Consulting and support for social enterprise in Canada

Category: Social Delta news (Page 2 of 2)

While many in the social enterprise space often qualify themselves as ‘non-profit,’ these organizations should instead treat themselves as ‘for-purpose.’ These organizations should focus on their mission to create social good, while still treating themselves with the same commitment to rigor and discipline as the best for-profits.

Adam Braun

Jonathan Wade: Social Enterprise Expert in Residence at HUB Ottawa

I am pleased to offer Impact HUB Ottawa members free consultations on social enterprise once a week during the fall of 2017.  I will be at HUB Ottawa, 123 Slater Street, 6th Floor on Tuesday mornings from 9:30 to 10:30. Check the events page each week in case there is a last minute change in timing.

Not a member of the HUB yet?

Consider the Experts in Residence program as one of the many benefits of being a member, and drop by the space to chat with the host to ask about their very reasonable co-working rates.

If you are at the HUB when I am there, and are interested in a chat about social enterprise, please feel free to come and find me if I’m not busy.

Jonathan

 

NEW: RECIPE FOR IMPACT

  • Is your social enterprise engine sputtering?
  • Are you and your team frustrated or overwhelmed?
  • Is revenue stagnant? Is financial sustainability in jeopardy?
  • Are you maximizing your social impact?
  • Is your founder looking for other work?

Social enterprises can have troublesome adolescent years as well, and Social Delta knows how to help  you overcome the challenge through a practical, effective one-day strategy session.

We offer a full day facilitated strategy workshop to help you and your social enterprise stakeholders identify strengths and challenges, and refine your objectives. This is a co-working session which draws upon Social Delta’s decade of experience working with and studying social enterprises, and your intimate knowledge of your own business.

This is not just any business strategy session. It is specifically designed for social enterprises, whether run as a co-operative, a non profit corporation, or a private company. We don’t just look at the numbers, we review the whole business proposition and identify how to maximize your social impact through improved business practices.

This unique service starts with an online survey completed by your team of stakeholders (clients, managers, employees, volunteers, board members and owners). This survey sets the foundation for an objective group evaluation of the financial and social health of your business in 12 different thematic areas.  The survey results form the foundation of a day of in-person discussions allowing your team to make concrete decisions about what areas need to have more focus, and what aspects of the business can be relaxed in the short term. The whole process is designed to “round the wheel” by reallocating scarce resources–time, physical assets, operating capital, and human resources–to create a stable, robust and effective social enterprise.

Together, we will write your business Recipe for Impact

In only one day:  Concrete, realistic, measurable  next steps to maximize the social impact and the financial health of your business.

Contact us for more information on pricing or to learn about this unique service for social enterprises.

Summary: Canadian Conference on Social Enterprise

Did you miss attending the Canadian Conference on Social Enterprise in London Ontario in April?

Jonathan Wade of Social Delta offered a short presentation to members of the Ottawa Social Enterprise Meetup Group and has made this short presentation available as a free download.

Be sure to keep an eye on www.secouncil.ca for announcements about the next Canadian Conference,  scheduled for the Spring of 2017 in Winnipeg.

In the meantime, if you are a social enterprise, or a supporter of social enterprise, consider becoming a member of the Social Enterprise Council of Canada, so that you can add your voice to the movement to create a positive legal, social, and financial environment for social enterprises in Canada.

If you are a social enterprise or if you purchase products or services from social enterprises, consider becoming BUY SOCIAL certified. Visit www.buysocialcanada.ca or contact Social Delta for more information.

BUY SOCIAL Summit Canada

  • Are you a social enterprise looking to increase sales?
  • Are you a commercial procurement officer wanting to buy from suppliers who support social value creation?
  • Are you a shopper looking for great products that help build a stronger social fabric in Canada?

Please download and share this PDF announcement.

BUY SOCIAL is a UK-founded program to promote purchasing from social enterprises, and now it is coming to Canada. The program will be launched in Vancouver June 16/17, 2014. Visit the  BUY SOCIAL CANADA Website for more information, or to learn about this national effort to connect purchasers with vendors in the social economy.

Better yet, join Social Delta  and other social economy support organizations in Vancouver in June for the inaugural Canadian Buy Social Summit. Peter Holbrook, of Social Enterprise UK will be the keynote speaker, and if you are a social enterprise with products or services to sell you may also want to book an exhibitor table.

The Value of Ideation

“What business should we operate?”

Is your organization thinking about launching an enterprise?  Jonathan Wade explains the importance of ideation in pursuing that goal – and shares some of the challenges and benefits every enterprising non-profit can expect.

For non-profit organizations, there is a growing sense of urgency in seeking necessary resources to deliver on their social mission. Funding is diminishing, or is becoming increasingly focused on specific areas of funder interest. Donors seek lean organizations and relatively rapid results, yet social service provision is labour intensive, and change takes time.

It is not surprising that Ottawa’s Centre for Innovative Social Enterprise Development (www.cised.ca) receives regular calls from non-profit professionals asking for help starting a business to offset lost funding. The problem is that successful businesses rarely succeed because the entrepreneur needs money. In fact, as anyone who had started a business can tell you, launching a business typically requires more money (investment) than it initially makes…often generating one to three years of operational losses.

This reality is understandably disappointing for cash-strapped organizations.

Let the ideation begin

However, starting a social enterprise from within a non-profit is an excellent way to diversify revenue, provided that expectations are managed. In fact, the process of conceiving of a business idea—referred to asideation—is itself a very beneficial endeavor for most non-profits (and charities) as it allows them to look critically at what they do and how they do it while considering market demand for products and services they might create.

There are several ways to determine what sort of social enterprise your non-profit might consider:

1. What are you good at, and can it be commercialized?
2. What does the market need, and do you have (or can you assemble) the knowledge, skills, and inputs required to meet that demand?
3. Can you take over an existing business that is in keeping with your mission?
The second approach to ideation is pure entrepreneurship. If you understand the market, and you can fill a consumer need, that becomes your business. However, non-profits typically need to commission suitable market research and then divert limited resources to create the required product or service. This has a high opportunity cost, and many say that you can’t “learn” entrepreneurship.

Similarly, taking over an existing business requires a strong knowledge of business operations and business valuation, as well as access to financing to acquire an existing business.

Building a social enterprise on existing strengths within a non-profit corporation, in my experience, is the most effective ideation approach; it guarantees an alignment between the organization’s social mission and its business activities and it doesn’t require learning a whole new skill-set or investing in new resources.
For example, if your organization offers computer training to women in crisis, then you can offer fee-for-service computer training to a broader audience to generate revenues to underwrite your social mission. Similarly, if your social service programming generates artworks, then selling those artworks—indeed a by-product of the programming—is relatively easy and does not immediately raise concerns about mission drift.

The challenges of commercializing

Commercializing existing assets—intellectual, social, financial, or human capital—can be a challenge for non-profits. For one, the organization may lack the skill and resources to bring these assets to market. Second, there may be no buyer for the skill, product or services in which your non-profit excels. Third, an organization must ensure that selling of skills, networks, intellectual property, or programs doesn’t adversely affect the current programming goals. Fourth, the very concept that people, networks, programs and buildings are “assets” that can be “used” to generate revenue can rub non-profit professionals the wrong way.

Each of these challenges can be addressed, of course, and the process of addressing them is what brings new value to a non-profit board, staff, volunteer and beneficiary community. Acquiring new skill-sets is possible but one needs to be carefully budgeted and planned. A well-done feasibility study will identify not only if there is a buyer for your product/service, but also whether that business idea will enhance social outcomes.

A good business plan ensures that the launch of any revenue generating activity will support, not compete with, social value creation. Similarly, if the “assets” of the organization are understood as being investments in a better social outcome, then the language becomes less inflammatory.

Many believe that what makes an entrepreneur is the ability to see challenges as opportunities. Perhaps loss of funding offers the opportunity to rethink how best to maximize a social mission. The ideation process for non-profit staff and governors is a concrete way of categorizing challenges in the market and in the organization and building a sustainable, revenue generating, social value-creating solution to those challenges. Indeed, the process of ideation actually strengthens the capacity and resolve of an organization with a social mission.


This article originally appeared February 24, 2014 in See Change Magazine online.

Bring your social enterprise to life

ImageAfter 2 1/2  years at the Center for Innovative Social Enterprise Development, Jonathan Wade is now the Principal at Social Delta, offering consulting support to social entrepreneurs. He will help you build your social enterprise; from ideation to organizational readiness and from market research to business strategy, Jonathan brings decades of experience in the non profit sector, and many years as a consultant, job coach and trainer in the fields of social enterprise development and social finance.

Take a look at the services he provides to help your social enterprise create value in our community.

Send him an email for more information.

 

Newer posts »

© 2024 social delta

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑