clearly articulate what they will do for you and what they expect from you as a partner in this work? What will happen if the scope of work or budget needs to change? What days and hours do they typically work and does that fit with the needs of your organization?
3. Clearly define roles and responsibilities - you will get the most out of a consulting relationship if you're willing to partner with your consultant. What do you expect from the consultant and what are you willing to bring to the table? Is there a main point of contact for the consultant? Is there a project team that will be focused on the project? If so, what is the agreement about how much of their time they can devote to the project? Is management and the board supportive of this work? Is the organization open to honest and potentially difficult feedback on what it can do to improve?

In my most successful projects, the clients and my company have set up the expectation and then worked together as true partners. I work to be sure my actions and work add value to them and expect that the client will provide me with the information, candor and internal attention required to get solid and useful work completed. Consultants really can be a valuable part of your organization - like any relationship, it takes time and attention to be sure it turns out positively for everyone involved. Best wishes.

Synergy....just another stupid consulting word or the key to social enterprise success?

Synergy. It's a word I was first introduced to during my days as a "Big 6" consultant for a global firm. I recoiled - it sounded like yet another made-up consultant word. But, as I've gotten older, I've learned to appreciate it and more fully understand what it means - and find it's one of the most important parts of a successful social enterprise.

The American Dictionary defines synergy as:
syn·er·gy (sĭn'ər-jē) Pronunciation Key n. pl. syn·er·gies
The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.
Cooperative interaction among groups, especially among the acquired subsidiaries or merged parts of a corporation, that creates an enhanced combined effect.

Looking at the first part of the definition, what stands out for me is "their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects." As a social entrepreneur, this peaks my interest.

I have noticed a trend with my clients lately - several (both non-profit and for profit) have hit the tipping point and launched into success. I have been looking at what elements are common across these ventures. The thing that stands out the most: they all have synergy. That is, they have all had a series of internal and external forces that have come together to make them launch towards success. In our upcoming Social Enterprise Group newsletter, we'll be highlighting a couple of these. In the mean time here are some of the success factors that have led to these synergies:

• Leaders who are passionately committed to moving the venture forward, yet can also objectively look at the internal and external situation to make sound decisions
• Conducted plenty of leg work to determine how to best move forward with the venture including input from stakeholders, thorough market analysis, in-depth business planning
• Solid business model that leverages their strengths socially, environmentally and financially
• Forces in the external market and internal organization came together simultaneously (e.g. the external market was ready, staffing fell into place, financing came through)

I think synergy requires that magic combination that successful entrepreneurship requires - solid data and planning coupled with being open to allowing things to flow and recognizing opportunities when they land on your doorstep.