Where does one start?

Saul Garlick
President and CEO, Think Impact Company

Every day it seems I am asked the same question: How did you start your social enterprise? What advice can you give to others who want to get something started?

The question usually leaves me dumbfounded. I never feel like I have a good answer to the question. My social enterprise, ThinkImpact, has gone through many changes and iterations over the years and would better be described as having evolved.

However, that explanation is vague and unsatisfying to the aspiring social entrepreneur. Fact of the matter is, at some point in time, ThinkImpact did get started. How does one start?

The answer is to pick an idea (not the perfect idea) and run with it. Here is how I would describe the process.

An idea is born and you begin having conversations with friends about it. You feel good sometimes and bad sometimes because the feedback you get is so mixed. There are literally hundreds of reasons NOT to pursue the idea. At this point, many give up. Not you. You are determined. So you set out to make it a reality.

You call someone who has done it before and ask, “How did you start your social enterprise?” You think they will tell you something specific, concrete and useful. They don’t. Every story is different and the order by which we social entrepreneurs kick off our enterprises is often different and chaotic. Lawyers, accountants, insurance, staffing up, getting office space, finding a board, raising cash, building a brand, speaking at conferences, building human resources policies, writing a blog, building a website, testing your product, measuring your impact… you soon feel like there is no logic to anything. How anyone runs one of these organizations begins to feel overwhelming.

You take a deep breath. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you have some time.

Then you revert back, what’s next? And people refer you to speak with more “experienced folks.” Real estate tycoons, techies, social entrepreneurs, bankers, non-profit leaders. You are wondering what this is really all about. There don’t seem to be answers anywhere, just more questions.

Well, the determined do the following:

They pick a moment and decide to prototype their idea and put it in the market
They build a pitch deck to explain their product/service and business model
They build a simple brand format (logo, color scheme) so that they can make business cards, letterhead and website
They bootstrap in a tiny office in their apartment with some self-financing
They read about financial management and systems
They get feedback on their product/service, push hard, and do it all over again until someone believes in the idea enough to give them resources to build and expand the initiative

Eventually the pressure of the daily cash flow eases, the product/service gains a following of sorts, and the systems formalize. For those out there who want to get started, read The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki.

Then read something on financials like Financial Intelligence.

Questions:

What are some of your startup stories?

Where are you getting stuck in the process?

Any great resources for building out your social enterprise?

Join Saul Garlick, CEO of ThinkImpact, in the conversation.

Where does one start?

Ravi Singar

self-doubt

Whatever you say makes a lot of sense, however, when it really comes to actually proceeding with an idea, my own self-doubt, hesitancy, or whatever you call it stops me from actually moving forward.
- Saul Garlick
  
  self-doubt
  
  I certainly appreciate that there is self-doubt that will try to hold you back. If you know this is the feeling that is holding you back, then you should begin asking yourself why you have that sense of doubt. Did you once fail and feel embarrassed? Have you been told by others that you cannot do something ambitious, lofty or big? Some people struggle from a problem that looks very different: too many ideas and no clue where to begin, that is actually the same challenge as you have expressed here. Find out where that source of doubt comes from, then decide that is won’t hold you back!
- Michael J. Trout
  
  self-doubt
  
  Leave your Doubt and the risk behind you… Foundups Corp., is pioneering an Open Incubator "collaborative" Framework to help folks like yourself. Our platform is LI and we are getting a lot of attention. Call me sometime and lets chat or Skype:foundup
Farid Reza

Mentoring

I’ve been looking at starting something for the best part of 3 months now. What I’ve learned is that ideas are cheap (even the great ones), to quote Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ‘to think is easy, to act is difficult, to act as one thinks is most difficult’. In terms of having a step by step structured systematic approach I’ve found UnltdWorld has a nice ‘toolkit’ for this: http://unltdworld.com/hefce, covers everything from personal considerations to finance to legal entities. What I’ve struggled though is having a mentor or coach, especially in my case with my background. I’m coming from an oil/gas industry background (trying to correct the errors of my way) and jumping into the social sector is quite a leap. Sure there are some great resources out there where I’ve manage to educate myself but I have no means to gauge my level of understanding of the business and economic environment social sector, and validate some of the assumptions in my business model.Having a coach/mentor figure on an informal basis would be much appreciated
- Saul Garlick
  
  Mentoring
  
  Well, you have hit on a topic of great interest to me. How does one create truly meaningful mentoring relationships? Before you can do that (whatever that means in practice) you must identify individuals who are willing to provide you guidance and support. The best way to do this is to build relationships within a sector or space. If you are interested in poverty alleviation, hang with that crowd. Before long people will be attracted to your ideas and will want to help you develop them. Formally asking someone to mentor you is always acceptable (though not always necessary) but it will flatter whoever you hope will provide you support. I wouldn’t wait for a mentor to get started on something, though. Truth is, the more activity with your startup – along with passion for the vision and relationships – the more likely you are to land upon some mentors.
  - Michael J. Trout
    
    Mentoring — We have whole new way of looking at it…
    
    The fact is it is nearly impossible to get someone of any worth to help you, because they are hit up all the time… their plates are already full and they don’t know who the fcuk you are…
    
    Open Incubator "collaborative" Framework (O!F) answer… the "passive" Advisor. Foundup Advisors are different from stuffy, legal, "Startup Advisors." All an advisor says in a foundup is "I like your Foundup! and I have no problem being identified with it. I may give you feedback, but it will be on my terms not your!"
    
    O!F Advisors incentives… for aligning your name we will share a 1% equity warrant pool with you and the other advisors and strategic partners — "if" the Foundup launches! We also will pay Advisors a 50% commission on any referrals that they send our way and if we launch the referral Foundup into a startup the foundup Advisor gets 1% equity stake in the new startup! – “Thanks for the referral. 1% equity stake!” There is absolutely NO requirements to be a foundup Advisor and its Open to ANYONE. All you need to do is add the Foundup u like to your LI profile It’s that easy! If you become active you may become invited to become a foundup Team Member! See it works: http://linkd.in/LIfoundups
Naomi Enevoldson

Where does one start?

There is an old Chinese saying: The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I think we get so caught up in the end destination that we get too fearful to even start. Take the first step and then the next and then the next…pretty soon you will find you are closer to where you want to be. The world needs social entrepreneurs to implement change! I wrote a post on Goals being our GPS which help us reach our destination…this may help. http://www.imasocialentrepreneur.com/goals-gps/
- Saul Garlick
  
  Where does one start?
  
  Your post reminds me of something I wrote a while ago on The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…/energy-and-goal-clarity_b_346399.html
Real Ideas Organisation

Ideas and Evolution

Interesting piece and a very true reflection of the experience of many social enterprises.

The need to evolve has certainly been something we’ve experienced at Real Ideas Organisation (http://www.realideas.org) – albeit while holding on to a core idea of helping young people and communities make real change happen. Through development, growth and learning, we now have six business units that work with customers and young people in very different ways – from school consultancy to skate ramp builders, a Social Enterprise Qualification (http://www.realideas.org/seq) to a social enterprise venue and community centre, Devonport Guildhall (http://www.realideas.org/devonportguildhall).

As a social enterprise you have to be willing to experiment, take risks and diversify to find the right approach but always keep your fundamental idea in mind.
- Saul Garlick
  
  Ideas and Evolution
  
  Thanks for these thoughts. I have to say – you’re dead on. The need to try things, and find out what works through traditional consumer feedback channels is immensely powerful. The more you engage, the more likely you are to learn what you offer. By sticking to your principles about social impact, you will soon become a great social enterprise (which it sounds like you already are)!
- Michael J. Trout
  
  Ideas and Evolution — I like it!
  
  I would love to learn more and invite you to become a Foundups Corp., Strategic partner. It’s free Btw, having issues with your links.
  
  "Startups are not Flat but they need to be." What I realized is we dont need to create yet another social platform for launching ideas into startups… LI is already perfect for it. What it is missing is a foundup "command" center… kind of what hootsuite is for twitter and social media sites.
  
  Below are some links:
  
  http://bit.ly/LIopenincubator – Talk
  
  http://foundupsblog.com
  
  http://foundups.com – Deck. What’s a Foundup?
  
  http://foundups.org – Corporate profile on LI.
  
  http://bit.ly/FoundupsECO — our workforce development / economic development solution
  
  http://linkd.in/aboutFoundups — Solution we offer.
Michael J. Trout

This is a great post! – I think I have the answer…

The entire "institutional" Startup model is riddled with systemic problems. The biggest problem is our inability to define a startup… The USBA defines them way, Y Combinator another… and Startup Weekend another and so on… I have struggled 16 years with my startups… and have failed repeatedly to get them off the ground because of the systemic . Tbh, I have felt like a constipated dog begging for some millionaire’s attention to provide me with some silly funds to launch my hot chili pepper of an idea. The simple fact is ONLY institutions and those connected to them can afford build and launch startups right… a few one-in-a -million lucky ones grab the occasional lime light and inspire the rest of us to throw ourselves at our own highly risky ventures, risking everything… Tbh, I think that the current Startup framework could be called “evil” and wrong and as it favors a only small group (about 3000 according to angel.co) elite individuals.

So in 2010 after having one of my ideas validated by "Don’t be Evil" YouTube (my kind way of saying ripped off)… I decided that I would throw out everything I think I know about startups and start from scratch. Kind of like what Jimmy Wells did with the encyclopedia that 99.99% of investors laughed at… What I came up with is something completely new and I gave it the name "Foundup®" and an actual systematic process for validating ideas, building teams, and prototypes that secure customer (Open Incubator™ Framework)! A complete process that we can offer provide for just $500/year… we are now launching our alpha Foundups on LinkedIn and would encourage you to take a hard look at what I am doing Saul… because I really think it’s the future. The point is IDEAS do matter… teams are easy and 99% of Foundups that launch as startups should succeed!
Trevor Gair

Starting to Start

It looks like this topic has gone a little cold, but I would love to re-ignite the discussion.

“Where to start? – The question leaves me dumbfounded”

Couldn’t agree more Saul. The shear volume of variables, possibilities and perils that confront an individual in the decision to launch something make doing nothing the most viable option. This can change.

Not to sound brave or visionary, but I am currently living the “pick an idea you believe in and run with it” approach. I am confident that that this is the best way to discover where to start.

We are often overwhelmed in the process of creating something that may seem abstract at the time. I believe we spend too much time thinking and not enough time doing. The challenge is finding that starting point.

We can easily agree that the world is begging for more social innovation to take root. Also, there is ample evidence that a large contingent of individuals, and in particular youth, is passionate about creating social change. In other words, the need is apparent, the ideas exist and the passionate people seek to act. So then why does a social innovation deficit remain? And maybe more importantly, what is preventing motivated people from translating their passion into tangible action?

I believe that the online landscape still lacks a cohesive ecosystem where inspired individuals, and especially youth, who host a passionate vision for a socially-minded project, business or venture can gain the tools necessary to turn their idea into action. The missing link then is the availability of rich resources, organized in a simple and engaging way to aspiring social entrepreneurs to reference.

With a team of designers and talented young social entrepreneurs, we are creating Social Journal (SoJo). SoJo will be an online community that will inspire and empower youth to dream big and engage in social entrepreneurship, as well as provide them with the tools and resources to help turn their ideas for social change into reality. Entrepreneurship is not linear and there really is no one starting point. Every ventures starts at different areas and SoJo will help users identify the different starting points. Once the wheels are in motion, momentum will take its course.

SoJo is currently being developed, however we welcome your feedback and thoughts on how we can make this a useful and helpful resource in helping youth start social ventures. Please sign-up to test our Beta website at http://thesojo.net or drop me a line at connect[at]thesojo.net