Consulting and support for social enterprise in Canada

Tag: social impact

Small Business: It is where we work.

Statistics Canada reports that small businesses (1-19 employees) employ 10.3 million people, representing 63.8% of the total Canadian workforce. (2022 data)

Let that sink in.

Employing more than 3 in 5 Canadians, small businesses are the source of tax revenue, a wide array of products and services, and provide the majority of employment opportunities in the country. Social enterprises are almost all small businesses. They are part of the ballast and sails that keeps our economy—our country—upright and in motion.   

For comparison, businesses with over 100 employees only employ 15.1% of the workforce.

Interestingly, there is a keen desire in Canada to be entrepreneurial. According to a 2021 report, half of all Canadians believed they have the skills to start their own business, and a full 23% claimed to have plans to do so. Moreover, Canada has the largest number of early stage entrepreneurs (those with businesses less than 42 months old) per capita than any of the G7 nations, including the US.

Of new businesses started in 2021 in Canada, 58% were started by people aged 34 or younger and 52% offered consumer-oriented products or services.

These statistics are interesting in that they paint a picture of many young Canadians choosing to start their own business. There seems to be an understanding that entrepreneurship offers an opportunity for employment and a meaningful livelihood, even if running a business is difficult.

Another interesting fact about businesses started in 2021: 76% of the entrepreneurs report that their product or service was not new (although it might be new to their geographic region).

Again, pause for a moment to reflect on that.

Most new businesses are NOT innovative, they are simply providing a product or service that consumers already know and which those same consumers are (presumably) willing to buy.

What is the message for social entrepreneurs? First, you are in good company, as you are part of the majority of workers in the country. Second, you are competing with all those other small businesses trying to create and meet demand. Third, you don’t need to create something innovative to create revenue for your mission.

As we start 2025, one can only assume that 2021/22 data will change, given the changing economic and political landscape. However, the findings from the days of early economic recovery suggests (post-pandemic) that more and more young people are looking to take control of their work lives as entrepreneurs, and possibly infuse their personal social mission into their vocation.

We, as Canadians and the governments we elect, need to support this growing desire to build the foundation of our economy with small businesses that seek deliberately to improve the society we live in through their commercial activities.

Purposeful Commerce

When you buy something—anything, really—there is an exchange of value. Money is exchanged for a good or service, right?

The trouble is that we frequently forget that there are more currencies than money, and more products than a single good or service.

Time is maybe our most valuable currency. It is a fixed asset. It is always limited in supply. We get to choose how we spend it, and once spent, it can’t be refunded. Like money, we need time to thrive. We also have compassion to spend. And patience. And privacy. And commitment. These are all currencies.

As for the products we purchase, we can easily forget that when we buy a loaf of bread, for example, we are actually buying many goods and services. We are buying the grain from the nutrients of the land. We are buying the labour of the farmer, the miller, the trucker, and the baker. We are buying a small fraction of the combine harvester and even the time of the person who built that machine. And we are buying the raw materials that were used to make that machine. We are also buying the environmental impact of the process by which that loaf of bread arrived at our local grocery store.

The purchase of a loaf of bread, then, is an exchange of two BUNDLES of value:

(Money, time & commitment)

is exchanged for

(Bread, agricultural community livelihoods & supply chains)

This expanded view of commerce is important is because making deliberate purchasing choices matter, and every choice affects multiple aspects of what might appear to be a simple transaction.

Let’s look at some scenarios:

  • Right now, Canadians are fearful of potential financial losses and inflationary trends in an environment of threat of tariffs and trade restrictions; therefore, we can choose to spend on products and services that reinforce the growth and resilience of our local and national communities.  
  • In every transaction, if we spend the time to speak to the vendor, we gain more than just their product, we gain an understanding, a connection, and a relationship; buying online might be cheaper, but we are making a choice to relinquish social cohesion.
  • When we consume social media, we are exchanging time, patience, privacy, and editorial control for quick news, comedy, and the financial wealth of the media owners; we can make a choice about what we are spending and what we are getting. (note that this “purchase” doesn’t use the customer’s money as currency in the transaction)

Why am I writing this blog on a site about social entrepreneurship?

Well, social enterprise is a form of commerce which deliberately takes into account a broader understanding of an exchange of value. When the vendor is clearly and intentionally working to improve some form of social justice, then a customer’s purchase takes on a multi-dimensional aspect.

Let’s take the loaf of bread example: If you buy a loaf of bread from a social enterprise, you also might be “buying” sustainable wages for local bakers, or the knowledge that you are supporting sustainable agricultural processes, or you the multifaceted benefits of helping to create a job for someone otherwise excluded from the work force.  You are exchanging your money, time and commitment for bread and some (or many) forms of positive social impact.

For those who may be feeling as though the social fabric is being eroded by political divisiveness, the rise of oligarchical actors, and growing intolerance and cruelty, it is powerful to recognized that buying choices can make a tremendous positive impact.

When you buy something—anything, really—you are able to affect the course of history.

Finding your passion. Meh.

       At some time in the latter 20th century work became something that identifies who we are. The first question between strangers is often “So what do you do?”  The newest incarnation of this preoccupation with work as one’s purpose is now to aspire to have purposeful work. Expectations and aspirations in the changing workforce appear to tend towards some sort of cross between corporate billionaire and altruistic social worker.  Having your cake and eating it too.

I actually don’t believe in this new religion. I believe that work is an avocation; it is a job needed to pay the bills, put food on the table, and lubricate all the good things in life like health, education, community and love. It is perfectly reasonable to enjoy what you do, and in fact, I recommend making every effort to find joy in what you do, but don’t expect it to define you.

Work…whether as a social entrepreneur, a government bureaucrat, a corporate executive, a teacher, a builder, or a garbage collector…is likely going to be 10% amazing and 90% meh (and of that 90%, some significant percentage may be absolutely awful.)  If you are lucky, you might get to a 25/75 split…

Entrepreneurs are celebrated when they succeed, but 4 out of 5 fail. And those who do succeed often work 60-100 hours a week, and sometimes those hours are spent doing the most banal of jobs: issuing invoices, filing paperwork, responding to confusing client needs, managing your (social) media, waiting in an airport lounge, editing documents,  or even simply buying office supplies or other inputs for your business. For some, each of those tasks might be a gleeful challenge, but for most, they are just the nuts and bolts of business: necessary, unremarkable, obvious—or even punitive—when left undone, and less than inspiring.  Hardly finding one’s passion.

Remember that most value in our communities comes from the informal sector. Parenting, social gatherings, conversations, kindness to a neighbor or a stranger, reading, painting, crafting, cooking, exercise and other hobbies all help to create a strong community fabric and personal value, yet none of them are necessarily well compensated financially, if at all. As my grandfather said, meaning most often comes in simple actions, not grand gestures. For most of us, the informal sector will be where we will leave our mark and where we can reasonably expect to find/create personal joy and purpose.

Social enterprise offers a promise that business can—and should—be conducted with a greater community purpose. This is a lofty and laudable goal. But make no mistake, business is hard work, and some days you’ll have to really think hard about the positive vision you have for the future in order to motivate you to carry on with the present.

Don’t be fooled by a glib instruction to “find your passion” in your job. Instead, choose to work that is meaningful and beneficial to others, do it well, remain diligent, and reward your passions by having a strong work-life balance. I believe that we all have a responsibility to add value to our community, and I believe that social enterprise is one tool that can help us contribute. Nevertheless, never pretend that every daily task as an entrepreneur will fill you with joy and passion.

Be defined by who you want to be, not by solely by where you want to work.

Cultural Social Enterprises: Admission fees or “entrance by donation”?

Many social enterprises with cultural missions (museums, galleries, recreational facilities, or ongoing or travelling events) struggle with how to set admission prices, and many revert to a “jar at the door” asking for donations.

Spoiler alert: charge admission.

I firmly recommend to any social enterprise that they set prices (including admission fees) based upon a sound understanding of their cost structure, and how much they need to charge their guests they expect to visit their location to attempt to cover these costs. This recommendation is borne out of experience and logic for any business. For cultural social enterprises, they may not cover all of their costs, but charging an admission fee—over an admission-by-donation strategy—has many benefits described below:  

Admission fees are professional

In 1st century BC, Publilius Syrus wrote: “Something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it”. This is perhaps a bit simplistic, as the truth is that a sustainable price represents the point where both the customer and the business both are getting a good deal (or at least neither is  getting a raw deal). Charging visitors for admission simply states to your customer that you have spent money to create an experience for them, and they need to spend money to enjoy the experience. All agree that good experiences cost money. Now there is nothing left to do other than haggle over price.

Free, however, suggest that the museum doesn’t pay for, or doesn’t care about, or perhaps doesn’t even know the costs of their service. The assumption by the consumer, paradoxically, is that the experience is likely not going to be very good. In the bizarre world of consumer expectations, free stuff is low quality and useless, and expensive stuff is better quality or valuable. (just think of drinking water or wrapping paper)  Charging admission says that you are professional and that your business value proposition is important and valuable.

Admission fees do not decrease attendance

If you lose 5% of your customers due to the application of an admission fee, that would be a shame, but studies show that admission prices don’t actually decrease attendance. Some even argue that museums and cultural attractions actually get more customers by charging a “professional” amount (see above). A study in 2015 of 98000 adults in the US actually concluded that in most instances, audiences indicate greater intentions to visit organizations that charge more than $20 for an adult admission than those that are free.”

The decision to visit a museum, gallery or event is affected by many factors and price plays a smaller role than most believe. Family history, geographic proximity (especially for travelers), hobbies and interests, marketing and promotions, available time, or availability of alternatives all play a pivotal role in attendance numbers for cultural social enterprises. After all, if you travel to Paris, do you really care what the price of admission is to the Louvre? You are already committed: once you’ve paid for the flight, hotel, meals, and your time…the admission could be 50 Euros before you would even blink.

Admission fees will generate more total revenue than donations

If 100 people come to your attraction and you charge them $10 to get in, you’ll earn $1000 in gross revenue. If 100 people come and are asked to make a suggested donation, you’ll be lucky to get $500 in revenue. It varies by event, attraction, demographics, region, and product, of course, but in every study I’ve read where a “suggested donation amount” is posted, the actual donation is 25-50 percent of the posted amount, even when the posted amount is significantly less than what the market would bear. This is lost revenue and lost opportunity for your cultural business.

There are tricks to try to increase donation amounts. Some have tried offering a choice of recommended amounts (and the results show that most people choose the median recommendation or less). Some have considered a sign saying that other patrons have historically given a certain amount (and this helps to bump up the average donation slightly).

One particularly creative example is from the The Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston (CAMH), which doesn’t charge admission and prefers to accept donations. They put out a donation box old-school style with a sign on it that reads: “Average cost per visit $22. Your admission charge $0. Suggested donation $5” This approach increased their average donation slightly, because it listed a factual cost (calculated from the previous year’s financials) as a benchmark allowing visitors to confer value upon the experience they are about to have. This is a clever approach, but still an approach that generated less revenue than a straight $10 admission fee.

Your gift shop benefits

Most cultural social enterprises have an opportunity for a secondary spend. What this means is that your visitors to the main attraction will (of course) be encouraged to visit the gift shop, the ice-cream stand, the café, or the special exhibit. It turns out that visitors who don’t pay for admission are also far less likely to spend money in other parts of your establishment. A good example comes from Cedar Rapids, which offers free admission for about two months a year to their Museum of Art. Their attendance during those promotions (contrary to most data) does increase, but as noted by the business owner “the average donation in the donation box remains in the range of 25-35 cents per person and the average amount spent by those who enter the gift shop plummets from about $13 to about $3.”

You can track and plan marketing and promotions

If your customers have to pay to get in, you can get more information from them that can help document your marketing success or guide your future promotions efforts. Where do they live? How many people are in their party? Did they question the price? Did they request a family rate? Did they use VISA, MC or AMEX? How did they hear about you? Did they use a coupon or a promotion through their hotel?

The act of collecting a fee allows for an interaction (either automatically by the point of sale software, or through conversation). Every time a business can interact with a client, it is an opportunity for improving customer service, retention, and renewal and another way to inform future marketing efforts. A donation box is normally anonymous (to protect the dignity of the donor), and thus represents a lost opportunity for business development.  

Increased social outcomes

Although my data on length of visit of paying vs non-paying customers is largely apocryphal, visitors who have paid to get in to your exhibit are likely to “savour the experience” just a bit more, in order to get their money’s worth. In an art gallery this is often the experience for special exhibits; visitors will pay to see the Monet exhibit, for example, and even if their fee allows them free entrance to the regular collection, many will either forego the gallery’s resident collection, or they will rush through these works of art after hours of peering at the “valuable” art in the special exhibit.

Most cultural social enterprises want people to learn, enjoy, and engage in the mission of the business. Knowing that your customers will read every plaque, pause at every display, and ruminate on how this affects them is certainly a goal equal to or more valuable than the mere volume of visitors.

Admission fees force good business practices

It is true that if you charge a fee, your customers will expect more from your business. Many museums and cultural exhibits are struggling to maintain visitation levels in a world of virtual reality, internet museums, and so many fantastic blogs and websites devoted to capturing and curating history and culture. It is important for all cultural businesses to strive to find new ways to capture the attention of new audiences. Not only will admission fees generate revenue to help run the business, it will also force your board, staff, volunteers and content curators to work diligently to create excellent experiences for customers. There is little incentive to update, change, review, digitize or improve your collection or experience if the customer is not demanding it. 

You can still be accessible

In my experience, the key rationale made to solicit voluntary contributions is to allow everyone to enjoy the museum, installation or activity. “Maximize accessibility” is the mantra. After all, if the mission of the business is to promote culture, then it may seem logical to not create any financial barrier to entry. For fully funded organizations, I accept that “admission by donation” will be fine, as the business costs will be covered by grants or sponsorships. However, the fully funded cultural social enterprise is a unicorn; people claim they exist, but I’ve never seen one.

It is possible to offer bursaries, school programming, or discounted days for those who are unable to pay. There are many creative examples of dignified programs and promotions that can help those for whom a small admission fee still is a concern.

Fees are guaranteed. Donations are fickle.

The other argument I often hear is that donations do not have a ceiling; that is to say, a donation request might yield a $1000 contribution, and surely that possibility makes an “entrance by donation” strategy worth considering.  When faced with this assertion, I normally ask how many large gifts has the business ever received in this manner, and were they able to properly receipt, track and cultivate that donor? More often than not, there is no evidence that such a gift had ever been received, nor is it truly likely to be expected through that mechanism.

The truth is that even if there were to be a “huge gift” in the donation jar, perhaps once in a year, by fluke (every fundraiser knows that “people give to people,” after all), it is likely that the lost opportunity for all those who chose not to donate would exceed the value of the larger one-off gift.

To conclude, it is overwhelmingly clear to me that charging a fee is the right approach for all cultural social enterprises.

The downside risks (fear of decreased attendance or restrictions for those in poverty) are easily managed with creative pricing approaches if it is even necessary, while the benefits of an admission fee are significant. Under set admission fees, revenue is more stable, predictable and lucrative, and the organization is more professional and effective. Fees don’t need to be exorbitant, but they should at least reflect the costs of the business that have not been covered by donations, endowments, or sponsorships.

Regardless of the size of your business, charging an admission will help your social enterprise remain in business, impress and engage your customers, and most effectively promote your cultural or social mission.

Why invest in a social enterprise that doesn’t break even?

The goal of a social enterprise is to create positive social change.

To sustain its social impact it has to make enough money to pay all its expenses… in order to remain financially viable, correct?

Would you believe that a $50K investment in a financially unsustainable social enterprise (generating revenue that never exceeds 80% of its costs) can still create more than four times the social impact than making the same donation to charity, while at the same time creating more than $360K in retained earnings, keeping the business in operation over 22 years without any further investment?

There is a strong case to make a social investment in a business that doesn’t break even. If your investment goals are to create social change, then better to invest in a business that can use your money to multiply the social benefit.

Read my guest blog post at SEEChange Magazine for the full story and calculations.

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.

Make it easy for gift buyers to find your social enterprise

SEontario  invites any Ontario based Social Enterprise [SE] to tell them about their products and/or services available this holiday season.

All through the month of December the good folks at Social Enterprise Ontario will be updating their Social Enterprise Holiday Gifts page, tweeting, and sharing via their news section different offerings from great Ontario SE’s like yours.

Please fill out this online form  to let them know a little about your social enterprise and the products/services that you’d like highlighted.

They officially launched the page on Monday, Dec. 1st, 2014.

Get your products and/or services listed on this gift giving directory as soon as possible, as the page will be updated and maintained all through the Holiday season.

If you are looking to buy gifts from social enterprises…be sure to follow @seontarioweb on Twitter, and visit the Social Enterprise Holiday Gifts page for gift ideas.

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