1. An essential guide to starting
your social enterprise.

2. BE PREPARED!
Social enterprises have to make tough
decisions in resource constrained
environments. It is therefore important
you have a business plan and be
prepared before you start.

3. DON’T
LOSE FOCUS!
You need to be passionate about
the social issue you set out to resolve.
Remember why you started your business
venture and don’t lose focus
of the end goal.

4. TALK TO PEOPLE!
It is important to connect with like-minded people who share interest
in the purpose of your business.
Learning from others will help with your business success!

5. THINK ABOUT
YOUR FUNDING!
Social enterprises face more challenges when it comes to
financing and fundraising compared to other businesses.
Investors can be sceptical about the economic returns
for social businesses, therefore you need to be
more innovative with your
fundraising ideas.

6. The double bottom line
approach makes marketing
decisions more difficult for a social
enterprise. You need to be aware of specific
dilemmas and factors when thinking
about your marketing strategy.
CREATE A
MARKETING
STRATEGY

7. It is important for
you to partner with your community
rather than simply offering a solution
to a problem. The engagement of local
stakeholders and beneficiaries
determines the long-term success
and sustainability of social
enterprises.
GET PEOPLE
INVOLVED!

8. EMPLOYEE
UNIQUE PEOPLE
Recruiting for social enterprises can be a
challenge due to the focus being more on social
gain as opposed to making money.
The lack of profit has to be compensated by
the high degrees of job satisfaction!

9. MEASURE YOUR IMPACT
Your investors want to know the worth of their investment in terms of the social impact it creates.
The more you measure the impact of your business venture the more you can identify
the key areas to focus on going forward.

10. Use the challenges you face as
opportunities to innovate. These
challenges could determine the long term
success of your business. Remember, you
can be innovative in every phase of your
social enterprise journey!
KEEP
INNOVATING!

11. Based on the article ‘A conceptual model of critical
success factors for Indian social enterprises’ from the World Journal
of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development.
Click here to read
the full article here