Social entrepreneurship generally aims to deliver solutions that can amplify social impact, across individuals, communities, and regions. Scaling social innovation is not always straightforward, and includes a different set of considerations than starting a social enterprise.

1. APS 1015: Social Entrepreneurship
Class 10: Scaling Social Enterprise
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
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Instructor:
Norm Tasevski (norm@socialentrepreneurship.ca)
Karim Harji (karim@socialentrepreneurship.ca)

2. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
Agenda
• Seizing the Scale Opportunity
• Managing the Scale Opportunity
• Break
• Overview of Final Presentations
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3. Seizing the Scale Opportunity
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4. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
The “Scale Opportunity”
The point in time when you have a critical choice:
grow substantially larger, stay purposely small, or quit
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5. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
The Entrepreneurial Life Cycle
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IDEA DEVELOPMENT PROOF OF CONCEPT START-UP SCALE REPLICATION EXIT
• Few/no critical decisions made
about business model
• Pre-revenue (no product, no
customers)
• Timing – typically a few months
• Preliminary business model
identified, but may change
quickly/fundamentally
• Pre-revenue (product to be
validated, customers to be
validated)
• Timing – typically <1 year
• First business model decided
upon (but could still change)
• First revenues (first product
launched, first customers ID’d)
• Timing – 1-2 years (or more)
• Business model solidifies (&
new business opportunities
emerge)
• Stable revenues (product
established, mature
understanding of customers)
• Timing – ongoing
• Business model in flux (minor/
major changes made
regularly)
• Revenues in flux (inconsistent)
• Timing - ??? (varies)
The Scale
Opportunity

6. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
How Do You Know You’ve Reached the
Scale Opportunity Point?
• Short answer:
– You won’t know until you get there…
• Long answer:
– You’ve overcome bumps in the road (imperfect product,
imperfect decision making, unstable cash flows)
– You have a track record behind you (satisfied customers, refined
product offering, brand recognition in the market)
– Your strategy conversations change (from “how do we stabilize
the business?” to “how do we grow the business?”)
– In some cases, an “outside force” emerges (a big funder/
investor looking to invest substantially, another company wanting to
partner/merge, etc.)
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7. Managing the Scale Opportunity
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8. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
There are Risks to Scaling…
• Scaling too quickly without the “fundamentals” in place
– There is a desire to scale much sooner than the business is
ready
– Fundamentals:
1. Systems (decision making, cash management, product
development, production, etc.)
2. Financial resources (retained earnings, outside capital)
3. Human resources (the “right” people deployed
effectively)
– The risk: implosion (i.e. get too big too quickly that the systems
can’t keep up)
• Scaling without a proper read of the market
– You have a superficial/imperfect understanding of the market
– The risk: financial ruin (i.e. the customers you were anticipating
don’t materialize)
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9. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
Planning Around These Risks
• Plan Ahead
– Conduct regular strategic planning
– Be deliberate, not opportunistic (i.e. know when to say “no” to business opportunities)
• Stay Tuned into the Market
– Do not assume you ever fully know who your customers are (constantly check in)
– Question whether you are targeting the right customers
• Build the “Right” Systems
– Construct a rigorous decision making system
– Establish core business standards (e.g. documentation, policies and procedures for making
and following through on decisions)
– Hire the right people to manage the scale effort (experienced entrepreneurs)
– Construct a rigorous information system, and collect data (CRM, online info tracking tools,
etc.)
• Stabilize your cash runway
– Begin investing profits into a reserve
– Seek outside capital for specific purposes (e.g. use of funds targeted to growth objectives)
– Create a rigorous budgeting and financial tracking system
• Welcome Change!
– Complacency = threat
– Be fully committed to your strategy, but flexible in your approach
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10. Your Presentations…
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11. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
Presentation guidelines
• Due Dates
– Investment Pitch: Midnight on Sunday, July 21st
• Format
– PowerPoint deck
• Time Allotment
– 12 min presentation (strict) – will give you 5 and 2 minute
warnings
– 6 min Q&A
• Grading
– To be done by Karim and Norm
– Judges will inform me, but not assign your grades
• Feedback from Judges
– Norm will email his and judges’ feedback shortly after the
class to integrate into angel investor pitch
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12. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
Timing
• Arrive by 6:30pm!!
• Group order will be assigned on the Monday prior
to the presentation
• At the end of the pitches, the judges will deliberate
(for 10 minutes)
• Judges will then provide feedback to the entire
class (and I will provide individual group feedback)
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13. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
Advice for your presentations
• Focus on the key components of the business
model, and highlight the key financial #s
– Can you clearly explain how your business works? How it
makes money? How it generates social/environmental
change?
• Comfortably stick to the time allotment
– In your practice, aim to deliver your presentation in 10-11
minutes
• Anticipate the investor questions
– If you were investing your own money into the business,
what would you care to know about the business model?
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14. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
Contents for the Presentation…
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• Overview and mission
• Management and
Advisors
• Problem
– social issue being
addressed
• Size of the problem
– how big is the social issue
• Solution
– Here’s how it works…
• Value proposition
– Inc. social benefit
• Business model
• Competitive advantage
• Collaboration/
partnerships
• Marketing and Sales
• Financial projections
• Financial requirements

15. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
PowerPoint tips
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16. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
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17. © Norm Tasevski & Karim Harji
An Example…
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