By Rolfe Larson on March 5, 2015
When most people hear about social enterprises that provide training and employment to disadvantaged individuals, they think it’s a good idea. But when they ask what data we have on whether SE’s actually “work,” whether they improve the lives of the people they serve, over the long term, there’s been precious little of it. Fortunately, […]
By Rolfe Larson on February 23, 2013
While the term “impact investing” (or social capital) has garnered substantial attention in recent years, the more traditional field of microfinance, still by far the largest share of impact investments, gets less attention yet has decades of experience doing social capital. Here are a few of lessons from the micro finance sector worth reviewing as […]
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 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 […]
By Rolfe Larson on June 3, 2011
It’s very rare for social enterprises to merge. And when they do, it’s usually because one of them is failing. But let’s consider a situation where impact and sustainability might be enhanced if two successful social enterprises were to merge. Should they?
By Rolfe Larson on May 20, 2011
Given the explosion of social media for networking, relationship-building, communication and awareness, I’ve been surprised at how few social enterprises seem to be using it specifically to attract and retain customers. The good news is that this is changing, and, well, the more I look the more ventures I come across taking advantage of these […]
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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