JVA staff member Collin Lessing and former intern Heather Sedbrook supporting social enterprise while Christmas shopping.

By Sarah Hidey, JVA Consulting

I would certainly like to think that 2013 is THE year when every single nonprofit and business realizes what a powerful force that using business practices to create social change can be. What do you think it will take to make 2013 THE year?

At JVA, we know it will take hard work, dedication and a commitment to building the capacity of changemakers and social entrepreneurs in our community.  This gets us excited!

Did you know that since we started 25 years ago, JVA has helped many social enterprises plan, start or grow their earned income ventures? Organizations like:

  • The Colorado Nonprofit Development Center (initial feasibility study, business planning and sustainability plan, and assistance with securing start-up funding)
  • The Center for Effective Interventions (original business planning to license evidence-based models and assistance with securing start-up funding)
  • Mount Saint Vincent Home (business planning to expand Early Learning Services to a traditional preschool)
  • Family Star Montessori (market research, plan for a mixed-revenue model that would combine grants, Head Start and early childhood funding with a full-pay tuition model for parents who could afford it, and assistance with fundraising)
  • Boomers Leading Change in Health (market research, business planning, identification of business model and assistance with securing start-up funding)
  • Larimer County Workforce Center (assistance with planning and developing an earned income strategy)
  • Center for Working Families, Inc.in Atlanta (assistance with planning the GreenWorks program, helping to secure start-up financing and evaluating outcomes)

In 2013, we can’t wait to continue. In addition to our social enterprise/business planning services, we are excited to announce the addition of a new, five-day intensive training—the Social Enterprise Academy. This five-day training will be held April 8–12, 2013, and is designed to help you develop a plan for a viable and successful business that will accomplish a social or environmental mission. Topics will include determining feasibility, how to conduct market research, how to organize your business for mission and money success, choosing the right business model, marketing, financing, measuring social impact and return on investment, making the pitch, communication and more!

Thankfully, JVA isn’t the only one excited about social enterprise in 2013:

  • The Executive Director at the Centre for Social Innovation shared these New Year’s resolutions for social entrepreneurs and highlighted the importance of evaluation and commitment to impact.
  • Forbe’s magazine even published its own predictions for social enterprise in 2013, which included this: “Undeterred, social entrepreneurs will drive access to clean water, education, electricity and the internet for tens of millions of people living in poverty in 2013, continuing a process of both lifting people out of poverty and creating new customers for an infinite number of consumer goods.” Sounds good to me!

JVA is proud to be part of a network of changemakers around the world who are committed to social change.  So, what can each of us do to make 2013 the year of social enterprise? How can we all promote the message that there IS a way to leverage business methods and capitalism to be a positive social force in our communities and around the world?

1)   Get involved locally with groups created to support social enterprises and entrepreneurs such as the Social Enterprise Alliance and SOCAP: Social Capital Markets.

2)   Knowledge is power, so invest in your education and learn more about the social enterprise field! Upcoming JVA trainings include Introduction to Social Enterprise, Business Plan in a Day, Pricing Your Services and the Social Enterprise Academy. The Social Enterprise Alliance also offers webinars once a month.

3)   Head over to Better World Books (a social enterprise!) and buy some of these books that are highly recommended by JVA. They will inspire you and set you on your way to starting or sustaining a successful social enterprise.

4)   Support social enterprises in your community (or online).  My December blog shared more than ten places to eat and shop that will also benefit our communities.

What excites you about social enterprise? What will you be doing in 2013 in this sector?