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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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7 Sins of Social Enterprise
As the term social enterprise gains traction in the marketplace, more and more organizations are using that term. There is a real risk that this expansion will dilute the meaning of social enterprise to the point that it means any organization that can claim social as well as financial goals, no matter how vague or [...]
Social Enterprise: A Portrait of the Field
This recent report summarizes a recent survey of 740 organizations on the current state of the SE field in the US. This work was prepared by the Social Enterprise Alliance, in partnership with Community Wealth Ventures and Duke University’s Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship. REDF funded the survey. Some interesting findings include: Top [...]
Book Review: Succeeding at Social Enterprise
Earlier this year, the Social Enterprise Alliance published Succeeding at Social Enterprise: Hard-Won Lessons for Nonprofits and Social Entrepreneurs (Jossey-Bass). Anyone interested in starting or strengthening a social enterprise would benefit from reading this informative book. The book’s sixteen chapters are organized into three sections: Startup and Structure, Methods, and Leadership. Each section contains chapters [...]
Ask Them and They Will Come
This blog was written by guest writer Andy Horsnell. While working for a nonprofit capacity building service, I had occasion to put together an “Executive Director Boot Camp” that would help EDs identify and begin addressing issues that were critical for their on-the-job effectiveness. Early in the development of this project, I almost had myself [...]
Mailbag: Comments From Our Readers
One of the nice things about writing a blog is getting comments. And now that the Free Management Library blogs are attracting more than 10,000 readers each week (wow!), we’re glad to hear what readers are thinking. Here are two particularly interesting recent comments: On whether the “social” in social enterprise is redundant, Andy Horsnell [...]
Ten "Best" Social Enterprise Web Sites
Google “social enterprise” and you’ll get 2.1 million citations. I kid you not. So, if you want to be more selective, here’s a quick guide on what we’ve found to be the most useful online sources of practical information about how to succeed with social enterprise (SE). (Full disclosure: I’m affiliated with several that I’ve [...]
Can Greed Be Part of the Social Enterprise Creed?
Financial reward can be a powerful motivator. The potential for personal profit can provide intense focus and efficiency to almost anyone. Indeed, incentives drive entrepreneurs in their relentless search for success, overcoming obstacles along the way. Money might not be their only motivator, but dollars (the kind they get to keep) are always their favorite [...]
Form Follows Function
It used to be that there were essentially three choices: private, public, or nonprofit. Privately-held companies offer the most flexibility, without outside investors or the IRS constantly looking over your shoulders. A privately-held social enterprise can choose to invest some of its profits into achieving social impact without anyone second guessing those decisions. But if [...]
Where to Look for Good Venture Ideas
It’s not hard thinking up venture ideas. Often they seem to come out of the woodwork. Get some folks together for an hour and you’ll come out with a couple dozen of them. Include some entrepreneurial people from outside your group and you’ll get some new ideas that you might have missed. But also step [...]
Is the "Social" In Social Enterprise Redundant?
Do we still need a “social” enterprise sector? Many businesses have “social impact” at least with their customers. And these customers around the world are demanding greater accountability and environmental sensitivity. Here’s what a reader to this blog wrote last week. “The underlying distinction made between social and business enterprise is thin,” noted Ashim Kumar [...]
