When I give my entrepreneurship talks I always start with “What impact do you want to have in the world? Decide for a massive transformative purpose that is more than just a mission statement and align it to something that will have you excited every morning when you jump out of bed. Then recruit stakeholders that have the same goal as you.
Create something that gets cofounders and customers excited. Your vision should be an inspirational statement of an idealistic emotional future, and if people say you can’t do it, then you are probably on the right track.
Since we opened Creative Hub Academy with a vision of “Successful career made possible”, many people told me that oh this is great but you will never make it big, you will never make millions of dollars or build a global brand.
I never listened to them, I actually made up my mind to prove everyone wrong that, no matter what you do, if you do it with passion and quality you will make your profits. I prioritized big thinking, rapid growth strategies and organizational agility. The truth is that you can work for 5 years building a $2 million dollars business or a $200 million dollars business, the 5 years are the same. There are just a few tricks.
Social entrepreneurship by definition is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues.
As founder of an educational hub, who is focused on giving aspiring individuals real-world skills and source tech companies with a skilled workforce, I am driven by the desire to genuinely help someone. Nothing makes me more satisfied than when I receive a message from a former mentee or student who will say “ thank you, you really changed my life”. That message makes me fulfilled for days and makes me smile every time when I will remember it, much more than any material piece that I have ever bought for myself.
Denzel Washington said, ” Don’t aspire to make a living, aspire to make a difference.” At the end of our lives the only thing we take with us is the difference we have made in the lives of others, and that is immortality.
Starting a social enterprise I recommend to anyone that cares about a cause greater than just money. I read in one study that social enterprises can’t become unicorns, but they can be zebras.
Zebra companies do exist and they are called antidotes of unicorns. Zebras are driven towards profit with a purpose. A more sustainable, realistic and community-driven growth.
Apart from unicorns which are high-growth startups with big valuations.
However, with the development and growth of social enterprises, the investment sector is strengthening as well.
On the search engines you can find a number of social impact investing ventures that are funding for-profit ideas that are changing the world, as well as philanthropy ventures that are supporting non-profits. . I honestly don’t think there is a better time to be a social entrepreneur.
What I would suggest is to get a good business education prior to starting, because knowing your purpose, your KPI’s, your weekly and monthly milestones, your current situation and positioning is crucial to your success.
If you don’t have business education or you are unsure how to start, the best way would be to join an accelerator program and to meet as many entrepreneurs as possible who have already built social enterprises. Their experience will be of great value to your business.
Regardless of the product/service you will still need to make a go-to-market strategy and to run your finances. The impact that you want to make in the society, you can only achieve if you know how to get there and as John Haywood said “Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they laid bricks every single day.”
Take your time, get ready and voila! Change the world!
