Navigating the social enterprise space as it is currently termed is as confusing as it is exciting. Exhausting as it is energising. Defeating as it is empowering. A perspective from Dr Alicia Kennedy, Founder of Cherished Pets.

Australia’s social enterprise sector is thriving, according to the recently released ‘Finding Australia’s Social Enterprise Sector (FASES)’ 2016 report. Currently, there are at least 20,000 Australian social enterprises in operation, and many of these are between two and five years old. This is in stark contrast to the FASES 2010 survey that found 68% of social enterprises had been operating for over ten years.

We know you’ve been thinking about it for a while now. You’re not a bad person, it’s just on that growing list of ‘Things I need to do when I have a little more time’. We all want to make sure our money is going to the right place, but the brainpower it takes to navigate the investments of our banks and superannuation funds, or trawl through the sources of our energy providers? No. Thank. You.

Around a month ago a potentially life-changing opportunity landed on my desk. It was the chance to combine much of my recent work and expertise on a challenging, exciting and potentially hugely influential project. It was something that sparked a truly emotional response and my first instinct was to drop everything and go for it.

This has been somewhat of a crunch time week in terms of our company’s progress. We’ve moved past the time of idea generation and ‘what if’. Now it’s about identifying exactly what it is we need to do, why we need to do it and what value it is adding to our product and our customers.

The not for profit (NFP) sector has undergone significant changes over the past 20 years, and current data indicates that is this is only the beginning of the huge shakeup in the $200 billion (annual revenue) sector. 

1. The top five countries for female entrepreneurs are 1. the United States, 2. Canada, 3. Australia, 4. Sweden and 5. the United Kingdom, according to a new global report commissioned by Dell (Global Women Entrepreneur Leaders Scorecard, 2015).

When we buy something, we are buying more than just the product. We are buying a brand, it’s culture, values and practices. Many of us know and recognise this, though not all of us use this knowledge when making our final decision at the counter. There are just so many other factors jostling their way to the front of our mind – price, position on the self, implied quality, design, friend recommendations, price, and of course the brand.

“Who do you want as a mentor?”

That’s the one question that truly stood out today.

Charities and Not-for-Profit organisations are facing challenging times, Government funding is being reduced, or is difficult to secure, philanthropic and public donations are costly to raise and time consuming to obtain, the average Cost To Raise a Dollar (CTRD) for Australian based organisations is between .19c – .41c, meaning less actually gets to where it is needed.

You’ve just heard about your friend’s new business venture. He’ll be selling simple canvas shoes for a reasonable price and using a portion of the profits to provide shoes to children who cannot afford them. He wants to know whether you’d like to get on board with his company – an impact investment ‘opportunity’ he says.

With so many success stories coming from Profit for Purpose enterprises, should NFPs be considering a new approach to generating the funds they need to achieve their missions? Are there lessons to be learned from the Profit for Purpose sector? And finally, will the Profit for Purpose movement change the face of the NFP sector?

“What is this Purpose?” I hear you say. It’s about reimagining the way we do business. Placing the social and environmental needs first and then building a business model around them. For example, Keep Cup’s Abigail Forsyth built a business around a desire to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill from disposable cups without sacrificing the taste of the morning brew Melbournians love.