Non-profit organizations and social enterprises that wish to design sustainability strategies need to have clarity around the concepts of income generation and profit, and how to achieve them.

This article aims to debunk some misconceptions around income generation, equity investments, loan finance, and the profits or surpluses that these organizations may generate or receive.

It explains that income and profit emerges from how an organization transacts with its customers. This approach will require organizations to learn new skills, practice new habits and adopt a different mindset. Although embarking on this process may feel intimidating at first, the benefits of being in a stronger strategic and financial position should make it worthwhile.

Warren Lodge interviewed me on #Hashtag Radio about the growth of social enterprises in South Africa. We discuss social enterprises and their recent popularity. We also discuss what non-profit organizations and businesses can do to start their journey to social enterprise.

Listen to the interview from June 2015.

UCT Upstarts is a campaign to get students to start projects to have a social impact. I was invited to present a “101 course” on social enterprises in May 2015. This presentation introduces the concept of a social enterprise and highlights the three main challenges they are experiencing: access to markets; access to business support; and access to finance.

Watch a YouTube video of some highlights from my talk.

This article was published in the May 2015 edition of the Small Business Connect newspaper. It is part 10 in a series of 11 articles that unpacks the mind-set of a social enterprise and discusses the principles from Think like a Social Enterprise.

This particular article discusses the value of building a strong “social brand” around which you engage all your stakeholders.

GreenPop, a leading social enterprise that runs campaigns to “green” communities and promote environmental awareness is profiled in this edition.

This article was published in the March 2015 edition of the Small Business Connect newspaper. It is part 8 in a series of 11 articles that unpacks the mind-set of a social enterprise and discusses the principles from Think like a Social Enterprise.

This particular article discusses how successful social enterprises ensure that their customers get real value for the goods and services they purchase. This requires investing lots of time and effort in trying to understand their customers’ needs and designing products that genuinely benefit them.

The Clothing Bank is profiled in this edition. This social enterprise is helping hundreds of women to setup small retail businesses. It also helps large retailors to put their excess stock to good use.

This article was published in the February 2015 edition of the Small Business Connect newspaper. It is part 7 in a series of 11 articles that unpacks the mind-set of a social enterprise and discusses the principles from Think like a Social Enterprise.

This particular article suggests that organizations should market their successes more than the social or environmental problems they are trying to solve. Donors, impact investors and other partners are attracted to success and want to be part of it. We have all had enough hearing about how bad the world is.

This edition profiles Pat Pillay from LifeCo UnLtd. It discusses how both Pat and his organization has worked hard to build a positive brand in national media.

This article was published in the January 2015 edition of the Small Business Connect newspaper. It is part 6 in a series of 11 articles that unpacks the mind-set of a social enterprise and discusses the principles from Think like a Social Enterprise.

This article discusses the problem of relying on donations or grant funding for one’s survival. It argues that this short-sighted approach increases risk and limits social impact.

Greater Capital is profiled in this edition. This social enterprise earns 100% of its income from its research and consulting services.

This article was published in the December 2014 edition of the Small Business Connect newspaper. It is part 5 in a series of 11 articles that unpacks the mind-set of a social enterprise and discusses the principles from Think like a Social Enterprise.

This article discusses how organizations must be able to demonstrate value for money. In other words, donors, investors and beneficiaries must feel that they are getting a good deal given the price versus the quality social outcomes that are being achieved.

This edition profiles Malcolm Boyd from Our Governance – a social enterprise that has developed an online training programme to improve the governance of non-profit organizations.

This article was published in the November 2014 edition of the Small Business Connect newspaper. It is part 4 in a series of 11 articles that unpacks the mind-set of a social enterprise and discusses the principles from Think like a Social Enterprise.

This article discusses how too few organizations are able to provide solid evidence of their social or environmental impact. All they can do is explain how busy they have been. Unfortunately, this doesn’t help them to get funding or investment. It also prevents them from innovating.

James House is profiled in this edition. This children’s home in Cape Town is extremely successful at rehabilitating children with severely dysfunctional behavioural patterns. James House’s success in monitoring and evaluating its work is also highlighted.

Even though South Africa’s social enterprise market is relatively young, the potential of using social enterprises to channel procurement spend to have a powerful social impact should act as a source of real hope for all of us. In this article I discuss how corporates can unlock this potential and overlay their existing procurement processes with a deeper sense of responsibility. I also discuss the value of committing to a more careful selection of suppliers.

This article was published in the Impact Magazine in October 2014 which was released at a conference on enterprise development.