EU Support to Incubators for inclusive and social entrepreneurship

EU launched a call for proposals to support incubators for inclusive and social entrepreneurship on February 26, 2020.

Applications are accepted until April 30, 2020.

More information and text of the call.

The total budget earmarked for the EU co-financing of projects under this call is estimated at 1 300 000 EUR. The EU grant requested should indicatively be between EUR 1 000 000 and EUR 1 300 000. The Commission expects to fund 1 proposal.

There is a different phenomenon occurring: Instead of technology innovation being the driver for startups, it is more frequently business model innovation.

There is a different phenomenon occurring: Instead of technology innovation being the driver for startups, it is more frequently business model innovation.

In the past most startups occurred because a new technology had come along that would provide solution to a problem that could not be solved previously. (As an example, an unmet need was the pain of creating and editing documents. The solution was word processing, and the technological trigger that made this possible was the availability of low cost personal computers.)

The business model innovations fall into two categories:

Brand new business models being created because of the Web which don’t resemble any previous businesses. Examples of these would be companies like Google, PayPal, Gilt, OpenTable, SurveyMonkey, Second Life, eLance, 99Designs, etc. These businesses leverage the incredible power of the web to acquire customers at a low cost, with interesting new ways of monetization.

Areas where there were already existing businesses, where new business models are disrupting the landscape. Examples of this are eCommerce (Amazon disrupting bricks and mortar retailers), Open Source (e.g. JBoss disrupting an existing market dominated by BEA WebLogic and IBM WebSphere), and SaaS (e.g. Salesforce.com disrupting a market dominated by Siebel and others).

The purpose of this section is to look at the variety of new business models that are being developed, as this appears to be the area of innovation that is leading to some of the most exciting startups.

In many situations a business model breakthrough will have been created by one company and applied to a single area, and there will still exist considerable opportunity for that same business model innovation to be applied to other areas. As an example, Salesforce.com pioneered the SaaS business model, but only applied it to CRM. There are now many other application areas where the SaaS business model could be applied to create new businesses.

Business Model Failure

It is also useful for entrepreneurs to understand what business models are not working well, or are less attractive, so they can avoid those.
After my exposure to literally several hundreds of startups, I have begun to realize that one of the most common causes of failure in the startup world is that entrepreneurs are too optimistic about how easy it will be to acquire customers. They assume that because they will build an interesting web site, product, or service, that customers will beat a path to their door. That may happen with the first few customers, but after that, it rapidly becomes an expensive task to attract and win customers, and in many cases the cost of acquiring the customer (CAC) is actually higher than the lifetime value of that customer (LTV).
The observation that you have to be able to acquire your customers for less money than they will generate in value of the lifetime of your relationship with them is stunningly obvious. Yet despite that, I see the vast majority of entrepreneurs failing to pay adequate attention to figuring out a realistic cost of customer acquisition. A very large number of the business plans that I see as a venture capitalist have no thought given to this critical number, and as I work through the topic with the entrepreneur, they often begin to realize that their business model may not work because CAC will be greater than LTV.
Also if you would like to have a capital efficient business, I believe you will find that it is important to recover the cost of acquiring your customers in under 12 months. Wireless carriers and banks break this rule, but they have the luxury of access to cheap capital.

The Essence of a Business Model

A simple way to focus on what matters in the vast majority of business models is look at these two questions:

Can you find a scalable way to acquire customers?
Can you then monetize those customers at a significantly higher level than your cost of acquisition?

There are some businesses such as marketplaces where there are additional components to take into consideration. However thinking about things in such simple terms can be very helpful.

image_thumb1

It is also very useful to look at some of the factors that can help drive the balance of the model:

image_thumb6

By David Skok

Do you already use social media to spread your good?

Do you already use social media to spread your good?

Hey social entrepreneur! Are you already using the power of social media to maximise the do-good-work you’re doing? If not, take up these tips and power up your impact!

  1. Network with the like-minded organizations

This is what our site is all about! Find organizations from our database, join their online channels and discussion groups, like their pages, invite them to like yours back, and start discussions. The more collaboration the merrier.

  1. Connect with donors.

Social media is perfect for contacting people without knocking anyone’s door directly or via their crowded e-mails? Perhaps you can find some ideas where to find them, through the support organizations as well?

  1. Share your impact facts and figures

Bring credibility to all your communications, also in social media. Graphs, infographs, charts and creative images are perfect for gaining attention. Pictures might say more than words.

  1. Share stories

Great stories tap into our feelings. Also a great way to get attention to your work! Be brave – people love it! But remember to be ethical, always, and more so if the stories are about vulnerable people.

  1. Promote your events

Social media is THE place for this. Even if not everyone fits into the event itself, they know something is happening and you’re on your good work!

  1. Let your “call to action” show!

What is it that you want people to do, to maximise your impact? Be clear about it – and attach this message to everything you share in social media. Let the crowds know.

  1. Show your gratitude to your communities

People love when they are thanked. It makes the feel good. Do this often – in public.

  1. Give voice to your customers

After all, it’s all about them, isn’t it? Social media is perfect for person-to-person messages – use it for your own good as it enhances your ability to spread the good.

 

  1. Gather feedback

Social media is also THE place to gather data. If you don’t know how to do this yourself, buy help. Data is wisdom, also in social impact business.

 

Happy social media impact journey!

 

Sourced and inspired by: 9 ways to use social media for good by Rochella Ceira

 

Photo by Adam Jang on Unsplash

It matters how your business model and mission statement is articulated
|

It matters how your business model and mission statement is articulated

Scholars from Lappeenranta University have been researching social enterprise business models for years. Some time ago they focused their research on health care sector. The study looked at six health care companies with social enterprise characteristics. They were analyzed about their business model and financial success over the past three years. The sample included social enterprise mark holders as well non-branded companies. They have suggestions for the clarity of the business model / mission statements, as well as the level of transparency.

The researchers state that social enterprises are playing an increasingly important role in the healthcare sector role. The business model of social enterprises has contributed as a counterweight to the establishment of multinational corporations in Finland. Because social enterprises have so-called business models hybrid organizations, combining profit-making and social value creation, they play a natural role in the midst of public health services and purely commercial services.

 

How do you know when a business model differs from a traditional one, if it’s not stated clearly?

According to the researchers, for social enterprises the decision about the business model on how to reach their of social mission is central. In the healthcare sector, this mission statement and bringing it up can be challenging, as it integrates with the business as a whole. They note that businesses with the social enterprise have their social mission often articulated in a simplified form: ‘The purpose is to provide a high quality healthcare service’. This kind of mission statement can be confusing as it fails to address what’s  in fact different in this business model as compared to the public sector or purely commercial operators.

With regard to the researched enterprises: all companies had challenges in expressing their social mission. The review did not fully explain how the business model was in fact differentiated and what articulation was more of a customer promise and clearly related to the mission.

 

Are the social enterprise business models successful and transparent?  

Any business needs a successful business model to thrive. This research suggests that this is not so easy to find, as it shows that economically there were challenges to success, especially for the companies that were owned by association or foundation.

One of the most important criteria for social enterprises is transparency. If the social enterprise is owned by a non-profit organization, the importance of transparency is particularly emphasized in total cash flow to the owner and vice versa. Many societies or foundations owning a social enterprise allocate capital to a business unit – and at the same time receive grants or public support.

 

The researches suggest that social enterprises in the health care sector should have their social missions more clearly expressed, and cash flow transparency should be given more consideration.

 

The original article can be found (in Finnish) here. It’s based on research publication:

Syrjä, P., Sjögrén, H. & Puumalainen, K. (2015) Business models for healthcare social enterprises, presented in ACERE-Conference 2015.

 

Photo: Bud Helisson, Unsplash

Why values are important
| |

Why values are important

Why are values important because they define you (and your social enterprise). They define the decisions you make. They are a means to communicate how and why you do the things you do.

 

Your compass

When you take a journey, even a day trip, what do you usually equip yourself with? A map or in most cases today Google Maps on your phone. In addition, in the adventure stories of pre-technology, the adventurer was equipped with a compass. Our compass is our values. They are the basis upon we make decisions. They point us to the proverbial “true north”. Without a clearly defined set of values we will falter in our decision making process and ultimately, lead us off the track of our end destination, our mission. Our purpose is the fuel that keeps us going, never giving up on our journey. Our vision, well that’s your binoculars (smile), to see beyond the horizon to know what is coming and how to fine tune our steps on our path. And finally the map. As with any map, we have various choices of routes to take to get to the end destination, whether it be the scenic route or the bullet route where bathrooms stops aren’t an option. The ultimate route is the silver lining path, it’s the balance point, and it’s the path of least resistance.

 

Every day we are faced with decisions. As social entrepreneurs we will likely come across challenges that ‘test our metal’, decisions that other’s lives depend on and discussions that re-iterate your leadership abilities. Values are our friends, they are essential to understand and clearly define for ourselves. They set the culture of a company, as culture is defined as “how we do things around here”. For any partner, employee and customer, by clearly stating your values you’re demonstrating the core of the ‘how’ you operate your business. Statistics show that the highest ranking page on any business site is the ‘about us’ page. People want to know who you are, what your purpose is and how you do your business. So including a section or page on your values is truly, invaluable.

 

 

Common ground for change

 

Our world is changing and we’re seeing increasing collaboration in the fourth sector (social enterprise, social business, BCorps) with the public, private and voluntary sectors in finding collaborative solutions. But the question that remains in non-capitalist sentiments is how can a social changemaker bridge these differing views of ‘how we do things’ and actually come to an agreed upon set of principles that all collaborators base their decisions on. I see the answer to that is: values. We can agree to a common set of values in our collaborative efforts no matter from which sector the individual or organization stems from. With defined values we have a clear set of guidelines to enable effective decision making.

 

In Muhammad Yunas’ book “Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity’s Most Pressing Needs” he sees crises as an opportunity to exercise change:

“Furthermore, the current crisis— or, more accurately, the intertwined economic, environmental, agricultural, energy, health, and social crises— provides an opportunity for bold experimentation with new solutions. Social business has a better chance of changing the world than some past ideas because the concept is so powerful yet so flexible and accommodating.”

 

Values challenge us; sometimes it may not be easy. But at the end of the day, if we remain true to our values we achieve “success beyond success”

 

Related article

The Mathematics of Core Values

How to Build a Values-Driven Business

 

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

How to Stop Procrastination: A social entrepreneur’s toolkit
| | |

How to Stop Procrastination: A social entrepreneur’s toolkit

How to stop procrastination? Through action. Procrastination is the child of endless excuses of why something cannot be done. I’m sure, if prompted one could come up with a whole list of reasons “why not something won’t succeed“ or “why it’s not worth doing”. The remedy: it’s the active doing that will ‘break the spell’ of procrastination.

 

What causes procrastination?

There could be a number of reasons why someone would be numbed from pursuing their purpose. At the top of my head:

Fear: fear of failure, fear of success,

Perfectionism

Self-Doubt

Not feeling worthy

Underestimating ourselves

 

Action. What comes to mind is the sounding of the word “action” on a film set. All preparation is complete and it’s time for all the players (actors, director, camera personnel and all the myriad of roles of personnel on a film set) to come together and record everything that has been up to that point. And this analogy serves another point: that particular scene could be “take 1” and it’s a wrap. Most likely, it will take many more until all contributors are happy with the scene. So too, it will take practise and a few attempts before you feel your end product (your product or service delivers customer value that directly addresses their pain point) is where you intend it to be. Fear of failure, self-doubt and fear in general was discussed in the last post in this series, so let´s look at a few other procrastination partners.

 

Perfectionism

Perfectionism is an interesting ´ism in itself, as it implies there is a perfect representation for everything and everyone. What this little habit or belief instils is that nothing is ever good enough unless it´s perfect. Perfect is a relative term: it changes and depends on each person and their perspective. Perfect is never static, it is for ever changing, as we grow and change ourselves. So when we get fixated with something is only worth doing when it is perfect, is the continues proverbial „carrot on the stick“ that will forever be illusive and never attainable. That spells: P-R-O-C-R-A-S-T-I-N-A-T-I-O-N. The companion to perfectionism is also the feeling of: nothing is ever good enough, because ultimately nothing is ever perfect. Or perfect could be that one time experience that we framed as perfect in our minds, but never to be repeated again. And so the perfectionist´s journey is a continuous search for that perfect ´thing’ or ´someone’ or ´experience´: searching, but never finding. Given perfectionism can produce action for the search, but it will ultimately lead in depression when the perfect ´ism is almost never in reach.

 

Not feeling worthy

Not feeling worthy could be likened to lack of self-worth. If we carry a feeling, even subconscious that we are not worthy of the thing(s) we desire most, then we will not be able to give ourselves that experience or even see it when it presents itself. Self-worth is believing you are worthy of something. And you certainly are. Many people carry, in varying degrees, feelings of not being worthy of for example a loving partner, financial abundance or independent income or believing in themselves and what they have to offer. Putting the psychology sofa chat aside, it is worth getting a hold of this pattern that just like the self-doubt CD, if we aim to succeed as change makers and hero´s in our personal and social entrepreneurial journey.

 

Underestimating yourself

Underestimating or overestimating yourself both carry with them either a sense of „not good enough“ or a tendency for ego games (maintaining a self-image that is necessary to survive). As with the coin, either side is not the true answer. The answer is the middle road, the silver lining, the point of balance and humility. A tendency to underestimate ourselves is often due to a sense of failure through experienced challenges or listening to others that may deflate our sense of self. Here‘s the thing: challenges and how we approach them, even if we felt we didn´t come out a winner, can still hold the silver lining within it by the „how“ we choose to look at them.

 

„Challenges create strength“, not necessarily by the challenge itself, but either by how we approach it or by viewing the results from it, as an experience to learn and grow from. For example: a challenge may be a loss of something: job, partner or house. The experience may be challenging at first, and bring about all the usual thoughts of loss, sadness, depression and grief. To succeed beyond success, or walk on the silver lining path, we can look at these situations as opportunities. Opportunities to learn about ourselves and where we may be out of balance in our lives and ultimately this self-observation will lead to choices that are more in line with our purpose and values.

 

Action: Breaking the spell of procrastination

If we buy into our fears and all the procrastination partners we´ve discussed here, what we will find is a loop. We will continually move from stage 1 (this is my current reality and I am uncomfortable with it) to stage 2 (something must change) and then stage 3 (the change instils fear) and then back to stage 1. The cycle is broken through action. Actively pursuing our purpose and the greater driver to overcome fear and its partners, to break the chains that keep us locked in the current status quo. Until we actively become self-aware of our ´isms and actively work with them in conjunction with the thrust of the purpose we aim to experience, we will remain in the loop. A prisoner of our own experience: „what you resist persists“.

 

In the journey of the hero, this internal cycle will continue unless the hero becomes proficient at the internal game. Facing the internal and external challenges will ultimately create the path where the experiences he encounters can be either side of the coin, or the silver lining that is the balance point: the path of least resistance. What this truly teaches us through the experience is trust. Trust in our own heroic self. Trust that when we choose to look at the challenge, a solution will reveal itself when we face all the fear and procrastination partners. Trust becomes the greatest tool for the hero and social entrepreneur in fulfilling their purpose.

 

Tips to stop procrastination

  • If you´re feeling stuck, find out the cause (active self-awareness). Is there a self-image your attempting to protect, if you did ´x´ then you would be perceived as ´y´. What other people think of you is not your business, what you think of yourself is your business. Let go of ego games and grab a slice of humble pie.
  • Are you willing to change: where you are now and where you want to be? Loosen up on your ideas about yourself and your life.
  • If you feel your purpose or your objective is too big, which is causing the procrastination, look at the small steps that can get you there. Every step counts, even if it seems small in comparison to what you would like to achieve, it all adds up. Start now, and take action, one step at a time.

 

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

Webinar about the Polish support programme “From exclusion to activation”
|

Webinar about the Polish support programme “From exclusion to activation”

During the webinar, the guidelines and recommendations of the amended program of assistance for socially and professionally excluded persons addressed to social employment entities and NGOs were discussed, as well as the rules of the “From exclusion to activation” competition announced by the Department of Social and Solidarity Economy at the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy, along with how to properly complete the offer in the competition.

 

Full information about the programme: https://www.ekonomiaspoleczna.gov.pl/download/files/Zatrudnienie_socjalne/Program_Od_wykluczenia_do_aktywizacji.pdf

See the webinar (in Polish) here:

 

https://youtu.be/k1TFH060ydo

New kid on the block – Monday.com from Israel changes team work

New kid on the block – Monday.com from Israel changes team work

Today we are going to review Monday.com, a work collaboration tool and project management software for all kinds of teams. I have used Monday.com earlier to manage projects, and have seen teams grow comfortable as they use the platform to collaborate.

Formerly known as DaPulse, Monday.com rebranded itself in 2017 to give the platform a new look and experience.

I guess it serves right that we do a review of Monday.Com. Especially for any company that just rebranded its major product, a re-review is always due.

Once upon a time, an entrepreneur witnessed a major problem: as companies scaled rapidly, they struggled to keep employees engaged, productive, and happy. The existing tools were not getting the job done. An effective, transparent platform for managing everything was desperately needed.

The idea? Create a team management platform to connect people to workplace processes and existing tools, for companies of all sizes, across any industry. But don’t just make something that works –make a platform that people love to use. Today, monday.com is the go-to Work OS for more than 100,000 teams around the world who are now more engaged, more collaborative, and more on top of their work than ever before.

monday.com was founded on the belief that transparency and collaboration create a culture of ownership and empowerment; more empowered teams are more productive. And we’re only scratching the surface of what we can accomplish together.

https://monday.com/

 

mondaycom2

The Rise of Hybrids

The Rise of Hybrids

The Rise of Hybrids: A Note for Social Entrepreneurship Educators is a new paper written by ranchers and educators from Belgium and USA emphasizing the lack of focus on hybrid organizing when teaching and training social entrepreneurs.

Social entrepreneurship mix social logic with economic logic, so the hybridity is one of social entrepreneurships inherent characteristics.

Hybrid organisations can be defined as “enterprises that design their business models based on the alleviation of a particular social or environmental issue. They generate income and attract capital in ways that may be consistent with for-profit models, nonprofit models, or both” (Haigh et al., 2015b, p. 5). Also Hybrids is an organisational form combined of business and social purpose that social entrepreneurial ventures employ. In the last decades “hybrid enterprises have emerged as an alternative means for social purpose organisations to achieve their mission”.

Despite that social entrepreneurship education has grown rapidly in the last decades as a topic in the global education sector, there es a lack in literature regarding the instruction and development of social entrepreneurs and others interested in hybrid organizing. Never the les it is important for educators to train and develop social entrepreneurs by exposing them to the challenges, benefits and impacts of hybridity and to hybrids paradoxical nature of tensions.
The four authors of the paper, Paulami Mitra, Jill Kickul, Lisa Gundry and Jacqueline Orr, therefore suggest the main topics related to hybrid organising structure that should be included into the social entrepreneurship education curriculum offered by educators training and developing social entrepreneurs.

Hybrid organising in social entrepreneurship education and curriculum should be designed around seven key themes if students are interested in adopting the hybrid organising form in their social enterprises.
These themes should outline:
1) a theoretical understanding of hybrids in the context of social entrepreneurship
2) an understanding of why hybrids are needed
3) some examples of hybrid forms in social entrepreneurship
4) challenges of hybrid organizing
5) advantages of hybrid organizing
6) how to effectively manage tensions in hybrids and
7) the hybrid roadmap.

The paper also include examples of social enterprise hybrid organization models.

Read the full paper here