This presentation features the Product and Markets Module of the Social Enterprise Learning Toolkit developed by Enterprising Non-Profits. The Toolkit offers a number of different learning modules and can be found on the enp website at www.enterprisingnonprofits.ca
Corporate Profile 47Billion Information Technology
Social Enterprise Learning Toolkit (Product & Markets Module)
1. Products and Markets Module #4 Governance ■ Leadership ■ Blended Value Design ■ Products & Markets ■ Business Operations ■ Customer Relations ■ Marketing ■ Risk Analysis
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10. Social enterprises are businesses operated by non-profits with the dual purpose of generating income by selling a product or service in the marketplace and creating a social, environmental or cultural value. Enterprising Non-Profits ( enp ) is a unique, collaborative program that promotes and supports social enterprise development and growth as a means to build strong non-profits and healthier communities. The program is supported by the following funding organizations: For more information on enp and different modules in the Social Enterprise Learning Toolkit please check out www.enterprisingnonprofits.ca
Editor's Notes
From: Social Enterprise Analytical Model This product meets a need, is positioned within the market, has distinct characteristics and is reasonably competitive. The product consists of goods or services produced or provided by an enterprise through its economic activities as well as the support services stemming from its mission. The product or services offered as the basis of the enterprise ’s economic activity and the ones offered in fulfillment of its mission are normally complementary or compatible.
Values are important, but are often not the tipping point in a purchasing decision, or a re-purchasing decision, and are hard to defend
As nonprofits and businesses create both social and economic value, they face the same challenge: balancing these sometimes competing goals. learned that integrating social and economic imperatives is easier said than done. From: Capitalizing on Convergence the income-generating side of the organization often fails to see eye to eye with the society-serving side. Whereas the income-generating side must court corporations for cause-marketing partnerships, the society-serving side must monitor and even denounce corporations for their poor social performance.
From: It's All About Them: Branding and Positioning your social enterprise to build customer loyalty Who are we talking to? What do we know about them that will help us to communicate more effectively? What do they think about? What do they care about? What do they really really want? Differentiate aspirational target audiences vs. who is really buying What is the key insight about the target? What can you say that puts us in their shoes? What would the target say about us now? How would they describe us? What do we want them to say after? What is the response we want them to have?
The value proposition should relate to a specific product or brand. It is a statement of the functional, emotional and self-expressive benefits that provide value to the target customer: • Functional benefits are based on an attribute that provides the customer with a practical utility. • Emotional benefits provide the customer with a positive feeling when they purchase or use a particular brand. • Self-expressive benefits provide an opportunity for a person to communicate his or her self-image. Remember that price is related to all of these benefits: if the cost of the product is too high in relation to the benefits, your value proposition will diminish
From: http://unltdworld.com/file/resources/2921/Hefce%20Toolkit%20Narrative%20-%20Stage%201,%20Theme%204.pdf a) Can you define your market and how confident are you that there is a real demand for what you want to offer? When thinking about demand, it will pay to think early on not just about who might want your product or service but also how likely is it that they will be willing to pay for it. In a social enterprise context, an important issue to consider early on is that those that benefit from your product or service may not actually be the one that might be willing to pay for it. Social care and healthcare-focused social enterprises are a classic example of this, where contracts may exist with local authorities or PCTs to deliver a service to eligible people within the community. b) How realistic is it that you can successfully deliver the product or service? Although your idea may have an amazing potential, the practicalities of delivery may be a barrier. Further down the line, this area of planning will focus on the internal operations of your project or organisation, i.e. how you deliver your offer to the market. At this stage, it ’s worth developing a sense of 2 things: firstly, do a little investigation into in the market(s) that you ’re looking to operate in and start to understand how potential competitors, partners and other stakeholders are operating. Starting to build relationships with people working in the area will be invaluable later down the line, but at this stage will give you great insight into the operational and competitive landscape of your market(s), and help you understand which operational models might work for your idea. Second, start having a think about what your own strengths and skills are that are relevant to the realisation of your idea, and where there are gaps. Being honest about where you need help, either by bringing others on board or working with third parties such as your higher education institution / university or other partners, is critical; few entrepreneurs, social or otherwise, are able to realise their vision without support; the most successful are often those who are clear from an early stage about where, when and how to secure the right type(s) of skills, capabilities and knowledge from other sources. c) How sustainable do you think your idea is? The issue of sustainability is critical to any business, and social enterprise is no exception. In its most basic sense, it translates into whether or not you think you can sell your product / service for more than you sell it and whether you think demand will grow in the medium to long term (e.g. after your completed an initial pilot and are looking to scale up). Note that in the social enterprise setting, revenue may also be augmented by grants and other sources, depending on the nature of the organisation (see below), and so sustainability considerations will need to take into account all sources of income. Another point worth making is that some social projects and social enterprises may have a finite life; in this case, the same considerations of sustainability apply, but within a discrete timeframe. This area of thinking and analysis is, ultimately, the door to financial planning and management; it is worth bearing in mind that many good ideas have been brought to market in the past but have failed because, ultimately, the economics of the business were not sustainable. This is true for the social enterprise space as much as it is true for the commercial world. As you begin developing your idea and concept, as well as investigating areas addressed in (a) and (b) above, include cost and revenue implications as part of your analysis and start recording this data – you will need it later on when you start to consider financial planning.
From: http://unltdworld.com/file/resources/2921/Hefce%20Toolkit%20Narrative%20-%20Stage%201,%20Theme%204.pdf a) Can you define your market and how confident are you that there is a real demand for what you want to offer? When thinking about demand, it will pay to think early on not just about who might want your product or service but also how likely is it that they will be willing to pay for it. In a social enterprise context, an important issue to consider early on is that those that benefit from your product or service may not actually be the one that might be willing to pay for it. Social care and healthcare-focused social enterprises are a classic example of this, where contracts may exist with local authorities or PCTs to deliver a service to eligible people within the community. b) How realistic is it that you can successfully deliver the product or service? Although your idea may have an amazing potential, the practicalities of delivery may be a barrier. Further down the line, this area of planning will focus on the internal operations of your project or organisation, i.e. how you deliver your offer to the market. At this stage, it ’s worth developing a sense of 2 things: firstly, do a little investigation into in the market(s) that you ’re looking to operate in and start to understand how potential competitors, partners and other stakeholders are operating. Starting to build relationships with people working in the area will be invaluable later down the line, but at this stage will give you great insight into the operational and competitive landscape of your market(s), and help you understand which operational models might work for your idea. Second, start having a think about what your own strengths and skills are that are relevant to the realisation of your idea, and where there are gaps. Being honest about where you need help, either by bringing others on board or working with third parties such as your higher education institution / university or other partners, is critical; few entrepreneurs, social or otherwise, are able to realise their vision without support; the most successful are often those who are clear from an early stage about where, when and how to secure the right type(s) of skills, capabilities and knowledge from other sources. c) How sustainable do you think your idea is? The issue of sustainability is critical to any business, and social enterprise is no exception. In its most basic sense, it translates into whether or not you think you can sell your product / service for more than you sell it and whether you think demand will grow in the medium to long term (e.g. after your completed an initial pilot and are looking to scale up). Note that in the social enterprise setting, revenue may also be augmented by grants and other sources, depending on the nature of the organisation (see below), and so sustainability considerations will need to take into account all sources of income. Another point worth making is that some social projects and social enterprises may have a finite life; in this case, the same considerations of sustainability apply, but within a discrete timeframe. This area of thinking and analysis is, ultimately, the door to financial planning and management; it is worth bearing in mind that many good ideas have been brought to market in the past but have failed because, ultimately, the economics of the business were not sustainable. This is true for the social enterprise space as much as it is true for the commercial world. As you begin developing your idea and concept, as well as investigating areas addressed in (a) and (b) above, include cost and revenue implications as part of your analysis and start recording this data – you will need it later on when you start to consider financial planning.