Social Enterprise Business is currently being led by 45 person boards of coalitions and 1,720 quangos. Is this a real movement-a new way to do business- or is it simply a place to park some government funding? When the Times and RBS give out social entrepreneur awards to CEOs running charities…we have surely lost the plot. The folks mentioned in the awards are highly qualified and delivering high social value. But, I would argue that incorporation as a charity is not really social entrepreneurial. (yuck! I sound like some ranting fool in the corner.) *Footnote: I did not apply for, nor do I know anyone who applied for the awards.
But, this got me thinking about what I was doing. I have been working on this dream of a new economy for 4 years. Not long by most accounts. But, what I noticed lately is that I have become entranced with the public purse. What direction is government going? What will the local authority do next? What is the regional play?
These are important issues, but who is leading this? God help us (and I think they would agree) if the quangos/local authorities/government/fill in the blank are leading this. We, the entrepreneurs need to lead this. What is THIS? It’s a better way to do business and create value. Social Business.
I read a book called Creating Shareholder Value during my MBA program. I want to write the new version, with the help of a tribe; Creating Stakeholder Value. A small change, but a huge difference. Stakeholders are the beneficiaries of the social outcomes of social business. It might be a group of people (elderly, poor, disabled), it might be an area (think regeneration), it might be international (think eradication of disease or drinking water), it might be environmental (think green), it might be (______). Importantly, the value will have a wider impact and will be both monetary and social. (And so ended the lesson)
Let’s build a business focused tribe that gets the importance of social impact. Focused on starting and growing businesses that do more than profit. No, we will not make subscription to specific paradigms a pre-requisite (charitable/community owned/etc.) – making a difference is difficult enough. No, we will not hold seminars on how to get public funding or contracts – if you are an entrepreneur, you will have figured this out. No, we will not hold seminars extolling the virtues of social business – it’s not about group chants, it’s about data, profit, change. No, we will not hold award ceremonies giving trophies to the same group of 12 for 3 years running b/c we can’t be bothered to dig deeper to find those like Baraka Coffee.
We will get like minded entrepreneurs together to share ideas and inspiration.
We will drive forward a community to connect (with money) and support (with info).
We will make profit the priority (in order that we may support our social mission!).
We will insist you must be doing more than CSR.
We will change the world. Together.
We will lead.
How is this different than my perception of the workings today? The social business creating value attracts the finance/investment, interest from government; moving away from the social business begging a bureaucrat to approve an investment in something they know little about. Tails, Dogs, and wagging.
Want to be part of this tribe of social entrepreneurs running business differently? Stop following the mandates and start leading from where you are.
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You are not alone in your thougts and thinking.
Your summary is spot on
“We, the entrepreneurs need to lead this. What is THIS? It’s a better way to do business and create value. Social Business.”
Fun, Perserverance and Creativity is the solution.