Fair Anita is a social enterprise that invests in the power of women. After learning financial insecurity was the #1 reason women stay in abusive relationships, we set out to create fair trade jobs for women in need.
Looking for a way to make money — and a difference! Yes! That’s the beauty of being a social entrepreneur but where do you find these entrepreneurial ideas? Let’s explore!
It can be excruciatingly tough to get a new business moving, especially if you’re thinking of doing something that will bring forth a positive change in a community.
You first have to deal with the struggles within self on whether or not the society will take up your idea. After that comes the naysayers who will want you to focus on what they consider conventional. Let’s not even mention the challenges of getting funding.
However, it’s very doable for anyone who wants to make a difference and work hard for it. You simply need to align your values with the different opportunities that are out there.
Who is the social entrepreneur?
The social entrepreneur is a different kind of business person. They are saturated with a burning desire to create sustainable solutions to issues ailing the society. Although the stages of creating a thriving social enterprise can be identical to building a conventional business, they vary in certain aspects.
The inspiration and motivation behind a social enterprise business model arise from the desire to see the community have a better experience. As a result, entrepreneurs embark on a journey to provide facilities and resources that safeguard the interests of the community without seeking to put personal interest first.
That’s the key difference between a normal business and a social business; the fact that instead of solving a problem for financial gain, you focus on using the business as a means to solve pressing matters in a society.
Here, social, economic, and environmental gains are equally important. Below are some examples of entrepreneurial opportunities that exist out there in the social enterprise:
Waste management to make things clean, green and pure in a creative way
Waste management is an important stepping stone to a green and clean neighborhood. An effective model should always be put in place to ensure there is proper solid and liquid waste management.
The conventional methods don’t always work everywhere, and smart social entrepreneurs are now coming up with very creative ways to handle this challenge. Some are using awesome integrated systems that end up killing two birds with one stone.
That pesky hard-to-recycle waste
When agricultural waste is turned into packaging material
For instance, waste has been turned into agricultural inputs. It has also been used to generate power as biofuel. In a nutshell, you need to find something that can be sustainable. Solve a single problem by creating multiple benefits: This stops the struggle with the business model because it creates a model that powers itself to the next level.
Businesses in this sector require the right infrastructure to be efficient. A closer look also reveals that most people and governments have focused on infrastructure-based solutions. To some extent, it has led to the belief that heavy investments in infrastructure are necessary, but this is not necessarily true.
If you take some time to reflect and let your imagination roll, you could come up with a better option rather than trying to catch-up with existing innovations.
One example of a company that has literally been able to convert trash to treasure is Green Collect. Would you consider buying back your own waste? No? Green Collect, a Melbourne social enterprise does exactly that.
Companies pay it to remove waste that’s hard to recycle. Green Collect then hires people who are socially disadvantaged to create something useful from that waste. They then sell those newly created items back to the same companies that had thrown them out. Well, how creative is that?
Renewable energy innovations to counter one of the biggest man-made challenges
With the current debates about climate change becoming a mainstream conversation, the world is waking up to the reality. The population has experienced an exponential growth over the years and this has led to the overstretching of natural resources.
In short, humans have been exploiting the earth’s resources at a higher rate than they can regenerate in nature.
The rampant felling of trees has led to deforestation thanks to the insatiable appetite for wood and its products. As a result, huge tracts of land that had been previously covered by thriving forests and ecosystems have been destroyed.
Today, you’d be surprised to realize some of these areas have either become deserts or are on the verge of desertification. And this is all man-made.
Who doesn’t know the pollution caused by oil and its products? In urban areas, automobiles have contributed to the accumulation of carbon which has an adverse effect on the climate. Similarly, industrial areas are notorious contributors to the carbon menace since many are still powered by combustion engines.
This sector has experienced some innovative ideas that are trying to fix this miserable mess caused by man’s actions. With heavy weight companies like Tesla tapping into the solar power generation, it is a true indication that this is a stable and promising sector.
Although this company may be using a different approach, their participation in the renewable energy sector shows the stability of the industry as well as the potential that can be tapped.
A Renewable Energy Example: d.light scores big with solar power
When we talked with Ned Tozun from d.light a while ago for Change Creator Magazine, we talked about the huge market potential for d.light’s solar-powered lighting solution — a renewable energy source that impacts billions of people.
The market potential for d.light’s solar-powered lighting solutions was massive, with 2 billion people in the developing world without access to reliable energy, and 1.2 billion of those people without electricity at all. As Tozun explains,
“People in these countries were already spending huge amounts of money on kerosene lamps. The market was vast.”
Not only could d.light create an affordable solution for these people, but they were also creating a much safer one as well.
Today, d.light has impacted over 65 million people’s lives with their solution.
Kerosene lamps are potentially dangerous sources of light, as the fumes can be the equivalent of smoking two packs a day, and in India alone, 2.5 million people suffer burns (many of these children) from Kerosene lamps. These are the real market stats that propelled d.light to continue, as Tozun says,
“You’ve got to be absolutely passionate about what you are doing, not just worry about the return on investment.”
As social entrepreneurs, we not only have to find these renewable energy problems to solve, we must also find market opportunities to make money so we can have the greatest impact.
As a social entrepreneur, you might want to join the bandwagon with a business model that has been adjusted and tailored to directly benefit the society. Simply try to match your innermost values with the myriad of opportunities out there.
In communities where deforestation is negatively impacting their lifestyle, a solution that tackles the root cause can work. Providing solar energy not only solves the chief cause of climate change but also deals with clean energy.
Of course, there are many third world countries that still use wood as a source of household energy and this messes up the environment. To people like these, solar energy safeguards their livelihood and provides a better, cleaner alternative.
Social entrepreneurs have also come up with alternatives for third world countries. For example, efficient wood stoves have been introduced to minimize tree felling and occurrence of respiratory diseases.
Using information technology to remove barriers and limits
We are in the information age and the potential that comes with embracing that fact is huge. But there are communities that are disadvantaged because they have no way of tapping into the industry.
With almost every business integrating daily operations with online platforms, some communities are being left out. A remote village with no capacity to provide or access IT infrastructure will have a lower rate of bringing in business when compared to a well-connected area.
Today, innovative social entrepreneurs have developed business models that are set to improve business in remote villages. For instance, custom internet services are being created and owned by the community, with the aim of attracting businesses to the area.
Facebook’s satellite internet
Using tablets with the internet to make teaching effective
How do you discover entrepreneurial opportunities?
Entrepreneurial opportunities are always there. But it takes a keen eye to notice them. Discovering an entrepreneurial opportunity is the first step towards tapping into an exciting and challenging career.
You should have the right mindset; one that helps you dissect the opportunity and determine the best approach to turn it into something that matters.
Some people are said to be born with this quality while others have developed it over time. To both types, practice and constant learning will hone the skills for a better and efficient approach.
Let’s look at some of the ways of discovering profitable opportunities across the industries.
The Technological Evolution: Get Your Ideas Into the World So Much Faster
The most important determinant of an entrepreneurial opportunity is the level of technology in use in the industry.
If you are keen to observe, you will realize that young industries tend to have several undefined needs. Therefore, the opportunities that lie in young markets are more compared to the ones you’d find in well-established markets.
One of the best times to hunt for opportunities in any sector is before any design or way of doing things has become widely accepted. Once your venture dominates the market, you can now focus on scaling and ensuring lean operations.
In addition, industries tend to have lucrative opportunities when a big industry player is involved. The reputation and track record of a respected company works towards improving the public perception of the technology involved.
As such, it is better to venture into an emerging market when a big player is involved because they will validate the business. However, the timing must be perfect because the competition will be stiff as more companies join. For instance, when IBM joined the PC industry people found it easy to trust the innovation and technology used.
Organizational environment of an industry
The number and potential rewards of opportunities will depend on the current structure of an industry.
When you are the first to offer a certain product or service in a market, you face perception problems. In this case, both consumers and investors are not accustomed to your products and may not realize their importance.
The best option is to settle on an industry with operating businesses in the same sector. However, overcrowding will also contribute to business failure for new entries. But if you can identify a sector with complementary businesses, you can benefit from their presence.
Besides profiting from the social relationships established by the businesses, you stand a better chance of building a better service.
For instance, if you are opening a daycare service in a neighborhood with several daycares, you could easily fail. But if you focus on a complimentary daycare service that focuses on a different age bracket, success can come quickly.
Demand: You Better Figure This Out First!
Demand is influenced by two main approaches, the first is conformity and the other is a distinction. Conformity seeks to address the segment that wants standard goods but distinction serves those that seek unique and personalized goods. However, most markets have many segments and there will always be parts that are underserved.
It’s also good to note the trends in the market and realize the changes in demand patterns. Because most of these patterns are predictable, it is easy to anticipate the next move for an industry. As a good entrepreneur, it’s better to play where the ball will be as opposed to where current affairs are.
Understand Legal Frameworks
Most businesses are regulated by the law and all interested players are required to be licensed. Therefore, some alterations in the legal aspects of an industry will affect the opportunities present.
When laws are clear on what an entrepreneur can claim intellectual rights or patents, the approaches to business are different. Most entrepreneurs will dedicate time and resources towards what the legal framework protects because the benefits are guaranteed.
Now It’s Your Time to Join the Mission
Entrepreneurial opportunities can be found in any sector. But it takes determination and courage to make something out of it.
If you are to succeed with any business model, you need to focus on the journey and not the destination.
When you restrain yourself from focusing on a mirage, you can find the energy to take action and experiment with different ideas.
When it comes to social enterprises, never lose your focus. Here, you’re not just another entrepreneur trying to dominate the market. Instead, you’re the light to that society. You’re using your values, intellect, and resources to bring about a greater good to a disadvantaged people.
Go ahead and shine brightly.
The joy, pleasure, and satisfaction of creating real change in people’s lives is something that is just too great to be quantified.
“Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry.” (Bill Drayton)
Here, Nikhil Arora from Back to the Roots shares 4 key insights on how they built a multi-million-dollar conscious food business by tapping into the right audience, building their team and delivering. Find out more key action takeaways so you can build your own socially conscious business!
Social entrepreneurs are impact driven. They think outside the box. If you are thinking of starting a social enterprise, read this. It will inspire you!
Funding. Ideas. Talent. Resources. All of these are great assets to have if you want to be a success, but what is the one thing you’ll need if you want to truly change the world? What one thing predicts success? Pay attention! It’s not what you think!
Experiences in our life shape who we are and many times some of the greatest lessons of your life take place, whether we know it or not. But when you look back and analyze it you can discover that lesson. Here’s something powerful I learned from an intense situation when I was wrestling at the age of 12.
Don’t wait for the world to tell you when you are ready. Start something now. Take it from Tyrion Lannister, a.k.a. Peter Dinklage, you just have to make a decision and get moving. Here are some thoughts on how to get ‘unstuck’ and moving.
In life we are all businessman and businesswomen in some shape or form. Even if you’re not actually working in business. Have you ever sold anything? Whether you know it or not, you have been doing sales your whole life. In this article we discuss lessons from Nike Founder Phil Knight.
On the table in front of you in a stack of papers 4 or 5 inches thick.
It’s everything. It’s your bible.
For the past 5 months, you’ve anguished and agonized over this document. You’ve worked late into the night and on weekends, pouring over each word and phrase, tweaking your financial models, and researching competitors.
This is your business plan. You’re finally done.
Well, actually, no, you’re not done. And you probably spent too much time working on the wrong things, at least according to one entrepreneur and angel.
Tim Berry
“For eight out of ten companies, we dismiss them based on their summary alone,” says Tim Berry, a world-renowned business plan expert, angel investor, entrepreneur, and author of the 2015 book, Lean Business Planning. “The other two, it comes down to the pitch and how well they know the numbers.”
He spoke with us about the role of the business plan in the modern world of funding and venture capital.
According to him, you don’t need a big, fat business plan to get in front of investors. And if you have one, most of them won’t read it anyway.
Having a plan is important for companies to raise capital, but a leaner, more-agile form of business planning is the right choice for most companies (and for investors, too).
A Look At the Lean Model
In Berry’s book, he outlines the tenets of lean business planning, why organizations should embrace the model, and how to execute.
According to Berry, a Lean Business Plan contains just four basic sections:
Strategy – A list of bullet points that outline the specific strategy that the firm will pursue relative to competitors and defines the target market
Tactics – Another list of bullets that define the tactics that roll up into the overall strategy (e.g., sales activity, marketing activity, etc)
Concrete specifics – Milestones, metrics, and responsibilities that will be used to hold managers accountable and provide a basis for comparison versus actual performance
Essential business numbers – Financial projections, marketing spend, sales forecasts, and other specific figures that show financial competency and give you a look at the actual business in dollars and cents
All told, these sections add up to a 4 or 5 page plan that can tell the story of your business. But there’s no room for fluff– everything is hard-working content that requires precision.
“When you need more, add more,” he notes, saying that some businesses may need to eventually create a more detailed plan to show outsiders (note: not all investors are interested in a heaving business plan, but more on that below).
Monthly Reviews Required
The other core aspect of Lean Business Planning is how the plan is used within by the business.
For many companies, business planning is done once and quickly forgotten. Or perhaps it’s a process that gets revised once every 1, 3, or 5 years. But the business plan isn’t being constantly reviewed and edited. And that’s bad business, says Berry.
“You never finish a business plan, heave a sigh of relief, and congratulate yourself that you’ll never have to do that again,” he writes in his book. “You don’t use it once and throw it away. You don’t store it in a drawer to gather dust.”
His model emphasizes the importance of revisiting your business plan as often as once a month. Managers should review it and the information inside to see what’s changed and what hasn’t. Are goals met? Are you on track for the milestones that you set forth?
This process is known as PDCA or Plan, Do, Check, Adjust. It’s iterative and repeatable. Rather than trying to get everything right on the first go, you lay out a set of assumptions and projections, see how things go, and then adjust those plans as needed.
This lean model requires that the business plan be living, breathing, and fluid.
Lean, But Strong
“Focus is essential to real business,” says Berry about the elements comprising his lean model.
All of the information included in the plan should define that focus and provide a level of accountability. The rest– thousands of words and dozens of pages that make up many business plans– is really just filler.
“The pitch– the summaries– have substituted for that text summary part of the traditional business plan,” he explains, recalling how business plans have gotten much shorter since his early days as an investor and entrepreneur in the 1980’s.
To Berry, the role of the business plan has always been to provide a foundation for your business — “a dashboard with knobs to turn,” as he calls it.
It gives your management team a way to see what’s changed and what factors can be changed.
Any variance can be cross-checked with the numbers to see where things went wrong or right.
And those numbers can be tied back to the specific responsibilities, tactics, and individuals.
Tim Berry’s book, Lean Business Planning – click to visit
What Investors Look For
Just because your plan doesn’t need to be extensive doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a business plan.
Berry warns entrepreneurs about skipping the business plan altogether, calling it a “great fallacy” that you can raise money on the power of a pitch alone.
“The lean business plan does pretty well for angel investors these days, too,” he says. “[But,] you can’t really do an effective pitch unless you know those numbers.”
Anyone who’s watched the show Shark Tank has probably seen this scenario play out in all of its spectacular, uncomfortable glory. A passionate person steps on stage to pitch a visionary idea. They finish and you can tell the investors are interested. But as soon as they ask a single question about the business itself — the hard numbers — things start to fall apart. They can’t tell you what the cost per acquisition will be or what kind of profit margin the company will earn on products sold. Ouch. How can an investor trust you with money if there are no numbers behind your idea?
“We would never consider investing in a company that doesn’t have the essential numbers thought through,” says Berry of his own activity as an angel investor. “We never believe them.
They’re not accurate. But we need to see that you’ve thought them through.”
His philosophy is one for expecting and managing change. And to create a business plan that can do that, you need to strip it down to the basics. The more specific your plan is, the more rigid your business will feel.
And that’s really the crux of Berry’s philosophy.
Your company doesn’t need a massive business plan to outline the workings of a mighty business. But writing a business plan– lean or otherwise– and then sitting it on the shelf for the rest of eternity is just wasted effort. In the lean model, business planning is a process of constant learning and change.
“Keep it short. Keep it simple,” says Berry. “Review it and revise it often.”
Many young people are creating businesses, but only a few are created for the purpose of making the world a better place. These two social entrepreneurs, Maria Mayanja and Kenton Lee, have created successful companies that make the world a better place at the same time.
Self Employed is a proud title for any successful entrepreneur, but it also means that your company is your primary source of income. In this situation, every financial decision the company makes, you make as well.
Courage, vulnerability, and compassion, all characteristics of a Change Creator.
This is an inspiring story about three young students at Jacksonville’s Robert E. Lee High School who entered a National Kindness Challenge and it will inspire you just as it has inspired me. In their own way, they are creating the change they want to see in the world.
Jacksonville’s Robert E. Lee High School has long been plagued with violence and segregation, and its students have faced significant challenges inside and outside the classroom.
To put it in perspective, in one 13-person class:
11 students have seen someone get shot,
11 have an absent parent,
12 have a family member in jail and;
13 have been detained and questioned by the police
Stepping Up!
Needless to say, Robert E. Lee is not a place you’d expect to find kindness and empathy – that is, until one visionary teacher, Ms. Amy Donofrio, and three of her ambitious students stepped up.
Earlier this year, Ms. D., Billy, Chris and Nick decided – on a whim – to enter a national Kindness Challenge hosted by Making Caring Common (a project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education) and The KIND Foundation (a nonprofit started by healthy snack company KIND).
The task at hand? Create and implement a project that addressed barriers to kindness and inclusivity at school.
In their application, they wrote:
“Our goal is to make our classmates realize that even though someone might seem different from you on the surface, your lives might be similar.”
They set up a bulletin board where they posted about different issues, such as losing a sibling or facing homelessness.
Next to the board they placed a box of post-it notes and their peers were encouraged to post if they too had faced that issue.
Posting, of course, required a fair bit of openness and vulnerability. But slowly, and then quickly, the post-its added up.
According to their teacher, the project – called #YourStoryIsMine – had a tremendous effect.
“Despite the animosity, the kids started being kind. They realized they could relate to each other.” (Ms. D)
Rewarding Courage
Today, June 1 2017, Billy, Chris and Nick are about to find out they’ve beat dozens of other entries to win the grand prize.
These brave students who decided to do something different and take real action for change, will each receive a monetary award, and the school will receive a donation from The KIND Foundation to sustain the project through the next academic year.
Their ideas will also be incorporated into a toolkit that will be distributed to teachers nationwide.
Kindness and change can thrive even in the most unlikely places if you have the courage to act.
There is an up side to the current funding rollback on various government agencies and programs: long-time donors will potentially find themselves motivated to increase their support for programs they want to continue, and new donors may consider stepping up.
So, you’re an entrepreneur and you have a driving passion to make big changes in the world. Anyone can build a team but you need to be a great leader to keep that team happy so they stick around. In this article we share key insights to help you keep your team.
If you’ve ever thought about changing careers, or asking your boss for a promotion, or maybe starting your own business, but you thought, “Why take a risk? I might not be completely satisfied with what I have now, but at least it’s safe, and I get a steady paycheck,” maybe it’s time to think again. It might be true that you’re choosing caution over risk, but you have to consider that what’s really holding you back is fear.
Everyone Contends with Fear
The first thing you should know is that you’re not alone. Most people experience fear at one point or another in their careers. They fear failure, or losing money, or perhaps looking foolish. Those are not unreasonable concerns, but letting them prevent you from following your dreams isn’t without its own risks. You might, for example, be nagged for years by the feeling that you lost a golden opportunity. The truth is, what most people regret as their near the end of their careers is not their failures, but their inaction.
It’s OK to Be Afraid
Fear is normal—it’s part of our genetic makeup, a survival instinct that prevents us from unwittingly entering potentially hazardous situations. What’s not OK is being so overwhelmed with fear that you shy away from a potentially better life.
Patricia DiVecchio is a business and work coach who helps her clients overcome their fears and realize their ambitions. The author of Evolutionary Work: Unleashing Your Potential in Extraordinary Times (Pearhouse Press), and president of International Purpose, DiVecchio has been helping people for more than 25 years manage fear and uncover their work potential and purpose.
Her advice to her clients? Instead of running from your fears, embrace them and treat them as an ally. As she told Forbes recently:
“(Fear) can be a great motivator, a great teacher. We don’t see it like that. We tend to run away from fear, back, or shy away from it, instead of stepping into it. You need to recognize it as something you can learn from. You need to shake hands with your fear and enlist it as a friend- a force to encourage forward movement, rather than something to hide from.”
Here are 5 primary strategies she recommends to embrace your fear and use it to motivate positive action:
1. Make It Concrete
One of the ways fear paralyzes us is through its lack of form. Fear is nebulous, and for this reason difficult to get a hold of and overcome. DiVecchio puts her clients through an exercise in which they draw a picture of what their fear looks like. One of her clients, for example, drew himself afraid as a rickety old car on a road filled with potholes. In making his fear tangible, he was able to grasp its power over him and conquer it.
2. Give Your Fear a Voice
DiVecchio recommends keeping a journal in which you articulate your fear, and monitor how it changes over time. You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge—a journal forces you to confess your fears to yourself, and, in so doing, learn from them.
For example, if you have the desire to begin investing in the stock market, but are afraid you’ll lose the money you invest, writing about that fear might help you make more reasoned investments, or seek the advice of a competent broker. You’ll also be able to examine “the worst that could happen,” and realize that even that worst-case scenario would not be the end of the world.
3. Take Small Steps
Fear often has the power to paralyze us and lead us to complete inaction. To pull yourself out of this trap, do one small thing each day that you’re afraid to do. For example, if you are considering leaving your 9-to-5 job to start your own business, you could begin by doing a little research each day, or calling a trusted mentor for advice. Each small step you take will give you a sense of accomplishment and convince you that you can take another step, and another after that.
4. Practice “the Three E’s”
When we’re afraid, we become convinced that we’re not especially good at anything. This, of course, is not true—everyone has innate skills and capabilities—those things which are not the result of education or experience, but inherent—and everyone needs to remind himself of what those talents are. DiVecchio tells her clients to write about the three E’s: the things that come to you easily, effortlessly, and are exciting, and then to act upon them confidently, perhaps to launch a new career that otherwise might not have occurred to you.
5. Reach out to Trusted Friends and Family
Many people have no clue about where their talents lie. Take the time to interview several people who know you and whose opinions you value. Ask them what they think you’re better at than just about anyone else.
You’ll be surprised to see patterns emerge, similarities in their responses which will help you identify your strengths and act with confidence upon them. It’s sometimes said, “if 5 people tell you you’re sick, see a doctor.” By the same token, if 5 people you trust tell you you’re an outstanding writer, or the first person they come to for advice, believe them.
Final Words
Success can be as scary as failure—it often brings added responsibilities, and the need to maintain that success over time. It means the kind of change and transformation that you might be afraid to embrace. The good news is that there are competent professionals who are skilled at inspiring and empowering their clients to earn a meaningful living that positively impacts the world.
What have been your greatest challenges with fear and how did you overcome them? Share in the comments because we’d love to hear from you.
“When it comes to action” he said, “you have to think about building a team, partnerships, testing your idea, developing your business, a business model, raising funds, creating an advisory board and a board of directors or scaling your work…” James gets nods of agreement from the rest of the Fellows, some offered additional points to consider.
All of them had shared ideas of what is needed at each point of the framework underlying the course we call the ‘Inner Journey of the Changemaker’ at Amani Institute. I took a deep breath. This was my fourth year facilitating the course and each time this is the moment when I get excited because this is where things get real.
It’s not difficult to think of the elements needed to start, build and grow a social enterprise. What we usually come to think of way later, when we are in the midst of what they call ‘baptism by fire,’ is how we as a person affect the outcomes of all the above. To a large extent, our work stands and falls with ourselves.
Building a team – how do you choose the right people? How do the ways you have come to learn to communicate, resolve conflicts and navigate people’s strengths, and weaknesses affect the outcomes of your work? How does your weak follow-up game affect your partnerships? Or are you too eager? How does your fear that they might not like your work, or worse, yourself, affect your communication and strategy with them? What about your relationship to hearing ‘No’ and general rejection?
How does your fear that your idea may not be that good affect your prototyping? Or maybe you don’t have fears but are overtly confident and don’t know it, but you are a terrible listener, and your design thinking prototype sucked and just served to check a box but didn’t provide you actual information to co-create a solution to the problem you want to address?
What about developing the business? Are you prioritizing things right? Wait, did you already burn out? Do you know how to sustain your health, relationships, and family while pursuing that dream of change?
What about your relationship with money? Do you know how to understand potential funders and how your story connects with their desires? Did you learn how to pitch but you still find 1001 reasons to procrastinate building the pipeline? Do you over-promise? Do you sleep at night?
Do you have the courage to ask the right people to join your advisory board or board of directors? Do you know when is the right moment to ask them? Are you self-deprecating or too pushy? Do you know how to listen?
“The quality of your work, no matter as an entrepreneur or as an intrapreneur, depends on how you can navigate yourself and grow into who you truly want to become.”
Do you know yourself? Do you know that changing the world requires changing yourself?
Looking at James and the 18 other Fellows from 10 different countries and incredibly diverse backgrounds, I said: ‘Welcome to the Inner Journey of the Changemaker. In this course, we will explore what it takes to unlock your potential and sustain your work in the long run. To every external aspect of our work is an inner aspect that is determined by our story and who we have become. The quality of your work, no matter as an entrepreneur or as an intrapreneur, depends on how you can navigate yourself and grow into who you truly want to become.’
It blows my mind that we still don’t have curricula in mainstream education – from Kindergarten to University – that take advantage of the vast knowledge out there on how to unlock our potential, become more resilient and flexible in how we communicate and resolve conflicts, instead of depending on replicating our families’ and communities’ patterns. There is a reason we have a multi-billion dollar coaching – and therapy – industry.
In this ongoing column, I will share insights we have gathered at Amani Institute teaching ‘the Inner Journey of the Changemaker’ which is an integral part of our Postgraduate Certificate in Social Innovation Management aimed at helping people to build careers of meaning and impact.
Next, I will explore the issue of passion and purpose and how understanding your true north can set the direction and impact of the change you want to create.
Put yourself out there and do work that creates value for people and the planet with the skills you already have: This is an instant recipe for meaning.
Moment of Obligation
“I do this because when I got raped and when I got my diagnosis, I wished there was a safe space where people had shared their narratives that I could tap into and get the strength to move forward.” Sitawa Wafula, Amani Institute alumni and New Voices Fellow at Aspen Institute, shares her personal story as a rape survivor and mental health diagnosis as part of her work championing Mental Health in Africa and beyond through ‘My Mind My Funk’ – a information and support hub located in Kenya.
In her story, she didn’t really see any other option but create a solution for something she needed – her life’s purpose revealed itself in her greatest struggle.
Stories like this carry immense power in their vulnerability and in how they show how the medicine you create for your wounds sometimes can become your biggest gift to the world. However – not all Changemakers have such stories or are aware of the power of their own.
In a world of which we speak a lot about passion, more and more people are asking how they can connect this to purpose. A reason to get out of your bed every morning that is larger than yourself.
I work with people who are looking to switch their career from the private to the social change sector as well as professionals who have hit a wall in their work as a social entrepreneur or NGO employee or students who know that they ‘want to change the world’ but are not sure yet really how.
There are two reasons why better understanding your underlying motifs and the values that guide them is relevant for you as a Changemaker:
There are many, many, many challenges – and tackling them is incredibly challenging. So, first of all, if you get lost in the jungle of options, it helps to know what is most important to you to make decisions.
And secondly, of you get tired and lose all hope it helps to remember why you are doing this to refuel and recover.
So you need both – a guiding star and an anchor. You need your vision and your why. In his book “Sharing Wisdom From Over 125 Outstanding Leaders”, acclaimed former Medtronic CEO Bill George calls this the ‘True North.’
One thing we can learn from people who have a track record in sustaining a career in creating social change is that they are deeply aligned with their ‘why.’
One of our instructors, Jerry White, who is known for leading high-impact campaigns including the historic International Campaign to Ban Landmines that won a Peace Nobel Prize in 1997, points out that most social entrepreneurs are very clear about what they want to do and how they are going to do it but not why.
Why you do it is an inquiry into who you are, something that in philosophy and wisdom scriptures all over the world is at the core of transformational leadership narratives. He claims that if we use technical solutions in a knowledge-based approach, we often create more damage than good and miss a wiser approach that arises when we are aligned with our ‘True North.’
Watch him speak about this in detail in this video taken during an Ashoka Fellowship Program:
Not every story is as seemingly clear-cut as Sitawa’s. Some people have a single transformative moment; others have a feeling it has always been in their cards to do what they do, and others have more of a slow burning that reveals itself over time in the conviction that a fulfilling life includes answering the question what the world needs from them.
For those who are desperately looking to find a name for their purpose, I strongly recommend to taking the pressure off the Quest. As Dr. Vincent Ogutu, Vice Dean Executive Talent Development at Kenya’s Strathmore Business School shared with our Fellows at Amani Institute: Put yourself out there and do work that creates value for people and the planet with the skills you already have: This is an instant recipe for meaning. You may stumble over your deeper ‘why’ in the process, as he did when doing an impromptu speaking engagement in a prison – but you don’t need to have it to start doing meaningful work.
Ways of inquiring your moment(s) of obligation include identifying your values and vision through biographic work or looking into what we call the ‘wound-gift’ concept. You can do it by yourself or with a mentor or coach. In any case it is a process of inquiry that needs your engagement with the world to fully reveal itself – reflection alone doesn’t cut it.
This article was originally published in two part for issue 4 and 5 of Change Creator magazine by Geraldine Hepp of the Amani Institute.
Millennial women are a rising force to be reckon with. In this article we explore why that is and their culture so you understand what this $18 trillion dollar market of girl power is about.
The topic of climate change isn’t always easy to discuss, but the subject has become unavoidable. Sea levels have continued to rise annually by 0.14 inches since 1992. Glaciers and ice caps are melting at an alarming rate.
For a social enterprise to make an impact in the world, it needs a solid foundation based on sustainability. When business looks at sustainability, they are looking at a balance of three domains: financial sustainability, environmental sustainability, and workforce sustainability–fair labor practices that support a workforce.
The ivory trade has been devastating the African elephant population for many decades. For most of us, this issue seems too far away from home to be of any major concern.
So the time has come for you to turn your idea into action. You’ve been working on it for a while or perhaps working with others on a similar topic, but now you’re ready to take the next step and start your own venture.
Socioeconomic class mobility directly correlates with one’s ability to obtain and receive loans. Although poverty can be escaped through education, the systemic institutions in place in many countries greatly hinder social mobility; even those who may get outstanding educations sometimes lack the connections to capitalize on their educations.
If you are one of the savvy ones trying to build a successful online business, chances are you have heard of the term SEO and need to expand your online network. But, if you are only starting out in Internet marketing, SEO is a term that can easily intimidate you.
In the years just before the internet, Daniel Ben-Horin saw a problem. It was the late 1980s and while huge strides in technology had been made, American organizations that were working toward social change were struggling to apply them to their work.
Changing the world sounds like an impossible feat. Some would think it’s only meant for the Gandhis and the Mother Teresa’s of the world, but what if it’s not as difficult as it seems? Will you take the challenge?
Let’s face it: tackling environmental issues can be daunting. Climate change, pollution, and unconscious consumption are problems which are convenient for the masses to ignore. They’re long-term challenges requiring long-sighted solutions, overwhelming many in our instant-gratification society.
As an aspiring Social Entrepreneur, you’ve probably wondered how to make a bold career change. Maybe you’ve had an idea for a radical, disruptive business, only to be ridiculed by friends, colleagues and family when you share your plan.
Have you ever heard of the “breaking the fourth wall” concept? It’s an acting term that refers to the moment when a performer stops reciting their lines and talks directly to their audience. At that time, an actor or actress crosses an imaginary line and turns their audience into participants in their show.
Different people have different strengths and it’s important to play to those strengths. Mark Zuckerberg is an introvert but was very good behind the computer. At the same time, however, he was willing to build relationships and put himself out there. When you can acknowledge your strength and tap into areas that might be uncomfortable you become stronger. Here are 3 lessons to become a better entrepreneur that you need to know now!
It has been found that extroverts are more likely to be self-employed. “Extroverts have a stronger dopamine response, meaning they get a bigger kick out of achievements like a job promotion, a new romance, or a successful business launch.” They are more inclined to take risks based on the anticipation of the reward when things go well.
Below, I want to share 3 things I have personally experienced and learned about the benefit of being willing to get out of my comfort zone and talk to people.
Let’s face it, it’s easier when you don’t have to put yourself “out there”. Nobody likes rejection of any kind.
It’s like the boy who’s afraid to ask the girl to dance because he doesn’t want to face potential rejection. We can guarantee one thing in that situation. By not asking the girl to dance, the boy 100% guarantees he will not dance with that girl and rather than feel pain from rejection he will likely feel pain of regret later. That was never me of course (wink).
No matter what your core strength is you will only benefit from building relationships.
Life is just better when you have a network of reliable support but it’s not just about receiving, it’s about giving without the expectation of something in return. You have to be willing to do both.
Many people may feel this is common knowledge but it’s amazing how many people don’t take action.
1: The Mental Game
Show me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are.
This is a tricky one and could get me some criticism but it’s worth discussing so hear it out. We don’t want to judge people but who you surround yourself makes a difference, a big one. I have learned this first hand over and over. It is said that if you calculate the average of your closest 5 or 10 friends total income it will reflect your income.
Think about that for a minute. How is this possible? Why do people like Tony Robbins study successful people and learn from their success? They are studying how they think.
The environment around you triggers thoughts and those thoughts trigger action or lack of. What you think matters tremendously. Energy is very contagious between people. So, if you surround yourself with people that see opportunity in everything and are progressing in life then that will rub off on you and lift you up.
They got those good vibrations!
So, you want to spend time with and talk to people who are doing what you aspire to do.
If you ever played sports you might have noticed you perform better when you hang out with the best guys on the team. If you hang out with the people that complain and really don’t perform well, you will be dragged down with them.
This applies to anything you do. I have experienced it first-hand many times with wrestling, golf, snowboarding, and business. At the end of the day, the people around you are the people who are influencing you. They are putting ideas—good or bad—into your head. They are the people you’re learning from and getting better with. So get amazing people around you each day!
You’re probably thinking, yeah great, but how do I do that. It’s not hard, honestly. You might have to get out of your comfort zone as they say and ask someone out to coffee or maybe starting commenting and sharing their work. Then you can reach out for a reason you think up and connect. If you have a business, maybe you can help their business in some way and start a conversation. Get creative, try different things. The important part is to try.
For example, Since I run a magazine, I offer to include someone in the magazine or be on our podcast show. From that point on we chat and they are in my network. We help each other on other projects, share connection and advice. I even have asked at least 20 people to have coffee with me to learn about managing a content calendar when I first started. Most said no, a few said yes.
2: Build Deeper Relationships
Having a connection with someone that you might talk to once or twice every several months is one thing, but building a strong relationship is another.
You can’t be everyone’s best friend but you can and should create deeper relationships with a few key people.
Some people will deeply align with you in their mission and values. You will naturally be attracted to that and rightfully so. The challenge is that we all get so busy we forget to nurture the relationship and put out the effort to connect in person or get coffee. However, I have learned that these relationships can be very powerful. You will help each other out on much greater levels.
To be honest, my life has propelled forward only because of great friendships and people who cared about me. They lifted me up. Of course, I always wanted and did what I could to help them as well. It was not a strategy. It’s not about taking advantage of someone. I’m just acknowledging the power of a good relationship and calling it out to you so you stay conscious of it and don’t forget to put the effort out to build strong bonds.
Who are you more inclined to help out, someone you know in passing as an acquaintance or someone that you have connected with deeply as a friend? Of course, you help your good friend.
Have you ever gotten a discount because you know someone, or maybe you got a job or even a promotion at work because your boss was a friend who was more willing to push for you to succeed?
As the saying goes, “it’s who you know, not what you know”. Build a strong support system, help others and they will help you.
3: Speak up and the Universe Just Might Respond (Law of Attraction?)
If you have a vision for your life you should write it down, talk about it, make a vision board, whatever you can do to bring what’s in your mind into the physical realm and begin sculpting it.
Without a vision, you are playing darts without a dart board.
Be willing to talk to people about that vision as much as possible no matter how crazy it may feel. Tell them what your dreams are and what you love.
After all, if it’s your passion it should be top of mind and all you want to talk about anyway.
I usually talk to everyone about what I’m thinking and listen closely to their feedback and responses.
Several years ago before Change Creator, I was looking for insights and advice from another entrepreneur and as always picked that person’s brain and told them my thoughts. A couple years later, I got a call from that person who offered me a partnership in a great new opportunity.
He said, based on our discussions he knew it aligned with me and that I would be a good fit. What if I never opened my mouth?
Research has also shown that being more extroverted in daily behavior can lead to more positive moods.
So step out of your comfort zone, talk to people, listen to people, help people, and build your tribe!
We are no longer in the era of slow, bureaucratic aid programs. Dropping bags of cornmeal by airplane to areas that have never seen the stuff before is no longer a practice that the world’s important funders, foundations, and social enterprises support.
Ben Simkin is the founder of BusinessNET, a leading Online Marketing Firm that to-date has increased clients’ sales by over $1.45 billion. BusinessNET provide end-to-end marketing and sales services to established companies worldwide.
Understanding who your audience is and how to reach people who are predisposed to what you’re offering is essential. You offer must match your audience.
We love Facebook marketing but until you master this craft you will struggle to get results.
In this video Ben Simkin discusses the must have elements for getting Marketing working, whether it be on Facebook, Google, Newspaper, Direct Mail or any kind of marketing.
Interview with founder of Addicted 2 Success, Joel Brown.
With a website that has received more than 50-million unique visitors, a popular podcast show, and an upcoming role in a movie, Joel Brown is by most standards, a successful man – some might even say he is addicted to success.
Indeed, Addicted2Success is the name of Joel’s thriving self-development brand. It is a name which he admits might cause a little eye-rolling in some people. But this is not the self-serving tale you might expect.
Joel Brown’s mission is to pass on the tools, habits, and mindset that make people successful. The rewards he gets are just a pleasant side effect of his always-giving mentality. He loves nothing more than sharing practical and proven steps so that others can achieve their desires.
Lesson number one: The more you give, the more you get.
It’s Okay to Change Your Passion.
Some people find their “one” passion early and spend their whole lives dedicated to fulfilling it. Joel Brown was not one of those people. He had stints in the music industry, sales, and even spent time saving wild animals in the desert in North West Australia. Except for the music industry, nothing else stirred his passion.
Passion, it seems, is a curious thing. One day you might have it, and the next day it could be gone. At age 13, Joel knew he had a passion for music. He loved beat-making, producing, and DJ’ing. He even started producing shows for local radio stations after exercising his instinctive persuasion skills.
Throughout his tender teen years, Joel showed the kind of persistence and determination that was sure to lead to a long and thriving career in the music industry. However, he gave it all up. Somewhere along the way he lost his passion for music.
Giving up on music was the first time Joel had given up on anything, and it felt strange. He knew, however, that it was the right thing to do. New life experiences and changes in the way we look at life can cause a shift in the things that once made us passionate.
That is what happened to Joel, and so he left his music career behind. But, not long after, he developed an even stronger passion.
Lesson number two: We don’t just have one passion in life: values change, experiences come, new passions surface.
The Key Ingredients of Success
Joel Brown is not the only person to have lost a passion in life. He also wasn’t the only twenty-four-year-old to find himself in a slump. That can often happen when you suddenly find yourself without a cause in life. One of the primary cures for this, it seems, is to find a new passion.
Joel found his new cause after a chance meeting with Jordan Belfort. The sales company that Joel was working for organized a workshop, and he was able to meet the Wolf of Wall Street face-to-face. That meeting changed Joel’s life. He learned the importance of having clarity, of thinking big, and of having a long-term vision.
These are key ingredients in the recipe for success. Clarity of mind allows you to stay focused on primary goals, thinking big prepares you to exceed those goals, and with the long-term vision, you can envisage and plan for potential obstacles.
After meeting Jordan, Joel became a man on a mission. He began devouring self-help books, listening to motivational speakers such as Anthony Robbins, and carefully mapping out his life plan.
It is, as Joel teaches, important to document your goals and visions. But, more importantly, you need to “write down how you’re going to get to where you want to be.” Not many people have a fair idea of where they want to be in 5, 10, or 15 years, but when pressed can usually give a broad description of how they intend to achieve their goals.
Writing it down on paper, however, forces you to get things out of your head in some detail and acts as your roadmap. Seeing is believing, as they say, and once it is written down you will have a clearer picture.
Lesson number three: Spend time on Clarity. Write down your goals and chart your roadmap to achieving those goals.
One of the most important things that happened when Joel met Jordan was his shift in mindset. He becamehungry for self-improvement and gained a desire to make a meaningful impact on the world. He found another passion outside of music and became energized once again. The whole experience revealed another interesting thing; when you are passionate about something you become massively energetic.
Even though Joel was still working 12-hour days at his sales job, he still found the time to work on his media platform, addicted2success. Instead of asking. Like most people do, “how do I find time,” Joel asked, “how can I make time.” He was so passionate about his new project that he would complete his days at the sales job and head straight home to work on developing his new business. It wasn’t long until he was able to leave his sales job and commit full-time to the new business.
Time for Joel is important, but he also values energy above all else. Some people complain about the lack of time, but spend the bulk of it camped out on the sofa in front of the television. People who value time over energy might live to eighty but, says Joel, “I’d rather be the guy who lives to 50 years, who gets up every day, travels the world, and experiences everything that life has to offer because I had enough energy.”
Lesson number four: Do things that light you up; energize you; make you feel alive. Having lots of energy is more fulfilling than having too much time.
External Influences On the Internal Mind
They say you are the average of the five people you spend time with. That is because your network of friends has a powerful effect on your behavior, mindset, and unconscious mind. The books you read, the things you watch, and the websites you frequent all have a similar effect as your network of friends. They create habits.
Back in 2011, when Joel first discovered his new passion for helping others succeed, he began reading, watching, and listening to as much self-help material as he could get his hands on. He started tuning his mind to a new way of thinking, creating new behavioral habits. He became less motivated by money and more driven by the need for freedom and wisdom. The unconscious mind, as Joel says, is stubborn. You have to force it into a new way of thinking, and that will often require a change of external influences. When you have successfully imprinted new information on your unconscious mind, knowledge becomes wisdom. Joel says, “Wisdom is more powerful than knowledge.”
Lesson number five: Success often requires a change of mindset; a change of mindset often requires different external influences.
A Unique Way to Win the Battle for Success
Passion and motivation differ for everyone, but they can normally be identified by the energy they bring to your life. Joel gets energetic by giving and helping others succeed. He loves creating things and giving it to the world, knowing that someone, somewhere will benefit from his work.
Joel is not the first or only self-help professional out there. But he is by most standards a huge success. The reason is that he stands out from the crowd. He stands out because he knows what he is talking about, he has a genuine willingness to help people, and he is exceptional at what he does.
Uniqueness, Joel says, is the best way to win in business. You need to bring something different to the table. You need to be outstanding. And with the lessons he gives, you will have all the tools needed to become an outstanding success.
Lesson number six: You don’t have to be the first or the only, but you must be unique.
There are numerous articles, blogs, and gurus that claim to have the secret to business success. It can, therefore, be difficult to believe that it could be as simple as, “nature.”
It comes down to the general well-being of individual entrepreneurs that can be enhanced and improved by nature and all of its wonders. These benefits are what generate the incredible results felt by those business leaders that take time to experience the world around them.
Not only has there been a range of studies that have shown the mental benefits to having a deeper connection with the natural world, but also there are business lessons to be absorbed through observing our surrounding environment.
Nature is:
Serene and humble yet powerful,
An elegant battleground of the survival of the fittest,
A display of the constant need for purpose in every action.
Here we will focus on why we need nature in our lives and how that can be easily achieved in a professional environment.
The Necessity of Nature
The Body
The benefits of nature on your overall health seem to be endless, but essentially it comes down to reducing stress.
Nature is immediately relaxing to us as it is filled with colors, sights and smells that human beings are programmed to find soothing. Any advertising expert knows that colors have various effects and the blues and greens of the world are naturally beneficial to our stress levels.
With reduced stress comes a whole range of health benefits including lower heart rates, reduced anxiety, and a heightened immunity.
Mind
Closely related to the benefits of the body, the natural world has been shown to greatly improve mental wellbeing. The entrepreneur with a sharp and tranquil mind is the one that will always do best in more stressful situations.
Soul
You don’t necessarily have to believe in a traditional soul to be able to see the benefits of nature on the more spiritual side of an individual.
It can be described as a: oneness, a deeper understanding, and an inner peace.
While these concepts are related to the mind, they represent so much more than day-to-day thoughts.
For those who want to succeed in business over an extended period of time, it is crucial to managing the “soul”. Many of our included methods will assist you in achieving this on a regular basis.
Including the Great Outdoors in Your Daily Routine
Look out the window
Many individuals, when they first hear this method, think that it is too basic. That is, until they try it out. You will be amazed at how many details you have missed when you really take the time to look at what you should have been seeing every day. This not only gives you a dose of nature as quickly as possible but also trains the mind to notice more and reap the benefits.
Transform your office into a shrine to nature
Whether you hang panoramic views on your walls or include plants and stones in the decor, every little bit helps. This effect can even be achieved with the use of roughly-carved wooden desks.
Nature is more than just trees
Being outside gives you more than just contact with nature. Sunshine plays a huge part in our mood and productivity. If you are not lucky enough to have an office with sunlight from dawn till dusk then there are a range of products that provide great alternatives.
Go for a walk!
Explore your city, find local parks and make sure you spend some time each day around nature. It seems simple but it is often the most neglected method of getting in touch with nature and one that can be put into practice every lunch break.
The comfort of your home
As every entrepreneur knows, work doesn’t stay at the office. Connect with nature at home through watching documentaries and reading National Geographic all from the comfort of your couch. Even an action as simple as this has been shown to have a range of positive effects on the mind and body.
Redesign corporate events
Forget the usual corporate venues and take the entire office outside, think: zoos and national parks.
Outdoor Sports – You don’t need to go on a two-week-long vacation, make what you do after work and on the weekend part of your experience of nature. You can choose to battle it through adventure sports or observe it through bird watching.
Into The Wild– Hiking vacations, canoeing trips, jungle adventures – at least once a year spend as long as time and money allows exploring nature.
Animals– Whether this is achieved by owning pets or visiting exotic animals in a zoo or safari, up close encounters can give you a quick dive into the more remarkable aspects of nature.
Meditation and Yoga – One of the most interesting ways to connect with nature is through the oneness of yourself. Meditation is an ancient technique for getting in touch with your surroundings. The more amongst nature you can be when meditating the better.
No Such Thing As Anti-Work
Often entrepreneurs hold the view that time spent away from the desk is time wasted, but this is certainly not the case. There is a value in any activity if it generates a better mentality towards business and places you in a more productive state.
Your wellbeing makes all the difference to your company. The experiences you have will add new direction and your happiness will positively affect the morale of the entire company.
Nature is the key to achieving this and gaining the rewards that accompany it.
This article was originally published in issue 3 of Change Creator Magazine by Cameron Devall.
When vegetarian Lisa Curtis was a Peace Core volunteer in Niger, she was struggling to find foods to provide her with energy and adequate nutrition. A woman at a community health center suggested she try Moringa.
Dr. Catlin Powers, a social entrepreneur, is the co-founder and CEO of One Earth Designs, a social enterprise that produces solar cookers. up.
The daughter of two teachers, she grew up in many places around the world: Peru, Mexico, China, South Africa, and California. Dr. Powers received her doctorate from Harvard University, holds two solar energy patents, and serves on the technical advisory committee to the International Standards Organization.
A Harvard School of Public Health graduate, she went to the Himalayas as an undergraduate to study climate change. She found that due to smoke from fires, the air quality in the homes there was 10 times worse than the air in Beijing. She also learned that the local people were deforesting the area for their fuel.
From this experience, One Earth Designs was born. One Earth Designs, the creator of the SolSource solar cooker, is a socially responsible company.
One Earth Designs is B CORP certified. B Corps are for-profit companies certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. One Earth Designs also holds the fourth highest score ever awarded by the Global Impact Rating System (GIIRS).
Dr Powers advice to budding social entrepreneurs:
ONE:
If you have co-founders, your relationship with them means everything about the success or failure of your company. Fighting is fine and natural, but you have to respect each other and know how to communicate effectively.
TWO:
Take the time to stop and think about the bigger context of your work, and make sure that you are still building toward the world you want to live in the future.
THREE:
Remember to sleep.
With the SolSource solar cooker, you can cook delicious meals in 10 minutes. It’s easy-to-use, has zero carbon emissions and is 100% solar powered. The price you pay for SolSource helps fund the cooker in developing countries.
What started as a project with Nomadic families in the Himalayas has expanded to projects in Africa, Asia and Latin-America, and we are fighting global energy poverty and bringing cleaner air to families around the world.
The terms social entrepreneur and social entrepreneurship were used first in the literature to social change in the 1960s and 1970s. The terms became more popular in the 1980s and 1990s, promoted by Bill Drayton, the founder of Ashoka, and others such as Charles Leadbeater.
What is a social entrepreneur?
Before the term gained traction, those who fit this description were outsiders or radicals that seemed to bring positive change to deprived communities single-handedly. Characterized as extremely optimistic visionaries who had infinite willpower, they use entrepreneurial skills and innovation to address significant social and/or environmental problems. Profit did not motivate this free-thinking and inspirational group. Years ago they didn’t have a name but today we call them, Social Entrepreneurs.
Similar to the way business entrepreneurs change the face of business, social entrepreneurs act as the change agents for society, seizing opportunities others miss to improve systems, invent new approaches, and create solutions to change the world around us for the better.
We support all efforts to use business as a tool for positive impact. Some groups, such as the Skoll Foundation, define social entrepreneurship more specifically as changing the equilibrium of an established system.
We use the term “Change Creator” and define it as:A person who uses entrepreneurial skills and innovation to improve the wellbeing of people, animals, and/or the environment. They use business and organizations as a tool for change and have a vision to benefit the planet as a whole.
A social entrepreneur or “Change Creator”, can operate a nonprofit organization or a for-profit business. Each can serve a purpose for the greater good making real change in the world.
Business with a Purpose.
We call this, business with purpose.
There are many amazing people around the world doing great things as social entrepreneurs.
Here are a few well-known social entrepreneurs.
Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad started Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1976. Yunus was teaching economics when a terrible famine hit the region, leaving people starving to death in the streets. His solution was to provide collateral-free micro-loans to the very poorest people in the area, allowing the poor to fund their small businesses and stop the cycle of poverty. The result has been nothing short of incredible: with $4.7 billion provided to 4.4 million families in Bangladesh, Yunus has kept millions of people out of poverty. Today more than 250 other institutions follow the same micro-lending model.
2. Daniel Ben-Horin, Founder of Techsoup Global
Daniel was elected as a Senior Fellow for his work as a leading social entrepreneur by Ashoka. The Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network awarded him its Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Nonprofit Times included him on its annual list of “50 Most Influential People in the Nonprofit Sector” In 1987 he founded an organization under the name CompuMentor which evolved into Techsoup and Techsoup Global as the internet started to become a vital tool for nonprofits to change the game. Their mission is to connect nonprofits with the technology they need to progress in their causes. Today, they have over 200 employees, an annual budget of $30MM+, and are in over 235 countries/territories. Their network has now reached 690,000 organizations and delivered over US$5 billion in technology tools and philanthropic services.
3. Dale Partridge, Founder of Sevenly
Dale is a social entrepreneur on a mission to inspire more generosity in the world. Sevenly sells apparel that provides $7 from each purchase to charity. Each week they work with a new charity. They have raised over $4.4 million and helped save or improve many lives.
4. Scott Harrison, Founder of charity: water
Scott went from a being well-established club promoter to a volunteer around the world and had experiences that completely changed his perspective. He was impacted by his experiences so deeply that today he has now helped millions of people gain access to clean water and continues to do so. To date, charity: water people like you have funded 17,370 water projects in 24 countries!
5. Susan B. Anthony, Social Reformer
Susan B. Anthony is a historical figure who was a leading social entrepreneur. She fought for women’s rights in the United States, including the right to control property and helped spearhead the adoption of the 19th Amendment.
Interested in Becoming a Social Entrepreneur?Well, you’re in the right place. Our goal is to give you the tools, and insights necessary to invigorate that drive to be a social entrepreneur.
If you have a way to solve a social problem, you can start your social enterprise now. Starting a social enterprise will vary in complexity depending on the task at hand, non-profit or for-profit status, and funding. Seek the guidance of friends, business professionals, and fellow social entrepreneurs, and you could be on your way to changing the world in no time.
The potential for growth is huge. The internet is opening up new avenues for social collaboration. Social entrepreneurship will continue to come from many more sources. It needs to become a mass activity, not just the domain of inspirational mavericks.
It’s no longer true that the company with the most money wins. The bully does not always come out on top. Brand names need not always be the go-to destination of choice.
7:30 AM to 6 PM every day. Almost 53 hours at a day job each week. Luckily, I only needed 4 or 5 hours of sleep each night, so that I still had 80.5 hours to do what I wanted. Over half of my week was spent solving someone else’s problems, being undervalued and stifled working for someone else. My lack of time and schedule was stopping me from doing what I was called to do.
For years, doing what I wanted during those other hours usually meant working on something else. I had been making music, art, furniture, and designing minimum viable products (MVPs) for companies that I thought should exist. I tried to sleep as little as possible and even designed short, but impactful workouts to optimize time and make time for my second job – working on these other projects. I skipped hanging out with friends unless they were friends that also shared my passions – interrupted once in awhile by an occasional “useless” outing to a bar, restaurant, or birthday party.
My “Ah-ha” Moment
I was extremely successful at my corporate gig, learned a lot, and made a lot of great and long-lasting connections. But this drive to build things and help people is relentless. The groundbreaking ALS Ice Bucket Challenge showed me how much people were willing to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
Subsequently, I began quickly iterating a social impact company. This time was different. This time, I would not watch other people execute a similar idea. I would not watch them and be left saying something silly like, “I had that idea before them.”
Part of the reason that this time was different is that I found a cause and project that resonated with one of my lifelong goals – organizing people to do good. Being a survivor of a parent who lived with cancer for ten years, ultimately passing in my early teens, shifted my set of values growing up.
I then created the social impact company Bstow — a platform that allows users to donate spare change to any nonprofit company automatically. This allows me to make good on that promise to myself. This is what I always wanted to do — help people. This drives me daily. When you start your venture, you need to find your driving passion. There will be difficulties, and your “why” is what will push you forward in the face of adversity.
I resigned from my full-time gig four months ago, and I’ve learned more in the last four months and made more authentic connections in that time than the four years I spent in college.
If you’ve built something, you know it’s all in the execution. The idea is about 0.01% of the effort. This time was different. I started executing immediately. I didn’t know how to do about 90% of what I know now, but I learned by having two-week sprints, learning on the job while executing mission-critical business and development initiatives to advance my company.
Some things you should consider when you start your venture:
Be flexible with your idea and make sure that you are passionate about the underlying problem you are trying to solve.
Validate core business concepts and important features of your product by talking about it with many people. I would suggest building a landing page and using Twitter, Instagram, and other social channels to get the word out to many people so you can get real feedback from people you do not know.
There will be problems. Your original concept and feature ideas will change. Be ready to take feedback in stride, silence your ego, and pivot when necessary.
You will hear “no” a lot. You have to decide when it’s right to listen and when it’s right to ignore. This will be one of the greatest determinants of your success. Things may seem difficult or even impossible. There is always – always – a solution!
The only guarantee I can make is that if you do not take action on your ideas, then you will not succeed at them. Building a company is very risky, but with that risk comes commensurate reward.
I am risking it all. I’ve learned to embrace fear as a sign that I’m pushing myself in the best ways possible. Comfort is my enemy.
Anything I’ve saved from working at my former job is gone, but I’m happier than ever. We’re launching our social impact platform soon. I’m sprinting. Come with me. You can do it too. We can succeed if we work together! We can only succeed if we start!
Building a team – how do you choose the right people? How do the ways you have come to learn to communicate, resolve conflicts and navigate people’s strengths, and weaknesses affect the outcomes of your work? How does your weak follow-up game affect your partnerships? Or are you too eager? How does your fear that they might not like your work, or worse, yourself, affect your communication and strategy with them? What about your relationship to hearing ‘No’ and general rejection?
