strategy

Social Enterprise Business Model!

 

A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value – economic, social, or other forms of value. The process of business model design is part of business strategy.

Though most part of the desire for social business starts with and gets driven by ‘passion’, fruitful journey requires an intuitive approach to find and assemble all pieces of the puzzle – continuously!

Business model is a great tool for describing core aspects of the business, including purpose, offerings, strategies, infrastructure, organizational structures, trading practices, and operational processes & policies. In reality, as more and more businesses are driven by opportunity or accidental successes, business model representation hardly exists!

Since every aspect of a commercial business is centered around ‘money’, P&L sheets + Cash Flow analysis drives business models – mostly defined on-demand! It is hard to find a cross section of employee base, including several business leaders – that can articulate the business purpose and/or business model of the organization!

For a social enterprise, clarity, common understanding and continuous communication of the purpose  are very important elements of design for sustainability. Else mortality of social enterprises will be alarmingly high!

Maintaining a visible description of the entire business of the enterprise helps in keeping this risk at large. It will also help in measuring and modifying individual elements to improve effectiveness of the organization.

Alex Osterwalder offers the most simplest and focused approach to building business models for Social Enterprises. Check it out and use appropriately…
 [slideshare id=1904118&doc=2009-05-18-bremen-bmsocialentrepreneurshippdfweb-090825094001-phpapp02]

Check this one for a detailed analysis of business model relating the critical aspects of customer development into Social Entrepreneurship: Customer Development and Social Entrepreneurship

 

Social Enterprise Business Model!

A business model describes the  rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value – economic, social, or other forms of value. The process of business model design is part of  business strategy.

Though most part of the desire for social business starts with and gets driven by ‘passion’, fruitful journey requires an intuitive approach to find and assemble all pieces of the puzzle – continuously!

Business model is a great tool for describing core aspects of the business, including purpose, offerings, strategies, infrastructure, organizational structures, trading practices, and operational processes & policies. In reality, as more and more businesses are driven by opportunity or accidental successes, business model representation hardly exists!

Since every aspect of a commercial business is centered around ‘money’, P&L sheets + Cash Flow analysis drives business models – mostly defined on-demand! It is hard to find a cross section of employee base, including several business leaders – that can articulate the business purpose and/or business model of the organization!

For a social enterprise, clarity, common understanding and continuous communication of the purpose  are very important elements of design for sustainability. Else mortality of social enterprises will be alarmingly high!

Maintaining a visible description of the entire business of the enterprise helps in keeping this risk at large. It will also help in measuring and modifying individual elements to improve effectiveness of the organization.

 Alex Osterwalder offers the most simplest and focused approach to building business models for Social Enterprises. Check it out and use appropriately…

 

Business Models Beyond Profit – Social Entrepreneurship Lecture http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=2009-05-18-bremen-bmsocialentrepreneurshippdfweb-090825094001-phpapp02&rel=0&stripped_title=business-models-beyond-profit-social-entrepreneurship-lecture-wise-etienne-eichenberger-iqbal-quadir-grameen-bank-grameen-phone&userName=Alex.Osterwalder

Update 11/2/10:

Check this one for a detailed analysis of business model relating the critical aspects of customer development into Social Entrepreneurship:  Customer Development and Social Entrepreneurship

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Dropping the ball!

Mistakes are never welcome! Dropping the ball is considered crime! But often times there are situations in life where we are convinced that the current pursuit is wrong and at the same time, fail to convince the crowd on the same. In such a case, will you carry the baton in the spirit of team play, or drop it and face the consequence? This is a true test of character.

Dropping the ball is other’s interpretation of your action in the proclaimed frame of reference – even though it’s your conscious act! Positive mistakes such as this are not easy to make. Requires a lot of courage and belief on the power of purpose!

Great dreamer doers in the crowd like Gandhiji / Nelson Mandela have shown the power of positive mistakes – that have stood the test of time than any other monument! Every organization/community will have a few such heroes who dare dropping the ball in pursuit of their purpose of life!

It’s worth making positive mistakes even if it amounts to dropping the ball – occasionally? A sign of freedom! As Gandhiji put it:

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes!”

Every journey needs a start. Most of visionary journeys start with an external influence – internalized! – like our friend here:     

A crow once flew into the sky with a piece of meat in its bleak. Twenty other crows set out in hot pursuit and began to attack it viciously.

When the crow finally dropped the meat, its pursuers left it alone and flew off shrieking after the morsel.Okyo_Crows[1]

Said the crow: “I’ve lost the meat and gained this peaceful sky.”

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When is the last time you exercised freedom to make a positive mistake even though it amounted to dropping the ball?

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