Mission, Inc the practitioner's guide to social enterprise - Lynch, Kevin (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2009)
Includes bibliographical references (p. 175-179) and index
Introduction : the most successful business on earth -- The ten paradoxes of social enterprise -- Doing good versus doing well : balancing impact and profit -- Form versus function : choosing the right structure -- Planning versus practice : working with discipline -- Debits versus credits : creating financial health -- Do-gooders versus good doers : hiring the best people -- Perception versus reality : marketing on higher ground -- Value versus waste : leaning the enterprise -- Metrics versus instinct : measuring success -- Growth versus focus : expanding sensibly -- Sweat equity versus blood equity : caring for yourself
Business has the power to change the world, but some businesses embrace that opportunity more aggressively than others do. Social enterprises put their change mission first - what they sell or what service they provide is a means to accomplishing a larger goal, rather than an end in itself. Their front-and-center commitment to doing good makes social enterprises immensely attractive. But if you want to run one successfully, you have to manage a tricky balancing act. How can you be as efficient as any of your for-profit or nonprofit competitors while at the same time staying true to your social purpose? In this groundbreaking guide, social entrepreneurs Kevin Lynch and Julius Walls draw on their own extensive experiences and those of twenty other social enterprise leaders to focus on the fundamental blocking and tackling tactics that make the difference between success and failure. Exploring the many paradoxes that can hamstring social enterprises, the authors explain how starting and running a social enterprise requires leaders to adopt an entirely different mindset and often a wholly different perspective on the day-to-day choices they're forced to make. Likewise, Walls and Lynch help readers grapple with a different set of expectations from employees, investors, customers, and the community. For social enterprise practitioners, these expectations present an added layer of difficulty - but they can also offer unique advantages, which the authors explain how to leverage. Whether readers are looking for guidance on finding and hiring talent, marketing, finances, or scaling, this practical, accessible guide offers clear and compelling answers that light the way