Archive for July, 2011

This story originally appeared in the July 2011 edition of the Searchlight South Asia newsletter created by Intellecap for the Rockefeller Foundation.

By Carlin Carr

Introduction

In cities across South Asia, the ubiquitous rickshaw dominates traffic-tangled streets. The three-wheeled motorized vehicle transports passengers who are otherwise left stranded by inadequate and inefficient public transportation systems. In a study conducted in Pakistan, the Global Environment Fund (GEF) found that “in the absence of adequate mass transport systems,” the rickshaw and mini-buses “carry the major share of commuter traffic.” A separate study in Bangladesh estimates that urban rickshaws account for over 30,000 passenger miles and nearly 100 ton-miles of goods movement annually. » Continue reading “Sustainable, Equitable Transportation Policy and the Rickshaw”

This story originally appeared in our July 14th, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to download the pdf e-magazine.

If there’s one thing that’s harder than starting a business, it’s managing it efficiently. This is probably truer for emerging economies than developed ones, where structural systems are more geared towards maximizing efficiencies.

Social enterprises, in particular, face multiple barriers to efficient management, primary among them a severe paucity of committed and talented personnel, often due to the fact that such businesses cannot pay as much as other for-profit private sector firms. » Continue reading “The Management Gap”

This story originally appeared in our July 14th, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to download the pdf e-magazine.

Flow of Vibrant Colors by Shamanth Patil J

Send your submissions to ideas@beyondprofit.com

This story originally appeared in our July 14th, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to download the pdf e-magazine.

Among the many challenges that social enterprises face, a key one is finding and keeping the right people to run the business. What does it mean to be a manager in the social enterprise workspace, and who are the right people, from the bottom to the top of the ladder?

By Nisha Kumar Kulkarni

Social enterprises face challenges similar to other businesses, but where they diverge is in scale and vision.  However, the problems of actually running a business remain the same, whether it is in processes, or technology. But perhaps one of the key challenges that social enterprises face, more than regular businesses, is the people challenge.

Given that socents often already have more severe funding issues, they are less likely to attract the same amount or level of talent that any other for-profit business might. As Professor Madhukar Shukla  of XLRI says in an interview to Beyond Profit in this issue, prefixing the word ‘social’ to a business conjures images of lowly-paid not-for-profits. » Continue reading “The People Problem”

This story originally appeared in our July 14th, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to download the pdf e-magazine.

While professional management is critical for social enterprises as they scale up, one must take care not to lose sight of the entrepreneur’s social vision, says Professor Madhukar Shukla of XLRI. In a phone interview to Tanmaya Nanda, he speaks at length about the management issues that typically social enterprises face and the best ways to overcome them.

In your opinion, why is professional management important for social enterprises?

I wouldn’t confine this only to social enterprises, but to all entrepreneurial ventures. As we were discussing, all ventures start with a passion about an idea. That is what entrepreneurship is all about, and it is also critical for the venture to take off.

However, as long as the venture remains small, operations are easy to manage by jugaad, trial and error, or through help from friends and volunteers who pitch in. But once it starts scaling up, managing operations becomes an issue. Scaling up is not just about increase in the size of operations, but more about increase in complexity of operations, in the variety of issues one has to address. The variety of demands on the enterprise increase, and the entrepreneur may not have the professional expertise – or time – to deal with all of them. So his passion would need to be supplemented with professional management skills; he has to bring in people who have expertise in those areas. » Continue reading “‘Vision is sacrosanct’”

This story originally appeared in our July 14th, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to download the pdf e-magazine.

The founder of a start-up agri-business recounts his experiences with establishing operational efficiencies and the challenges that most start-ups face.

By Srikumar Misra

When approached by Beyond Profit to write a piece on major starting up issues in building Milk Mantra, I thought it wouldn’t be a major ask as we have plenty of issues to deal with. My team and I have been busy laying the foundation – literally, too, for the shiny new milk-processing factory we’re building in Orissa – and the wireframe of our business model as we move towards product launch in the coming months.  Here’s my two cents on what I think are the gaps in management processes, from an entrepreneur’s point of view. » Continue reading “Starting Up Struggles”

This story originally appeared in our July 14th, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to download the pdf e-magazine.

Siddharth Sharma, CEO of Technology Solutions Group, says that technology can be a force multiplier for operational efficiencies, and argues why investment in technology is a long-term game changer for social enterprises.

It has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur. The Internet has democratized information to an extent where almost anyone can start a business, create a product, and find customers, right from  your bedroom. A lot of this is due to new technologies that sprung up over the past decade or so and are now achieving maturity. The technology sector is wasting no time in trying to fulfill the needs of these new entrepreneurs.

When information was difficult to acquire, store and transmit, organizations derived value from their ability to do so. Intellectual property, customer databases, operations manuals and even culture were guarded as they gave the firm meaning and intellectual form. » Continue reading “The Tech Question: Asset or Liability?”

This story originally appeared in our July 14th, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to download the pdf e-magazine.

While evaluating a start-up socent, what investors are really looking for is the ability of the entrepreneur to make the transition from founder to manager.

By Noshir Colah

As a member of a leading venture capital management company that focuses on early stage companies, I have the pleasure of reviewing business plans and meeting with entrepreneurs and promoters.  By definition, since our investments are “early stage”, there is usually little or no track record by which to evaluate the proposals.

The available tools are often restricted to an idea, the manner in which the idea is proposed to be converted to a viable and scalable business, perhaps a limited demonstration of the feasibility of realizing the objectives, and an evaluation of the entrepreneur. » Continue reading “Smooth Transitions”

This story originally appeared in our July 14th, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to download the pdf e-magazine.

Affordable, convenient tech solutions are available to social enterprises to make operations more efficient. Below are five web-based apps for any IT budget.

By Nisha Kumar Kulkarni

India-based Aceseller was founded to assist artists, designers and businesses to sell their products online. Features of the web-based store are unlimited products listings, pages and bandwidth, as well as a Facebook store, full customization, inventory tracking and discount codes. There are four pricing plans on offer: starter, basic, pro and premium. The transaction fee varies with each plan. The basic plan, for example, costs INR 1,999 (~$44)/month and has a 8% transaction fee.

» Continue reading “Top 5: Affordable Tech Solutions”