1. Turning Your Social Enterprise
Strategy into Action
An enp Strengthening Your Skills workshop
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2. Workshop Objectives
At the end of this workshop, you will be able to:
2 Translate your social enterprise strategy into a
concrete action plan.
3 Identify the changes to your governance
required to enable and drive action.
4 Adjust and refine your social enterprise model
using Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles.
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3. Today we are focused on how to turn
your social enterprise strategy and plan
into action
Social Enterprise Development Path
Opportunity Business
Start-Up Strengthening
Identification Plan
Organizational Feasibility Launch
Evaluation
Readiness Study Preparation
Source: The Canadian Social Enterprise Guide (2nd edition)
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4. Social enterprise may be a part of an
overall organization’s strategy or the
entire organization
Social Enterprise as part Social Enterprise is
of the organization the organization
Non-profit
organization Social
(parent) Enterprise
Programs/ Social Programs/
services Enterprise services
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5. What is a social enterprise strategy and
how do we turn it into action?
A Definition of Strategy
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE
•a long term plan of action designed
to achieve a particular goal
•differentiated from tactics or
Non-profit Overall immediate actions with resources at
organization Strategic
Plan hand
(parent) Source: http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org
Social Social 90-Day
Programs/ Social Enterprise Enterprise
Action
Strategic Business
services Enterprise Plan Plan Plan
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6. We will look at approaches to Governance
and Blended Value Design to drive action
for results from your social enterprise
Social
Enterprise
Learning
Toolkit
Source: www.enterprisingnonprofits.ca/learning-toolkits
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7. Social enterprise merges mission and
money
Why are we How will we
doing this? do this?
Reference: “Merging Mission and Money:
A Board Member’s Guide to Social
Entrepreneurship”, by Jerr Boschee
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8. It starts with clarity of purpose and focus:
“Why are we doing this?”
If you chase two
1. Articulate your
rabbits, both will
Mission and Vision
escape.
- anonymous
2. Identify your Goals
Do first things
3. Identify how you will first, and second
measure success things not at all.
- Peter Drucker
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9. Governance is a key part of achieving
clarity of purpose and focus for your
social enterprise
Key questions to define Governance
for your Social Enterprise
2Who are all of your stakeholders?
3What are the key decisions that need
to be made?
4What role should each stakeholder
have in these decisions?
5What is the process and timing for
making these decisions?
Governance defines who and how decisions are made
for your social enterprise.
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10. Defining Governance – the family pet
Activity 1a Key Stakeholders
Key Decisions Timing Info Required Parents Kids
By March 31 Lead/ Informed
What overall criteria must Family budget
Decide and confirm
be met – budget, One-time Basic pet care agreement
responsibility for care? responsibilities by
pet type
What kind of pet? By summer Different options Approve Lead,
recommend
One-time with information
based on criteria
Schedule and roles, Within first month Activities, time Lead Input
responsibilities for pet care Reviewed required and
monthly frequency
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11. Defining Governance for your social
enterprise
Activity 1b Key Stakeholders
Key Decisions Timing Info Required Board ED Staff
Mission and overall goals By March 31 Strategic Plan Lead Input Input
and
for the social enterprise Every 2-3 years Business Plan vote
Target outcomes and By March 31 Financials from last Approv Lead Input
e
budget for the next 12 (year-end) 2 years
months Annually
Extending hours of the Within next 2 Proposal for new Input Lead Input
social enterprise months hours and
(one-off decision) justification
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12. Social enterprise merges mission and
money
Why are we How will we
doing this? do this?
Reference: “Merging Mission and Money:
A Board Member’s Guide to Social
Entrepreneurship”, by Jeff Boschee
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13. You then need to define a plan of action:
“How will we do this?”
1. Develop (or update)
your Business Plan
Great things are
done by a series of
2. Specify your target small things
outcomes for the next brought together.
12 months
- Vincent van Gogh
3. Identify the actions you
need to take to achieve
these outcomes (Plan)
4. Take action, learn, adjust
(Do, Study, Act)
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14. Your Blended Value Design defines how
your social enterprise will achieve both your
social impact and financial goals
Developing your Blended Value Design
2Identify your social impact goals and
targets.
3Identify your financial goals and targets.
4Conduct an initial financial analysis.
5Adjust your social impact and financial
goals and targets accordingly.
Blended Value Design is an ongoing pursuit – you must
constantly learn and adjust.
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15. Document your social enterprise goals,
knowing that establishing goals and targets
is not a one-time process
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE
Goal 2011 Actual
Goal 2012 Target
Category (Estimate)
• 5,000 care
To provide marginalized individuals in our packages
Social Impact community with affordable, nutritious and delivered Maintain
convenient meals • 25,000 meals
produced
To provide low income, unemployed
• Currently not • To be
Social Impact individuals with the skills needed to “get a
tracked determined
foot in the door” of the food service industry.
To generate revenue from the sale of care
• $40K in gross • $60K in
Financial packages to be able to deliver our social
sales gross sales
mandate in a financially sustainable way
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16. Setting your goals and targets to drive
action depends on getting and using the
right information
Demonstrating Value (www.demonstratingvalue.org) provides you
with tools and expertise to define, gather and use information to run,
plan for and show the value of your social enterprise.
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17. Start by developing an action plan that
focuses on the next 90 days
• Identify milestones, ideally at least one per
month, using the SMART approach:
– Specific
– Measurable
– Achievable
– Relevant
– Timing
• List all of the actions that you believe need to be
taken to achieve these milestones
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18. Then be specific on how much time
is required for each action and
who will complete them
• Estimate how much time is needed to complete
the action.
• Identify who – one specific person – will be
responsible for each action:
– Identify how/when the person will set aside this
time to work on and complete the action
– Be clear on what actions you know you can
take (not what you hope might happen)
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19. Action Plan template
OUR MISSION
OUR VISION
Goals Measures 2011 Actual 2012 Target
Start Date Completion
Action Lead Others
and Effort Date
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21. Set a regular check-in meeting time
to review your progress and update
your action plan
• This is “sacred” time – it must be free from
interruption.
• Have an agenda for the meeting.
• Have a chair for the meeting – someone who will
keep the meeting focused on the agenda.
• Document key decisions and action items and
updates to the action plan.
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22. Action Plan Check-in Meeting:
Sample Agenda
Agenda Item Time Who
1. Reflection on our mission 5 min CEO
2. How we are doing (our dashboard) 10 min CEO
3. What we achieved – actions completed 10 min Manager
4. What we learned:
•What’s working and we will continue to do 10 min All
•What’s not working and we will stop doing
5. What is stopping us from going further 10 min All
6. Actions for next period 15 min All
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23. Develop your 90-Day Action Plan
Activity 2
• Identify your milestones (using a SMART approach).
• Identify action items based on:
– What actions need to be done next to achieve the milestones?
– What are my biggest questions or assumptions right now?
– What are my most significant barriers, constraints or risks?
• Identify one person responsible for each action (Lead).
• How much time will it take?
• How can you ensure they have the time available to
complete the action?
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24. Ongoing cycles drive action, learning and
making adjustments to move closer to
your social enterprise goals
Where we
would like to
be in 12
months
I made 5,127 prototypes of my
vacuum before I got it right.
There were 5,126 failures.
But I learned from each one -
Where we
are now
that’s how I came up with a
solution.
- James Dyson, inventor
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25. As a part of the “Act” step of a PDSA cycle,
take time to review your overall Governance
and Blended Value Design
Do you need to change your:
• Governance – who is involved in a decision
or how a decision is made?
• Blended Value Design – the social impact or
financial goals and targets?
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26. And take time to reassess your overall
social enterprise strategy on a regular basis
1. Wind down social enterprise
? 2. Maintain status quo
3. Pursue growth within existing enterprise
4. Pursue growth with external partners
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27. Take action – your next steps!
• What are the most decisions and
milestones for you in the next year?
In the next 90 days?
• What actions will you need to take?
• Who will you engage and why?
• Download and use the tools and
templates provided:
Governance Worksheet
Action Plan Template
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Notas del editor
Welcome and Introductions Let’s introduce ourselves: Your name The organization you work with/for An activity that I am passionate about (or simply enjoy) outside of work
Additional objective – to get your feedback on how this workshop addresses key questions from your perspective When you hear the title: “ Turning your Social Enterprise Strategy into Action” - Do you have any other expectations for objectives or outcomes?
At Organizational Readiness – you may be evaluating whether social enterprise will be one of or the means by which you deliver on your mission Or you may have decided on a specific social enterprise model or concept that you would like to pursue – Feasibility Study and Business Planning stages Or you have launched and laying the foundation for your social enterprise.. Or you may have been operating for several years and are looking at strengthening or growing your enterprise. Where are you at? Ask for people to raise their hands (or stand) for: Determining whether social enterprise is right for them and their organization Have concept and determining feasibility and/or planning Have launched and are operating Have been operating for several years now
Example of Social Enterprise(s) within organization Coast Mental Health is a non-profit organization with a mission to promote recovery of persons with mental illness. Their programs and services provide supported housing and employment services across the Greater Vancouver area. They also run Landscaping with Heart – a soft landscaping and maintenance social enterprise that provides people living with mental illness with professional landscaping training and employment – and Sewing with Heart – a social enterprise that supports employment of clients as sewers. Example of Social Enterprise owned by Non-profit Atira Women’s Resource Society is a non-profit organization with a mission to support all women and their children who are experiencing the impact of violence committed against them and/or their children. They provide housing, advocacy and support to women and their children. Atira Women’s Resource Society launched and is the 100 percent owner of Atira Property Management Inc – a social enterprise that deliver property management solutions for strata corporations, building owners, housing cooperatives, not-for-profit societies and developers in Greater Vancouver. Key Difference between Coast Mental Health and Atira examples – social enterprise is “in house” versus a legally distinct entity – separate governance (board). When the social enterprise is “in house”, it is even more important to articulate how governance will operate. Example of Social Enterprise as the organization Potluck Café Society is a registered charity and social enterprise with a mission to “transform lives by creating jobs and providing healthy food for people living in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.” In addition to its training and employment program, Potluck also delivers a low-income resident meal program and community kitchen program. Ask participants how many are using social enterprise as part of an overall organization’s strategy versus social enterprise being the organization.
If you are a part of an overall non-profit organization, your social enterprise strategy will need to align and integrate with your overall strategic plan. Ask participants, how many have: - an overall organization strategic plan? (of those who are with a non-profit) a social enterprise strategic plan? a social enterprise business plan? a 3 to 6 month action plan? Many organizations may not have developed these documents but have May not have been articulated in these types of documents…often Strategic Plan and Business Plan are a single document Your Social Enterprise Strategy articulates: Your Mission and Vision Overall Strategies, Goals and Objectives This is followed by the “how”: How your social enterprise is a means for achieving your goals and objectives Governance Resources High Level Timelines Evaluation Criteria
enp has developed an online learning toolkit for social enterprises – the enp Social Enterprise Learning Toolkit Ask participants how many: - have heard of the Social Enterprise Learning Toolkit? - have used the Social Enterprise Learning Toolkit? There are 2 modules that we’ll focus on in particular in relation to turning your social enterprise strategy into action: 1 Governance: Governance defines the process and roles for identifying your Social Mission, Goals, Social Enterprise Strategies and Measurements (how you define success and measure your impact) 3 Blended Value Design Your social enterprise model – your structure and approach for achieving both your social AND financial goals
Mission is your overall reason for being – the impact you are looking to have, the outcome you are looking to achieve The difference between Goals and Objectives: Goals (or Aims) are the “What” Objectives are the “How” – action with a measurable outcome Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound Example: Goal: To create 20 jobs for street-involved youth in our community within the next 12 months.
Governance is an important part of addressing the challenge of getting agreement on the purpose and specific goals for your social enterprise. It starts with defining who should be involved in the decision-making process for the overall purpose and goals Ask participants who some potential stakeholders could be (e.g. board, staff, funders, customers, clients, trainees) Keep in mind how this will differ for social enterprises that are within or owned by a non-profit
Refer to Organizational Readiness chapter in Canadian Social Enterprise Guide Will have handout on landscape (Excel template) Ask for examples of key decisions to be made… Have participants work in groups of 2-3 (depending on numbers). Select one decision to be made and complete the following: timing/frequency Key information required Key stakeholders Role for each stakeholder (Lead, Provide input, vote, approve) Who will lead the decision process? Internal versus external person How decision will be made – consensus, qualified consensus, majority rule, directive Next steps – what would they be? This can be developed iteratively!
Assuming that you have confirmed the feasibility of your social enterprise concept to the point that you have decided you will launch or have launched, you will have a Business Plan that articulates: Your Blended Value Design or social enterprise model (how you will achieve your social and financial goals) Your projected financial targets and needs Once you’ve established your Governance , you will need to assess: Resources that you will need versus what you have available High Level Timelines Evaluation Criteria
3 Blended Value Design Starts with identifying your Social AND financial goals, following the process as identified by your Governance.
Key challenges: What if no data for actuals is available? What level of confidence do people have in the enterprise without hard data? Jim Collins quote – not everything that is important can be measured… what to do here? Keep in mind qualitative ways of gathering data… qualitative, individual stories Avoidance by not documenting… everyone can have a different goal in their head
It is important to understand how you: Measure success – both mission and money. Need a baseline and for setting targets. How this information will be used to drive decisions (Day-to-day management and Governance) Show your value to stakeholders. Identify where you are performing less than expected to inform risk management and to adjust operations and/or expectations 4 steps to DV: Map information needs – what do you want to know and show Define information collection Design an enterprise snapshot Develop snapshot and implement collection improvements
A cycle may be a month to 2-3 months, depending on the rhythm of your social enterprise and the time commitment of your team.
Check-in meeting frequency - would recommend minimum once per month. Try for 60 minutes every 2 weeks at a time that is least disruptive to the enterprise.
Reinforce the connection to the overall mission and goals of the social enterprise and ensure there is clarity as to how the actions being taken connect to these. Agenda Item #4 includes things we’ll stop doing (low importance) – what’s working and what we’ll continue to do
Identify “SMART” milestones within the next 90 days Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound For this activity, start with the milestone of securing 3 customers for your social enterprise. With the entire group, identify an action item for each of the 3 questions: What actions do I need to do to achieve the milestone? e.g. identify potential customers, qualify customers, get customer contact info, contact customers What are the biggest questions or assumptions that I have right now? e.g. potential customers will respond best by phone… how can I find out whether this is the case or not? What are my most significant barriers, constraints or risks? e.g. don’t have anyone to research customers… Action Item – identify who or find someone Have people identify 2-3 actions to achieve the milestone and who would do it… Review the action plan asking – What is the person identified doesn’t have the time – what are the options? Set aside time for them Defer the action Bring someone else in to do the action
Learning is based on evidence Call clients… Did they respond positively Need to measure intermediate outcomes from actions Taking measured risks… knowing some things will work, some things will fail The creative process of inventor James Dyson is a startling example. Although Dyson is now one of the wealthiest men in Britain, it took him 15 long years and thousands upon thousands of failed experiments to arrive at his first success. In a Fast Company interview , Dyson explains, “I made 5,127 prototypes of my vacuum before I got it right. There were 5,126 failures. But I learned from each one. That's how I came up with a solution. So I don't mind failure. I've always thought that schoolchildren should be marked by the number of failures they've had. The child who tries strange things and experiences lots of failures to get there is probably more creative.”
Re-assess risk for each cycle… and adjust the risk management plan
As you gather more information, you will need to take an honest assessment of whether to continue as is, grow, or close down Strengthening Closing is not failure… natural lifecycle