Address the common obstacles faced by social enterprises and actionable solutions.
Social enterprises are making waves by tackling big social challenges, but who’s steering the ship? Often—but not always—those in leadership come from privileged backgrounds, which can influence how problems are approached and solutions designed. This post unpacks how privilege plays a role in social entrepreneurship and why genuine representation in leadership matters.
Now in its eighth year, the Westfield Local Heroes program is offering up to $1,250,000 in community grants to support individuals and organisations making a positive impact.
Stay true to your purpose while staying afloat. Finding the sweet spot between making money and making a difference can be a real challenge for social enterprises. Is focusing on profit is the secret to creating sustainable change? Here’s how to stick to your mission, avoid the traps of ’cause-washing,’ and make money to boost your impact.
How do you avoid burnout when you often don’t recognise it until it’s too late? Discover how to combat burnout by prioritising self-care, spotting early warning signs, delegating responsibilities, setting boundaries, and fostering personal reflection.
Grant writing often feels like navigating a labyrinth of challenges, struggling to secure that elusive grant or wondering if you’ll ever get it right. But fear not! Lucy Brotherton’s “Ten Things I Hate About Grants” guides you through these obstacles so that you can get funded.
How might we improve our personal health while turbocharging the growth of the ‘business for good’ movement? Here are some reflections from Tom Allen, Founder and CEO at Impact Boom, on ideas, barriers, ‘energy leaks’, and key opportunities for us to mainstream purpose-driven business.
Social enterprises are businesses that aim to create social and environmental impact in addition to generating profit. Despite their noble goals, these enterprises often face a myriad of challenges that can lead to failure. In this article, we explore the top 5 reasons why social enterprises fail, and what you can do to avoid these pitfalls.
If you’re a social entrepreneur, it’s easy to be focused on helping others at the expense of your personal emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing. The catch is that a proactive approach to building your mental health toolkit can seem overwhelming when you are already overwhelmed. In this post, Jenni Harding shares three keys steps and resources to help you avoid burnout (and even thrive) as a social entrepreneur.
How to avoid the incredibly common and consistent reasons why many social enterprises fail to build that community, gain momentum or reach sustainability.
If there’s something that’s consistent across all social enterprises, it’s faith – even when that faith isn’t always warranted. In 2020, Irish researcher Kate Kenny and her UK-based colleagues looked into exactly that. They asked how, amidst tensions and anxieties, social entrepreneurs were able to retain their faith in the field. Is it because of fantasy? Let’s explore some of their key takeaways.
As the CEO and founder of StartSomeGood, a crowdfunding platform and education provider for social entrepreneurs, Tom Dawkins sees people attempt to launch their enterprise every day, full of optimism, hope and good intentions. But these things alone are not enough. In this post, Tom shares the top 5 common and consistent reasons social enterprises fail – so you can avoid them.
You want to do it all. You’ve got the passion and the heart to make our world a better place. That’s no small feat, and it’s important to remember that you don’t have all the answers, nor do you need to do everything on your own. We know that sometimes, the most difficult thing to do is accept your shortcomings and ask for help. To give you a leg up, we’ve come up with a few ways you can learn to embrace your social enterprise’s vulnerability.
You’ve founded a social enterprise and are shepherding its growth. But do you know when it’s time to throw in
In the world of impact, there are unfortunately many things outside of our control. While it will do no good to worry about everything (cough, cough, burnout can be a cause of failure, too), it is helpful to understand ways you can support yourself and your team, and ultimately decrease your social enterprise’s chances of failure.
Even with all of the recent buzz surrounding social enterprises, many people are still left in the dark about what exactly a social enterprise is and what they do. Perhaps even worse, there are several common misconceptions about social enterprises that are leaving people confused about how social enterprises are effective mission-driven businesses. While there’s still some debate around what exactly a social enterprise is, we know for sure what they are not. That being said, here are 5 common misconceptions about social enterprises.
We can breathe a collective sigh of relief—2021 is here! 2020 was challenging for a plethora of reasons and while we’re still dealing with the aftermath of some of them, we’ve been dealt a new hand. Now is the time to put some steps and plans in action for your social enterprise.
How can the founders of social enterprises sustain their purpose throughout organisational growth? It’s a question that encompasses so many factors that it’s hard to pin down any answers. In this post, Alessandra Wulf explores some of the strategies, approaches and solutions for maintaining a sense of purpose on the job. These 6 strategies are helpful to consider when you are under stress or are struggling to identify and maintain focus on your sense of purpose.
Although we’re living in unprecedented times and every path is unique, we found that some lessons come in handy over and over again. News and stress about the coronavirus from around the world are creating significant uncertainty among leaders, employees and customers. Beyond common sense measures, we wanted to provide a list of practical tips, tactics and strategies to help you make quick and needed decisions to help you navigate through these stormy times.
Pandemics like the H1N1 influenza of 2009 have not only set the stage for novel approaches to public health concerns, but have joined the global financial crisis in welcoming new entrepreneurial activities that address both economic and societal concerns. The outbreak of COVID-19 is affecting our lives as social enterprise founders, managers, funders, and volunteers—and it will continue to do so in several ways.
Where social entrepreneurs and social impact workers have been aware of systemic inequalities that have existed for decades, the emergence of coronavirus has made these clearer for the rest of the world. COVID-19 has presented the world with a new look at how individuals or certain groups are exposed to health crises, food shortages, job insecurity, and more. It is becoming increasingly clear outside the social enterprise sector that social impact entrepreneurs and companies are needed in this space.
Life has changed for many of us over the past several weeks. We’ve had to acclimate to Zoom meetings, spending the day in our pyjamas, and workspaces surrounded by kids, clutter, and distractions. What could this mean for our social impact?
If crowdfunding is so great, why do the vast majority of crowdfunding campaigns fail? Here’s the top five mistakes and misunderstandings to avoid at all costs.
