Keep on Keepin' On

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

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"?

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

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

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

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?

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.