An essential guide to starting your social enterprise.

BE PREPARED! Social enterprises have to make tough

decisions in resource constrained

environments. It is therefore important

you have a business plan and be

prepared before you start.

DON’T

LOSE FOCUS! You need to be passionate about

the social issue you set out to resolve.

Remember why you started your business

venture and don’t lose focus

of the end goal.

TALK TO PEOPLE! It is important to connect with like-minded people who share interest

in the purpose of your business.

Learning from others will help with your business success!

THINK ABOUT YOUR FUNDING!

Social enterprises face more challenges when it comes to financing and fundraising compared to other businesses.

Investors can be sceptical about the economic returns for social businesses, therefore you need to be

more innovative with your fundraising ideas.

The double bottom line approach makes marketing

decisions more difficult for a social enterprise. You need to be aware of specific

dilemmas and factors when thinking about your marketing strategy.

CREATE A MARKETING STRATEGY

It is important for you to partner with your community

rather than simply offering a solution to a problem. The engagement of local

stakeholders and beneficiaries determines the long-term success

and sustainability of social enterprises.

GET PEOPLE INVOLVED!

EMPLOYEE UNIQUE PEOPLE

Recruiting for social enterprises can be a challenge due to the focus being more on social

gain as opposed to making money. The lack of profit has to be compensated by

the high degrees of job satisfaction!

MEASURE YOUR IMPACTYour investors want to know the worth of their investment in terms of the social impact it creates.

The more you measure the impact of your business venture the more you can identify the key areas to focus on going forward.

Use the challenges you face as opportunities to innovate. These

challenges could determine the long term success of your business. Remember, you can be innovative in every phase of your

social enterprise journey!

KEEP INNOVATING!

Based on the article ‘A conceptual model of critical success factors for Indian social enterprises’ from the World Journal

of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development.

Click here to read the full article here