THIS is how you change the world

A Model That Works for 100% of the People

2009-01-20T11:37:00.001-08:00

What a day of hope! For us as individuals, our communities, our nation and the world. As I watched the inaugural ceremony from the warmth of my Mom's living room on this beautiful Northwest island, I felt a renewed sense of hope and possibility surge through me. A reminder that we must stay the course and continue to do the work of transforming our social and economic model to one that works for 100% of the people. Social enterprise and social entrepreneurship are poised to be part of the underpinning of the transformation from fear to hope and from hate to love. For the practice of social enterprise to go from fringe to mainstream, it will require continued hard work and restructuring of old ways on the part of practitioners, the education system, financial markets and policy makers.

Today, I float on a ray of hope and energy to keep doing this work. Thank you to everyone who is a part of this movement and who continues to see the higher perspective.

"Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice" - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Writing about Social Enterprise

2008-09-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-02T16:58:00.001-07:00

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

2008-06-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-03T14:37:00.002-07:00

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

2008-06-03T14:37:00.001-07:00

Using consultants to maximize your impact

2008-04-02T11:58:00.001-07:00

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?

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).
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?
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?

2008-03-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

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.

Market, Technical and Financial Risk - oh my!

2007-11-05T11:43:00.000-08:00

As the season of ghosts and goblins is coming to a close, I'm reminded of scary things that go "bump" in the night. For an entrepreneur - especially a social entrepreneur - there is no limit to the numbers of things that keep us up at night. These are the inevitable risks of entrepreneurship. But, just like other things that are scary, I find it's best to shine a light on these risks, objectively examine and develop a plan for addressing them. Generally, entrepreneurial risks fall in the following categories: market, technical, financial and people. In my Sustayne workshops, I conduct a module on these risks and counsel organizations to take inventory of their risks in each category and develop a mitigation strategy to address each. It's also helpful to get an outside opinion on what risks are the most real and what strategies might work the best. And, it's critical to do this as OBJECTIVELY as possible - try to take the emotion and the stress out of it - then, it just becomes information. To get you started, I've included a framework at the end of this blog from Sustayne to help you begin to think through the various risks you face. The next step will be to prioritize these and develop mitigation strategies. Let me know what you think. For more on risk & risk mitigation, either attend a Sustayne workshop http://www.sustayne.com/ in the Bay Area (intro. session Nov. 15 9-noon) or Seattle (intro. session Jan. 31 9-noon) this winter and spring or attend my session on Risk at the Social Enterprise Alliance Summit in Boston March 9-11 http://www.se-alliance.org/

For your social venture, explore and note the risks you face in each of the categories listed below.

Market Risk. Bad timing: too early or too late. Unexpected competition. Wrong product or service. Wrong price. Poor positioning. Wrong target market. Etc.

Technical Risk. Problems in product development, manufacturing, or sourcing. Schedule slips. Cost overruns. Unavailability of sustainable materials. Etc.

Financial Risk. Project funding doesn’t come through. Or comes through too late. Or isn’t sufficient. Or costs too much. Etc.

People Risk. Product champion quits. Sponsor leaves. Can’t find the right talent to fill out the team. Can’t pay enough to attract the talent you need. Etc.

Try not to get overwhelmed with your list of risks. Start by prioritizing them by the ones you think are the most likely to the ones you think are probably unlikely. Next, list at least one way you can reduce or remove each of the risks. Finally - breathe. Risk and managing risk is part of life. Afterall, it's easier to address the things you know than the things you don't.

Lessons from Sustayne: Idea Vetting

2007-08-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

So, you’ve got a great idea for a social venture. Or, you’re the leader of an organization and your staff and board keep coming to you with ideas. What do you do with them? On one hand, it’s great to foster a culture where ideas are vetted and dreams are dreamed. On the other hand, you’ve got WORK to do and paying attention to every little idea can be time consuming. One of the first things we focus on in Sustayne is to ask a few key questions to determine if an idea is worth assigning any more resources to.

First, develop a brief set (3-5) or organizational goals pertaining to social enterprise. Is your primary goal to develop a job training program or is it to generate revenue? Or, something else?

Identify the key goals of your social venture:
1.
2.
3.

Next, for each social venture idea, rate the extent to which the idea aligns with each of the following organizational factors. Once you’ve rated a venture, take a look at where it scored high and low and consider:

1. Are the areas where the venture scored low problems that can be remedied either through modifying the business model or via the organization? Are any of these areas “show stoppers”?

2. What is the organization’s willingness to change or work on specific organizational factors?

Scores
1 = not at all, 2 = not much, 3= moderately, 4 = well aligned, 5 = great fit

Rate each idea yourself, then have others in your organization rate it. Score separately, then compare.

To what extent does the business idea align with the organization’s mission?

To what extent does the business idea align with the organization’s core values?

To what extent does the business idea leverage organizational assets? (i.e. relationships, brand recognition, reputation, facilities, financial, knowledge)

To what extent does the business idea directly address the primary goals of the social venture?

Consider the minimum level of profit required to make the business idea worthwhile. To what extent is it possible that the business idea has a market demand and profit margin that can meet the organization’s profit needs?

Consider the minimum level of social impact the organization needs to achieve in order to make the business idea worthwhile. To what extent does the business idea realistically have the potential to make this level of social impact?

To what extent does the organization’s history of risk taking align with the risk level of the venture?

Consider the capital requirements of the business. To what extent can the organization realistically raise or find other sources of funding to cover these costs?

Consider cultural impact and reputation. To what extent does the venture’s level of impact align with the organization’s threshold for cultural impact and effect on reputation?

Total Score:
(copyright Social Enterprise Group 2005)

I've found this tool to come in handy to quickly eliminate or further consider various ideas. I hope this works for you - feel free to comment on how you used this tool. This is one of many I'll be sharing as part of our "Lessons From Sustayne". Want to know more about Sustayne? Go to www.socialenterprisegroup.com for more info. on workshops and licensing opportunities. Good luck!

Keep on Keepin' On

2007-08-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

Michael Meade is one of my favorite authors and happens to be a Vashon Islander like myself. I was recently listening to a CD of his on mentoring and came across this thought "to not live your dreams causes younger people to lose theirs." It got me thinking - hard. Being an entrepreneur is tough. Being a social entrepreneur is even tougher. There are days when I wonder what I'm doing. I'm a single parent. I try to keep my life simple, but I have a house, 2 young kids and a business to run. Why can't I just go out and get some high-paying corporate gig and quit worrying about cash flow, about trying to scale a methodology, about creating impact in the world? Because I can't. Because I have a dream - one I've been feeding for over 7 years. I deeply believe that applying the rigor of business to the framework of how we address social and environmental issues IS critical to changing the world. I deeply believe that all those intrapreneurs (entrepreneurs working within organizations) in the public and nonprofit sectors and all those entrepreneurs who are starting and running private business that have a social or environmental bottom line are making a difference one transaction at a time. And, I believe that the work I do in the world and the curriculum (Sustayne) I've developed with Bainbridge Graduate Institute is a highly effective tool in helping these ideas to get off the back of a cocktail napkin, get reworked into something feasible and get launched. I believe the work of Social Enterprise Group changes the world by providing an important toolkit for others who are changing the world.

We recently called several of our past Sustayne participants to find out how they're doing. This tool had a lasting impact for every single one of them. That matters. To me, to my company, to every single on of our clients and to all the clients and customers they serve.

So, when I ask myself why I can't just "get a real job"? It's because if I don't live my dream, there might be some fantastic social venture ideas that never quite get off the ground. And, my kids might not have the inspiration they need to live their dreams.

Hiring an Entrepreneurial Leader

2007-08-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

I recently had a client ask me for suggestions on what type of questions to ask of their Executive Director candidates that would help them find someone who would be able to effectively lead their social enterprise efforts. I realized many organizations are in similar situations - going through leadership transitions and wanting to find someone that can lead the organization in a way that supports an entrepreneurial culture. Here are a few tips on questions to ask and answers to look for:

1) Ask what their entrepreneurial experience has been - have they started a business? Have they started major initiatives within a larger organization? Find out how these endeavors ended up. Listen for the mistakes they made and what they learned form those. If they try to sugar coat their entrepreneurial experiences, they may not really get that one of the most important aspects of being an entrepreneur is making mistakes, making course corrections and moving on.

2) Ask how they have or plan to integrate entrepreneurial thinking and support into the organization. Look for indications that they'll set up simple processes for allowing people's ideas to be surfaced and quickly vetted to determine if they should receive more organizational resources to study further. Try to get a sense of how they'll provide incentives for people to come up with innovative solutions to everyday problems.

3) Ask what their expectations are for earned income generation in the organization. If they are wildly optimistic and think the organization can be totally self-sufficient in a short period of time, they probably don't have a realistic sense of what it really means to run a social enterprise. On the other hand, if they are so down on earned income they don't want to have anything to do with it, they may have had a negative entrepreneurial experience they still haven't recovered from. In short, they should be looking to determine the most realistic, sustainable revenue mix (e.g. grants, individual donations, earned income) for that particular organization and develop a plan around how to achieve it.

Lastly, I think it's always a good thing to come across someone who knows what they don't know. If they know they have limitations around particular aspects of being an entrepreneur that's great - you're a step ahead in figuring out what gaps need to be filled through training, other staff or consultants. Best wishes on a successful hire! And, for all of you entrepreneurial job searchers out there - just be honest and be yourself. Really.

Determining the feasibility of a social venture - what is "success"?

2007-07-30T10:39:00.000-07:00

Anna (my fantastic assistant) and I have spent much of the past few weeks working on the financial model for a new business venture for one of our clients. They are a wonderful organization that helps women through many types of big life transitions. They offer a comprehensive range of services to these women, from a daytime drop-in center to keep women off the streets to residential living to childcare to substance abuse & mental health support. they are now branching into the development of a social venture in order to add a job skills & training component as well as provide more visibility for the organization in the community and, hopefully, generate some revenue. We are assisting them with developing a model for a small bakery & cafe. In developing the financials, we needed to determine 1) how much the job training portion costs and 2) whether or not the bakery/cafe could be break even or better on its own, without the job training pieces. The main reason for breaking this out in this way was because I felt that it was extremely important for them to understand going into this whether they were just needing to obtain funding for the job training portion or, if they were developing a business model that, as a standalone, without the social mission piece, would also needed underwriting.

There has been a lot of attention lately on whether social ventures have to be "profitable" to be considered "successful". It is my continued belief that the financial feasibility of a social venture is determined by the intent and by what is reasonably planned for. For example, for this organization, running a business that is at least break even or, preferably, profitable but finding grant support for the job training portion would be successful. Running the business itself at a continued loss (understanding it may take 2 years or so to get to break even) AND needing grant support for the training portion would not be successful. However, for this particular scenario, it is not reasonable to assume that they can run the bakery/cafe and the training program profitably, at least for many years. Does that mean it's not "successful"? No. It means that this organization must go into this with their eyes wide open and with a full accounting of what the true costs are that are associated with a job training program (e.g. extra staffing, less productivity, higher cost of goods sold, per student training fees) and be able to locate a reliable source of funding for those costs. And, they must keep their eye on the business side of running the bakery/cafe, keeping COGS under control, understanding their market and phasing into this in a way that makes sense for where they're at financially and culturally.

Again, another illustration of why it's so important for organizations to get assistance and to really assess why they're entering into social enterprise, what level of enterprise they're ready for and what the true cultural and financial costs are. Then, it can be successful for the organization, the community, the clients and the world. That's where the real change happens.

Social IS environmental; the environment IS social

2007-07-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

I constantly find myself pulling out social and environmental bottom lines when I'm creating promotional materials, writings and deliverables. Each time I write something like "developing a business that manages to profit and a social/environmental bottom line" I feel frustrated that many of us in the social enterprise field and many in the environmental sustainability field don't necessarily behave as if social and environmental issues are intertwined. I believe they are. How can a social service organization claiming to be addressing issues of poverty not also take under consideration that poverty and the environment are linked? For example, a worldwide reduction in farmland combined with farmers planting corn to be used as alternative fuel instead of food has caused an astronomical 60% increase in the price of tortillas in Mexico. The poor who can barely afford to eat cannot afford even the most minimal of food staples. How can an environmental organization who is interested in helping people reduce their carbon footprints not also take under consideration the reality of a working class American family that may buy conventional foods and petroleum-based plastic products because they are by far cheaper than organics and items made from natural materials? When you're living paycheck to paycheck, you are thinking about surviving today, so solutions need to be put forth that are achievable for everyone. For example, teaching people to buy used - shop thrift stores instead of running to Wal-Mart is a place to start. I get that we are all doing the best we can and that we can't all attend to every issue out there. However, I think we all need to think about the interconnectedness of everything - bring social and environmental issues closer together - without a society, there wouldn't be a need to attend to the environment. Without an environment, there is no society. I look forward to the day when we can stop separating the two and know that they are two parts of a whole.

"We have spent 99% of our history in the wild. Sky, water, and trees are embedded in us. Sever that and we've severed what it is to be human." -John Todd

The integration of life and work - of society and business

2007-07-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged for a while - life has gotten in the way and work has been pared down to getting the necessities done. Life has calmed down again and I can begin to attend to other details of work. As I was speaking with a client this week, I was again reminded that life and work cannot be separated. That, to me, is the crux of social enterprise. You cannot pretend like doing business and attending to social and environmental needs are separate activities. They are all intertwined and all affect each other. For example, this particular client is an extension of a program that provides residential and other services to mothers who are in drug and alcohol recovery. This program is a catering company that provides job skills and training to women who have "graduated" from long-term recovery. I'm assisting them with writing their ongoing business plan. On paper, this business could look really good - it has the potential to be profitable, it provides a much needed service to the women they serve and they offer healthy foods catering in a region where there is not a lot of availability of healthy foods. However, the single biggest barrier to the success of this business is NOT something most businesses would consider but is a reality of our society. This business needs a non-client, professional chef to oversee the business - order supplies, create recipes, teach the women how to assemble & prepare the food and generally run the food operations. But, they've found it very difficult to find someone with the right skills and when they do finally hire someone - they've not been able to consistently pass drug tests. In short, finding a "sober" chef has proved to be one of the greatest risks of this business. The reality of this community - and many others across the country - is that drug and alcohol use is rampant and is especially so in the food industry. If we dig deeper, we open up the Pandora's Box of issues systemic to our culture that cause so many people to need to find ways to "numb out". As I write their business plan, I am again reminded that you cannot separate social issues and business. Ignoring the drug issue would be ignoring the biggest barrier to this businesses' success.

My definition of success for the field of social enterprise? When we no longer call it social enterprise, but integrating social and environmental impact is the "norm" for the way all businesses are planned and operated.

Achieving balance

2007-03-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

A teacher of mine recently sent me some thoughts, including this: "‘balance’ in our lives is not static, it is fluid and dynamic - more a dance than a fixed state."

When I speak to my clients about social enterprise, the issue of balance inevitably comes up. As social entrepreneurs, we constantly struggle with balancing our social mission with profit. There is a dynamic tension that occurs when these two complimentary, yet sometimes conflicting, elements require difficult decisions to be made that can feel like you're giving up one for the other. I am often asked how to stop this tension. My answer: you can't - and, you shouldn't. I believe that there is great power in this dynamic tension and needs to be identified, managed and embraced, rather than stopped. I believe that this tension is what pushes both sides of the coin. The need to make decisions at times that are more focused on the money than the mission can be an important catalyst for examining whether you are making smart, financially sustainable financial decisions. After all, there is no mission activity if there is no money. On the other hand, when you find yourself making decisions that put the mission first and may feel detrimental to the financial bottom line, you're being pushed to examine how your enterprise impacts people. The key is that the decisions that are more money focused and the decisions that are more socially focused balance out over time - not that every decision itself is balanced. I've found that once organizations understand this, as well as the common areas of tension that arise - they can begin to recognize it, foster healthy discussions and embrace both points of view as important parts of the whole.

Big Thinking or Small Actions?

2007-03-06T08:58:00.000-08:00

I recently came across an old story about a traveler who comes across two stone cutters. He asks the first "What are you doing?" and receives the reply "Squaring the stone." He then walks over to the second stone cutter and asks :What are you doing?" and receives the reply, "I am building a cathedral." Both men are performing the same tasks, but one of them is aware that he has the choice to be part of a greater dream (from Alberto Villoldo's book, The Four Insights).

Social entrepreneurs and those who support them are often asking the question of whether it's enough to save the world one social entrepreneur at a time or if we need to be thinking bigger. My answer is: both. It is up to everyone one of us to learn how to simultaneously be focused on our daily tasks - whether it's the emails we're responding to, reports we're writing, conversations we're having or thoughts we're conceiving - AND begin to understand how those daily tasks affect a bigger dream. In this work and in any world changing work, there are often a contingency of dreamers and a contingency of doers. I believe that while most of us are stronger in one area or the other, we cannot exclusively be one OR the other. We must learn how to be both, how to do our daily tasks and figure out what more we need to do to affect greater change.

The Pilates of Social Enterprise?

2007-02-22T13:49:00.000-08:00

I was amused to stumble across Yale professor Jeff Trexler's blog http://www.trexfiles.com/ that discusses Sustayne, our comprehensive business planning methodology for social ventures. I love the comparison to Pilates. Yes, we are definitely trying to get a proven, quality methodology out there and get as many instructors/consultants as possible trained to deliver this to social entrepreneurs in all sectors in all parts of the world. Why? Because I deeply believe that a powerful tool for changing the world is entrepreneurs - specifically social entrepreneurs. AND, I believe that these entrepreneurs need as much assistance as possible in the early stages of developing their ventures to determine how best to develop their business model and set it up from success from the get go. Sustayne is based on the life work of Gifford Pinchot III, author, entrepreneur and founder of Bainbridge Graduate Institute www.bgiedu.org . He has been using this method with Fortune 500 companies and major government agencies, such as the US Forest Service for over 20 years. I've been working for the past several years to organize it and modify it to fit social venture development. Voila! Sustayne is born.

Mr. Trexler also spends a couple of lines lamenting the name Sustayne. So, for anyone who's interested, here's where it came from:
the word sustayne was used widely in 16th and 17th century poetry and was generally used to reference sustaining oneself spiritually, emotionally and physically
- it harkens back to a time when society, the earth and business were inextricably linked – the impacts of one on the others was widely known
- this work comes from my deep belief that bringing this link deliberately back into the way we develop solutions to social and environmental issues as well as the way we sustain ourselves financially IS an important key to making a real change in the world
- we use a water wheel as the logo – again, a symbol of the time this word was used as well as fitting into Sir Isaac Newton’s laws of Motion (originated in 1687; from Wikopedia.com) :

o Objects in motion tend to stay in motion, and objects at rest tend to stay at
rest, unless an outside force acts upon them.
o The net force on an object
is equal to the product of its mass and its acceleration.
o To every action
(force applied) there is an equal and opposite reaction (equal force applied in
the opposite direction).

Sustayne is the force that generates the motion to cause a reaction.

So, we’re pleased even the name causes a reaction! For more info., go to www.socialenterprisegroup.com or call 206.903.8578.

The Genius of Youth and the Dreams of Entrepreneurs

2007-02-07T11:15:00.000-08:00

Last night, I attended an amazing event here on Vashon Island. It was a youth-adult discussion forum, moderated by the very talented storyteller, Michael Meade, a Vashonite. The theme was "a crisis of culture and the genius of youth". In my discussions with a couple of high schoolers, I was particularly struck by what they felt the genius of youth meant. We discussed how important the wide-eyed dreamer aspect of youth is, but also how important it is to balance that with the pragmatism and experience of elders. It struck me that that balance is exactly what make social enterprise tick. It's vitally important to balance the enthusiasm, passion and wide-eyed dreaming so necessary in allowing social ventures ideas to hatch with the structure, information and experience of those that have been there before.

I guess that's one of the reasons I'm so passionate and wide-eyed about scaling Sustayne. I deeply believe that it blends both of these aspects - it creates a space for dreaming, but provides structure and pragmatic information to help dreamers get their dreams into a tangible and sustainable format. It's the passion for that dream that keeps me going, but I've also had to be careful about tempering that dream with reality and pragmatism. I guess that's the balance for us all - a constant work in progress.

Global social enterprise - the same old conversations?

2007-02-05T11:12:00.000-08:00

Last week, I was one of 3 panelists at the Canadian Conference on Social Enterprise in Vancouver, BC. The topic of the panel was Lessons From Abroad and focused on what we can learn from social enterprise initiatives in other parts of the world as well as what's the same and different about working in North America versus other parts of the world. The main things I learned from this conversation are:

1) The barriers to social enterprise are virtually the same the world over: lack of appropriate & sustainable types of financing, public policy that doesn't support or understand social enterprise and lack of effective and accessible management support/technical assistance - which happens to be my big passion and the push behind getting Sustayne, our sustainable business planning methodology scaled as broadly as possible.

2) Many large global philanthropies are the major funders in developing countries and there is a dependency on these dollars. However, most of these organizations are bureaucratic and not very entrepreneurial themselves, so they often don't understand how to support social enterprise and the innovative solutions stemming from social entrepreneurs.

3) Meeting communities where they are at continues to be an issue. Developing countries are often facing very core issues such as hunger, basic education, water sanitation and rampant theft. So, some solutions we might seek in North America are often not appropriate for where a specific community is at in terms of the very real constraints they have to work in. One example that was given is a funder who gave computers to a nonprofit in South Africa. The community had a major theft problem and computers were often stolen quickly. Additionally, having a computer put a person into a different social "status" than those without computers. So, there were many issues behind the receipt of computer equipment than just being a solution to a specific problem.

A question that was raised that really made me think was "these sound like the same conversations I had in graduate school 20 years ago in terms of community development and micro enterprise - has anything changed?" Hmmm. I had to admit, these are many of the central issues I learned as a Peace Corps Small Enterprise Development volunteer in Mali, West Africa many years ago. He's right. The conversation does sound the same. I guess for me what's changed is my understanding of what these issues mean and how an entrepreneurial approach to solving tough social and environmental issues can actually be applied for effectiveness. And, the world has changed. We are living in a very different place with much more communication than 20 years ago. Thanks to technology, women in small villages can sell their art around the world. We can see, hear and practically feel what's going on in the farthest reaches of the world. So, yes, much of the conversation around global social issues is the same....I just hope we are all getting to a deeper level of understanding what these issues mean and how to approach them.

This is NOT business as usual, this is how you change the world

2007-01-26T13:49:00.000-08:00

To kick off this blog, I'll start by stating my big,bold belief in the world and the source of the passion behind my work. I deeply believe that this world is changing, one entrepreneur at a time. And, it's changing with the increase in the numbers of people - individuals, nonprofit staff and managers, for profit entrepreneurs and, yes, even government agencies, who are rethinking the way they work. I believe that thoughtfully and intentionally bringing together social and environmental issues with business methodology helps us to address important societal issues in more effective and financially sustainable ways. Examples of this abound - check out www.skoll.org and www.ashoka.org for profiles of amazing social entrepreneurs who are changing the world.

The focus of my work is to get streamlined best practices out to people - whether they call themselves social entrepreneurs or not - who are committed to developing business models that have a dual bottom line so they can make better decisions about how and whether to develop a social venture. I feel lucky that I get to work with all sectors - public, private and government and in a variety of settings - from small, rural communities who are looking to social enterprise as a way to meet important local social needs and generate money in their economy to the US Forest Service bringing entrepreneurial concepts into the way they manage the stewardship of our forests to nonprofits who find that the development of a social venture can help them meet their social mission and generate revenue for their organization.

I hope my blog will be a place to have a fluid conversation about a variety of strategic and tactical issues around social enterprise. I expect it will raise questions, push the envelope and will hopefully inform and inspire. Let me know what you think and what you want to read about. Enjoy!