By Rolfe Larson on January 19, 2012
Following President Obama’s State of the Union speech last week, we thought this would be a good time to evaluate the state of the social enterprise sector. So here is the npEnterprise Forum’s official, revised* State of the SE Sector 2012 address. Emerging Private Sector SEs Private sector SEs are now gaining momentum and recognition. Truth [...]
By Rolfe Larson on November 10, 2011
One sign that the social enterprise field is maturing is the emergence of guides and directories. And one sign that the field has a ways to go is a lack of consistency in how to define social enterprise (if they define it at all) or what information they present about each listing. But now there [...]
By Rolfe Larson on October 26, 2011
Have you ever gone online to order something and then wondered if you could buy it from a social enterprise? We often have, which is why the npEnterprise Forum created the Social Enterprise Shopping Guide. Support the SE sector while shopping online! Here’s the web address for the Guide: http://bit.ly/qsDUzN
By Rolfe Larson on October 17, 2011
Steve Jobs once said: “I am as proud of what we don’t do as I am of what we do.” So also it should be for the social enterprise sector. There are plenty of great things that are not SEs. To gain credibility and traction in the marketplace, the SE field cannot be all things [...]
By Rolfe Larson on September 27, 2011
In August 2010, ShoreBank, the nation’s first, largest, and leading community bank, was shut down by regulators. It was a major blow to the social enterprise sector. For almost forty years, ShoreBank made more than $4 billion in mission investments and financed more than 59,000 units of affordable housing. It spearheaded the national movement of [...]
By Rolfe Larson on September 22, 2011
If you haven’t heard about it yet, check out the Social Enterprise Summit, put on by Social Enterprise Alliance. For those interested in social enterprise, there’s no better way to learn, network and get inspired by the incredible people who organize and put on these conferences. I’ve been to ten of them, and gained something [...]
By Rolfe Larson on September 12, 2011
For years, some of us have mused about some kind of national system to drive sales to social enterprises. The basic idea is that there are government agencies and socially-minded companies who might be willing to purchase large quantities of goods and services from social enterprises, provided someone would identify qualified suppliers and make it [...]
By Rolfe Larson on August 17, 2011
Have you ever wondered: where’s the nearest SE restaurant? Or is there an SE cafe in a city you’re planning to visit? We often do, which is why the npEnterprise Forum created the first-ever Social Enterprise Dining Map. This map lists more than 50 social enterprise cafes, restaurants, coffee shops, and ice cream stores in the US and [...]
By Rolfe Larson on August 10, 2011
At first blush, venture capital sounds appealing. In theory, they can provide us with that hunk of cash we need to launch our great idea, and then when we succeed they can make a decent return while we make a big difference in the world. We just need a business plan to show them how [...]
By Rolfe Larson on July 7, 2011
Everybody wants to be on the side of the angels. And while angel investors aren’t divine, many social enterprises labor under the mistaken assumption that they represent a ready source of capital. Unfortunately, very few social enterprises secure financing this way, and frankly, even if you could get such funds, in most cases they’re not [...]
Rolfe Larson provides consulting and training in areas such as strategic planning, market research, feasibility analysis, business planning, marketing and implementation strategies.
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