For social ventures to succeed, a lot of research and legwork has to be done by its initiators. Fiyaz Mughal, the founder of two social ventures in the United Kingdom, understands the importance of not just having a solid idea, but also having the resources and structures in place to grow steadily.
These aspects include:
A Capable Team
For any entrepreneur with a social innovation, it’s important to develop a team that feels as passionately about the venture’s vision and mission as its founder. Many investors are keen to look at the makeup of the team when considering investing, underscoring the need to find people with complementary skills. Proving that the management team behind the venture is capable is crucial for first-time entrepreneurs.
Good Strategic Advice
Beyond getting the administrative aspects of a social enterprise running, new ventures and owners don’t always have the strategy aspect down pat. It can be a huge boost if a strategic adviser is brought on board to help with assessing the existing and potential opportunities for growth and expansion. An adviser can be a mentor, an investor, or an executive tapped from the business world to help with guiding strategy.
Additionally, social entrepreneurs can also look to the many accelerator and incubator programmes available to help with early-stage growth and setting the tone for sustainable growth.
The Right Funding
Funding for a social initiative can range from personal savings, bank loans, and more common among social entrepreneurs, grants. The UK has numerous organisations open to providing grants for community projects and social initiatives. They include charities, trusts and foundations such as Comic Relief, Vodafone Foundation and The Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts, among others. Check out the attached PDF for more examples.