Archive for Social Enterprise

Eureka! is the International Business plan competition organized by IIT Bombay. It aims to create value in the ecosystem as per its belief that entrepreneurs are the ones who will take India and the world to the next level.

With a total prizes worth INR 2.4 million, legal and financial consultancy services, intensive mentoring and an online platform to provide solutions to participants’ queries, Eureka! promotes the best business ideas through various incentives. It’s not just a business plan competition, wherein people only submit their business plans and take away the prize money. It is an entrepreneur’s journey from an executive summary to an actual start-up. The competition is open to all and sees participants from different strata like working professionals, B-schools, Technological Institutes, IITs, NITs and even Medical & Law schools. » Continue reading “Eureka! Asia’s Largest Business Plan Competition”

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 June 30th, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to download the pdf e-magazine.

While most of the social enterprise and impact investing spotlight remains on Africa and South Asia, Latin America is making its own strides to develop a solid foundation in the industry.

While the term social enterprise seems to be picking up steam worldwide, much of the focus remains on Africa and South Asia.

There are many reasons for that, says Mark Hand, an investment analyst with First Light at Grey Ghost Ventures. The language barrier, cultural and political differences all play a part in why Latin America has been slower to attract attention than others. “What we’ve seen in the impact investing space, especially the kind of venture funding circles that we swirl around in, is that people overlook Latin America,” he said.

William Portilla, a senior loan officer with Root Capital – which has operations in Latin America and Africa – says that developed countries have a “stronger strategic political interest” in Africa and South Asia than they do in Latin America.

“The money that is most commercially minded is most drawn to India. The money that is most charity minded is most drawn to Africa,” he said. “In that spectrum, that leaves few people that are operating in Latin America.” » Continue reading “Latin America’s socents: poised for flight”

This story originally appeared in our June 30th, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to download the pdf e-magazine.

Ecotourism is a booming industry in Latin America, especially in the Tambopata region of southeastern Peru. But is it the best use for limited land?

In 2008, the Tambopata region of southeastern Peru – located in the southwest Amazon eco-region and the Tropical Andes biodiversity hotspot – boasted 37 ecotourism operations based around the Tambopata National Reserve.

Industry in the area traditionally revolves around slash-and-burn agriculture, cattle ranching, Brazil nut extraction, timber extraction, alluvial gold mining and private reserves, but the area is increasingly taking advantage of the ecotourism market – estimated by a 2010 report at $28.8 billion a year in developing countries alone. » Continue reading “Is ecotourism good for the amazon?”

This story originally appeared in our June 30th, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to download the pdf e-magazine.

A mobile hospital business model in Brazil shows it is possible to provide high quality, specialized healthcare to the bottom of the pyramid.

According to the Government of Brazil, the country’s most serious health threats are childhood mortality, maternal mortality and non-communicable diseases. Under Brazil’s 1988 Federal Constitution, all citizens are entitled to free medical assistance at the point of need from both private and public healthcare providers. However, the country’s healthcare system is such that private sector players manage the majority of medical services, including government-subsidized in-patient care. » Continue reading “Wheeling in health”

POPse, the self-described world’s first social enterprise think tank, began on May 9 and ended on May 13. The project brought together social enterprise thinkers, practitioners and educators to “explode some of the treasured myths and policy bubbles in social enterprise thinking.”

The concept is certainly interesting and allows for more in-depth conversations and hopefully more solid outcomes than the traditional conference format. I’ll be curious to see exactly what comes out of the project—the team has promised white papers. And of course, I’d love to see the concept spread to developing countries such as India. » Continue reading “Pop-Up Thinking: The First Social Enterprise Think Tank”