We’ve Got (Social) Issues: How To Become a Social Entrepreneur

The post We’ve Got (Social) Issues: <br/>How To Become a Social Entrepreneur appeared first on The Founding Moms.

 

If you’re reading this, you’re likely an entrepreneur and a parent; keeping tiny humans and a nascent business alive. You’re wearing more than a few hats, and with all that you’re doing—and hopefully delegating—your work is more than just a to-do list.

Success in business does not have to be defined by a huge IPO or big merger. If you measure success beyond “the bottom line”–the total net income on a balance sheet–you’ll be far more fulfilled by your work, and you’ll inspire others to join you. 

In their book Burnout, Emily and Amelia Nagoski point out that one way to create meaning–or purpose–is through our work. Meaning is what keeps you going when things get rough. Entrepreneurship is NOT a cakewalk and we can use all the help we can get to stick with it.

Finding meaning in your business is about more than nachas (Yiddish for “the good feels.”) Meaning comes from finding a bigger role for yourself in the world. If you take time in the early stage of your business to embed purpose into everything you do, you’re likely to be more satisfied in your work, and you’ll find ways to connect with other businesses, forming mutually-beneficial partnerships.

We must also consider the company culture we want to create. How will you lead? What will you prioritize? New business owners should consider their own path too. Where are you headed?  Do you want to have a “fast exit” or are you forever the CEO? Consider your resources, services, and products—what aspect of these aligns with your mission? What will happen in the world when you succeed? If you’re truly mission-driven and care about money less than this new world you envision you’re likely a social entrepreneur. But what is a social entrepreneur? 

so·cial en·tre·pre·neur (n.): a person who establishes an enterprise with the aim of solving social problems or effecting social change.

If your mission has a social or environmental component driving your products or services–surprise!–you’re a social entrepreneur. You might hear that and suddenly have an ah-ha moment like I did. “So that’s what I am!” You’re not alone. You’re on the right track…but what track is that exactly?

Walk The Walk.

Track the good, not just the financials.

In addition to revenue or profit, social entrepreneurs must report the social changes that their businesses create. Organizations typically do this through their annual reports (even a for-profit social enterprise is transparent about progress and budgeting.) 

Social entrepreneurs are focused on their social mission first even though their aspirations for growth or financial success are no less lofty. It’s not that money doesn’t matter.  Compensation and payroll are important and paying vendors on time are, too. While money may be a goal, the goal is to support some kind of social change. 

Our goals can be economic in nature, like closing wealth and wage gaps that provide economic opportunities, or through increasing the wealth of local communities. One example of a social mission tied to money is getting moms back into the workplace. Or a goal could be to increase accessibility through a new athletic product with a mission of more inclusion in sports. 

Get Creative But Don’t Reinvent The Wheel

Traditional entrepreneurs that follow a  “profit first” model might view ownership of ideas quite differently. They may scale differently too; prioritizing sales over safety or sustainability, and taking a conservative approach to risk. 

Environmentalists and community activists often come together to contribute to a project, business, or to pool money for mutual aid. These change agents are working on long-standing, complex, systemic issues. They know they can’t possibly figure it all out alone. Social entrepreneurs enjoy deep collaboration across sectors and industries, a tendency to iterate (try things out, and then assess and try again), and the ability to build off others’ ideas. 

Solving the needs of a specific community or sustainability issue is likely already underway. We don’t need to start from scratch, be the first, or fight to “own” an idea. We don’t care about recognition, so long as we’re improving the world we share. It is, however, a best practice to give credit where credit is due, especially to independent and small creators. The key is to build upon and improve their ideas to make them more effective or offer different solutions when necessary.

Social entrepreneurs and creatives have a lot in common, which is why designers are often working in social impact organizations. Creatives tend to favor progress over perfection and a willingness to experiment with solutions. If you enjoy ideating possible solutions for human problems and you work well with multidisciplinary, diverse, and innovative teams, social entrepreneurship may be for you.

Talk the Talk

Leading with purpose requires repeated intention setting and clear articulation. Without clearly stating what you’re doing and why, making it past the startup stage is unlikely. If you aren’t committing to your business, why would anyone else? You may change what you’re doing or how you go about it, but your why, your purpose, your mission—the change you want to make in the world, that should be a constant. 

Having a strong brand and company culture is essential. Your success (or failure) hinges on your ability to galvanize people around your mission. A poorly articulated vision and uninspiring mission are not the way to a sustainable and thriving business. You’ll be lost, and so will your team. But what will inspire you and inspire others? 

Whether you’re the founder of a social product startup, an impact agency, or a community organizer, it’s smart to prioritize conscious communications and sustainable operations first, not as an afterthought. When you start to use the lingo and visuals from social impact, you signal to others that you’re “in the know” and ensure you’re connecting with your clients, consumers, or colleagues in an impactful way. Like any industry, social entrepreneurship has  its own terms and acronyms (that corporate America is increasingly co-opting.) 

Here’s a little vocabulary lesson that can come in handy when starting a socially-conscious business: 

People and Planet

“People and Planet” has become shorthand for any entity which prioritizes humans and the earth over profit margins and stock prices. 

SDGs

Social entrepreneurs often start planning their impact by choosing which of the 17 SDGs they want to be the focus of their business (Sustainable Development Goals, created in collaboration with foundations and countries, adopted by the United Nations.) Those goals can help you monitor progress and align business efforts, projects, or campaigns with key issues. 

The SDGs are not the only guides for social enterprise. Incomplete and lacking detail, they are more of a starting place and point of entry. One reason is that each country has different problems within each issue and tracks different metrics. 

Impact

Social entrepreneurs measure social and environmental “good” first, revenue second. What we measure–doing the good stuff–must be tracked to ensure we’re making the changes we seek. This is another term co-opted by corporate America that frames “impact” as the idea of doing some good, rather than making any marked, measurable change. Impact is not defined by a great logo that is highly recognizable. McDonald’s has a big presence, but social impact? Not so much. How well a designer can brand the work matters, but not nearly as much as the change that results from the work. 

Finding Your Why

Consider the bigger context of your brand: what does your brand stand for? You’re the one shaping your company’s culture, even before you’ve formed your LLC. It informs every step you take. Focus not on the barriers to creating social change, but on the many possibilities to make waves and for your work to have meaning. 

Ready to see where social impact fits in your business? Here are some questions you can ask yourself to start guiding your company culture and build a business for good:

• Are you giving back to your community by funding mission-aligned causes or recruiting people who may have a harder time getting hired (formerly-incarcerated; those without degrees)? 
• How are you creating positive social or environmental progress within your organization? How are you measuring that?
• What drives you and what problems do you experience that you want to solve? What void are you hoping to fill? 
• Do you offer a service to fix something for people who face hurdles in a society like those without generational wealth or people with disabilities?
• If you succeed, will people have a cool new gadget or increased access?
• Is your business changing lives in specific populations or neighborhoods? 
• Are you giving back to your community, staying flexible and nimble to hire and accommodate those who face barriers to entering or re-entering the workforce (like moms!)? 

When you align your work with “People and Planet” it becomes bigger than your product or service. Prioritizing humanity and mother earth first, we become founders of a new, more equitable economy.

 

 

 

Emily O. Weltman, M. Ed., is a writer, social entrepreneur, and founder of Collective Flow Consulting, a future B Corp consultant-owned coop of workplace designers who are “Leading with Purpose.” Before entrepreneurship, she spent 20+ years in corporate cultures, academia, and design, partnering with C-Suite leadership to foster flexible and inclusive cultures with diverse, collaborative, cross-disciplinary teams. She is co-founder of Rage 2 Rainbows and recently formed the FLOWLab under Open Collective Foundation to provide low/pro bono services to underestimated founders.

The post We’ve Got (Social) Issues: <br/>How To Become a Social Entrepreneur appeared first on The Founding Moms.