OREC (the Ottawa Renewable Energy Cooperative) is seeking to hire a part-time Communications Manager to support the day-to-day operations, member and investor relations, and public-facing communications of the co-operative.
You can see a full job posting on their website, here: https://www.orec.ca/careers/
Applications for this position are to be submitted by December 7, 2021.
Some estimates state that 80% of all companies will use chatbots to generate leads or build customer loyalty in the next few years. How does this, and how should this, affect social enterprises?
First, what is a chatbot? It is an automated “instant message” discussion that “pops up” on a website or social media platform to engage the potential customer with either a text or voice conversation. The goal of a chatbot is to mimic genuine human interaction through clever writing and the use of artificial intelligence. In some cases sophisticated algorithms combined with user data ensure the outputs are as personalized as possible, only more efficient.
Chatbots typically start with an open question, such as “How can I help you today?” Users who choose to engage will often ask a question that can be answered by one of perhaps hundreds of pre-programmed responses (Chatbots, then become a customer service robot that can access an almost infinite number of responses in a Frequently Asked Questions database). As the “conversation” proceeds, the bot typically will request a prospect/customer’s name and email address and remarkably, statistics show that the majority of site visitors will actually provide that information (which is very hard to get via other customer development tools and activities).
Chatbots are counter intuitive to many marketing professionals, and to social change entrepreneurs. They challenge the notion that personal interaction is one of the most effective ways to generate leads, build loyalty, and engage customers. The thought that artificial intelligence can do this work for social enterprise may feel, somehow…wrong. Duplicitous even.
However, chatbots are tireless workers who never need time off, can respond to thousands of interactions simultaneously, and can create new leads from browsing users, effectively deliver key messages or marketing promotions, and can, in fact, answer the majority of basic questions. Websites are static, whereas chatbots create the illusion of dynamic interaction. If a user wants to find out the store’s opening hours on the long weekend, they can choose to find that information on what might be thousands of pages on the website…or they can simply ask the chatbot and have a response in seconds. However, it is important to recognize that chatbots should not compensate for bad web design, they should augment an easily navigated website.
There are some downsides, of course. Estimates suggest that the programming and technology required to create an effective chatbot can cost $20-$30K. This is a lot for an early stage business, and it may be difficult to justify without concrete proof that it will help bolster sales and the customer relationship. Investing in a chatbot, fundamentally requires a leap of faith, and it can also diminish (or deplete) available funds for other forms of marketing. It is not surprising that the relatively simple-to-use chatbot plugin for Facebook has become common. From the 2016 launch to mid-2018, there were over 300,000 active chatbots on Facebook.
Also, chatbots need to be able to pass the (prospective) customer to a live agent if the customer becomes frustrated, or if they are not getting the information they need. It is often difficult for small businesses to make this transition from bot to human interaction seamless. A bot can book an appointment with a customer representative, but there is often a few hours delay (or more) and this means that the “lead” might grow cold or even find an alternative product online.
So, is a chatbot the right thing for a social enterprise? In truth, chatbots are becoming the norm on many commercial websites, and in the last few years, online users appear to be embracing them as useful tools to help them access information on a company or its products. However, chatbots are most useful only if your customers embrace them and only if they work well. They can be particularly effective for businesses that have high web traffic, and in cases were simple responses are all that is needed in most circumstances. If your business sells a toy that has specifications that are important to share (are they recyclable, for example) that is an easy question to answer. However, if your business is selling facilitation services, then answering a prospective client in person might be a better way to convey your value.
Social Delta has been surprised at the statistics on the effectiveness of chatbots, and therefore advises that they not be dismissed as a tool in the marketing toolbox; however, as with all marketing tools, chatbots should be evaluated by the social entrepreneur by considering their value to the business. They should strategically employ the technology if there is an expectation of benefit (financial or mission impact) that exceeds the cost (money or time or reputation).
However, social entrepreneurs should not presume the tool to be invasive or annoying; somewhat remarkably, the studies show chatbots to be a strong customer cultivation tool in many cases.
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Every once and a while a story crosses our desk that makes us wonder why nobody had done that sooner.
Nzambi Matee is a social entrepreneur in Kenya who is making construction-grade bricks out of plastic that are purportedly 7 times stronger than concrete.
We always hear that plastics take generations to decompose and break down, and yet few of us might have asked ourselves the question: “In what circumstances do we specifically need something that will never deteriorate?”
The answer is blindingly obvious: buildings, walls and walkways.
We celebrate the longevity of Roman roads, medieval castles, the pyramids, Angkor Wat, and the crypts beneath Paris’s streets. We have been (over) building with concrete for decades to create edifices–from dams to skycrapers–that we hope will stand the test of time.
At the same time we are producing plastic waste that is clogging our waterways and burdening our landfills.
Matee is an engineer who has designed a heat and pressure process to combine plastic waste (of various grades) with sand to create strong and colorful building bricks. A sort of lifesize Lego. She designed and built the machines necessary, and since 2017 her company, Gjenge Makers, has repurposed 20 tons of plastic waste. The factory now creates 1500 bricks a day.
The social benefit of Matee’s work goes beyond environmental sustainability. She is also proactively creating employment for women and youth in Nairobi, including jobs for “pickers” who are often facing significant barriers to employment. Click here for more information, and to view a video celebrating this incredible business venture.
Social Delta celebrates the social entrepreneurs like Nzambi Matee who take equal parts dissatisfaction, conviction, ingenuity, skill and savvy to solve a social problem and meet a market need at the same time.
We are inspired. We hope you are too.
In the Netherlands there is a national organization dedicated to promoting and supporting social enterprise.
They recently released a report that documents how leading social enterprises in their country are affecting the way business is done. Those social enterprises, by doing business the right way, are leading by example.
I particularly like their analysis which indicates that social enterprise can effect change in three ways:
To paraphrase, social enterprises can show what is can be done, they can challenge existing business practices and they can actually set the bar higher for other businesses to emulate.
The report is full of excellent resources, ideas, and indications of what success looks like for any social enterprise. It offers an aspiration view for social entrepreneurs wishing to grow their social impact.
Social Delta recommends it as inspirational (yet practical) reading. Download it or read it online for free here.
The Ottawa Tool Library, one of Ottawa’s leading social enterprises, has been evicted from their current location. Their landlord has failed to provide the required notice, and the entire lending library must leave their location at 250 City Centre in Ottawa by December 9, 2020.
On behalf of the Ottawa Tool Library, Social Delta is sharing their press release here.
The tool library is seeking public support to find a new location on the West Side of Ottawa. All lending of tools has now been suspended, but through the generosity of several community partners offering short term workshop space, several previously scheduled workshops will take place in alternate locations in the coming weeks.
The tool library is accepting donations of money to support the emergency move at their website, www.ottawatoollibrary.com , and to help pay for the transport and storage of the 2100 tools in their lending library until a new location can be confirmed. They are unable to accept any tool donations until a new location is found.
This has been a difficult year for many businesses. The Ottawa Tool Library has worked diligently to remain open, operating safely within public health guidelines, and providing tools, advice and support to home do-it-yourselfers, low income residents, and other in the community. This surprise eviction is a significant challenge. They are calling upon the community for help in order to weather the storm and to reopen again in the new year.
Any suggestions of a new location, available secure low cost storage options, or ways to support the continued success of the Ottawa Tool Library should be emailed to the OTL Executive Director, Bettina Vollmerhausen
Perhaps one of the most common question social entrepreneurs have is how to set prices for their goods or services.
Pricing is a particular challenge for mission-based social entrepreneurs; in a mission-based social enterprise, the consumer is the beneficiary. For example, the product they sell (whether a good or a service)—such as environmentally friendly paints–is serving the social enterprise’s environmental mission directly. For them, good business means not only maximizing net revenue (using a higher price), but also maximizing the number of rainbarrels sold to mitigate water run-off. (using a lower price)
This can be a real conundrum.
However, pricing is not a guessing game, and need not be feared. Here are six basic principles for the new social entrepreneur to keep in mind when setting prices:
A word on sliding scales…many social enterprises express an interest in setting prices based upon the consumer’s ability to pay. They often ask about sliding scales or occasionally “pay-what-you-can” options. Although this approach may be seen as a way to promote equitable access to your product, it is a very difficult way to maintain a business, because input and overhead costs rarely are set on a sliding scale.
However, there are approaches that are more sustainable, while still being inclusive. Tiered pricing (also known as price discrimination) allows for a series of stepped prices based upon proven criteria: tiered prices can be set by age, by income level, by profession (like current preferred pricing for front-line pandemic workers), or by services offered (first class, box seats, etc). Social Delta frequently recommends setting the price, and then offering discounts or bursaries to those who qualify. In this approach, the perceived market value of your product is clearly associated with a specific price (which would cover costs), but your business is willing to sacrifice revenue to ensure that it is responding to the needs of excluded customers.
Setting a price for your product requires a clear understanding of your business goals, a rock solid knowledge of your business costs, and an awareness of your competition. There are no rules to setting the right price, and if there were rules, there would be many exceptions to each rule. However, setting price is not a guess, nor is it magic. Setting prices is 90% diligence and 10% good fortune
Social Delta can help you with determine which pricing strategies and approaches to consider to meet your goals.
These are times when starting or expanding a social enterprise is either a fantastic opportunity or an impossible folly.
There are unquestionably many challenges facing people and communities locally, nationally and globally as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, and perhaps not entirely by coincidence, we see cracks and fissures appear in the social fabric: polarized and angry democracies, growing income disparities, wildly unsustainable consumerism, incredibly potent and punishing environmental changes, more xenophobia and irrational fear of “others,” increasing intolerance and racism, and a sincere lack of resources as our economies are (and have been) shown to be fragile constructs.
If social action is borne of injustice and and fomenting of the desire for positive change, then surely we must look at new ways of creating a just and sustainable society. Social enterprise is potential tool to make that happen, although starting any sort of business in a pandemic is risky; fantastic or folly, indeed.
I have many thoughts on how we can redesign business and movements and individual actions and responsibilities. However, I believe that my colleague and friend Vinod Rajesekaran, of Future of Good, expressed it brilliantly in his recent article “Stop idolizing your sector and demonizing another.” I quote from him directly:
Let’s build back better by asking different questions. When an organization or a project inspires you, don’t ask about their legal structure. Instead, look deeper and ask about their values, intentions, and actions. Look at the ratio between the highest and lowest paid workers, look at their carbon footprint, look at how diverse their leadership teams and boards are, look at how they act on reconciliation everyday, look at how well they include and give voice to their stakeholders, and follow the money — look at where they save and what they invest their money in.
One of the first questions I get from aspiring social entrepreneurs is about how (and when) they should incorporate. I always tell them “form follows function” and that they should wait as long as possible before they formalize their social purpose in an organizational structure. Only once they’ve identified and lived by their values, intentions and actions (ie determined their function) will they know the best structure to support their work. In fact, once they’ve started their work in earnest, the form of their business is almost always determined for them.
We are, regrettably, stuck with largely antiquated legislation that enshrines for profit, co-operative, or non-profit structures, myths, and expections. However, we can–and must–push the parameters of each of these structures to create businesses that measurably improve social conditions, justice, fairness and protection of the environment.
In the coming years, we can, person by person, build back better.
Social entrepreneurs operate businesses that create social benefits. Surely, selling services and products in the pursuit of justice, environmental sustainability, and support for the marginalized should be easy. After all, doesn’t every consumer want to make the world a better place?
Well, no, actually.
Most consumers buy to satisfy some personal need. They may be hungry and buy food. They may desire to smell nice and buy body products or perfumes. They may want to be entertained and buy a video streaming subscription. They may want the cheapest price and buy from huge online retailers. Not many make purchases based upon maximizing social welfare.
There are some consumers, of course, who shop based upon a set of community values, but as much as we’d like to think otherwise, these conscious consumers remain in the minority. We must also remember—particularly now during economic challenges for many—that some consumers may not be able to afford to purchase according to their altruistic values.
The art of encouraging citizens to undertake something that creates social value is called social marketing. Whether it is to reduce speeding, or to encourage voting, or to purchase ethically sourced food, social marketers use commercial marketing techniques and concepts—advertising, traditional and social media, direct mail, email broadcasts, word of mouth, customer journey, relationship marketing, etc—to bring about and support social change.
A recently read article provides some useful guidance to anyone trying to convince someone to do something that they don’t instinctively want to do. Summarizing somewhat, the recommendations were as follows:
These recommendations work well if you are convincing a child to get immunized (the example used in the article), to encourage someone to get sober, or to complete a university course.
But how do we use these recommendations to encourage consumers to make the right purchasing decisions? Below is a rephrasing of the recommendations to support social marketing efforts for the social entrepreneur:
One last note that we frequently share with our social enterprise clients: Do not assume that your social mission alone will sell your products or services. The vast majority of purchasing decisions are affected by price and market perceptions of quality (which also includes convenience and availability). If you aren’t competing on price and quality, social marketing strategies and activities will have only a marginal effect on consumer choices.
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‘Tis the season…gifts from social enterprises
As we live through the onslaught of holiday promotions, sales and hype, keep in mind that buying from social enterprises is a great way to both support your local economy, buying quality products while helping to provide other social benefits.
Your holiday and seasonal purchases from social enterprises can help provide employment opportunities for individuals marginalized in our communities, support environmentally sound products and services, participate in upcycling and recycling initiatives, or support culture, the arts and recreation.
To find a social enterprise selling goods that you’ll feel proud to give, you can visit the following websites: https://seontario.org/, Buy Social Canada, or the directory at the Centre for Social Enterprise Development (Ottawa)