How To Turn Your Business Into A For Profit Social Enterprise

There’s a really big reason why every entrepreneur and business owner needs to convert their business into a for profit social enterprise - The market is demanding it.

In this article we explore how the market has shifted and why. Then 3 steps you can take to realign your business to be positioned well in this dramatically shifted global market.

You may have noticed the market has dramatically changed, and old methods of business and marketing are no longer working. The changes are happening so fast that strategies to get clients and customers that worked a year ago and no longer working as well, if at all.

That has made it all the more harder for some businesses to drive growth. Business 1.0 is dying and almost dead.

This market change has been monitored by the Edelman Trust Barometer that gave us early warning signs we needed to switch gears to a social impact business model, as early as 2008.

If you’re not familiar with Edelman, they are a global communications marketing company. Every year they survey the global adult consumer population trends and are actually recognised as a predictor of trends as a result. Every business owner wants to be following their reports so you can stay relevant to the market.

Edelman reported that 25% of the global adult consumer population were concerned about the purpose of where they were spending their money and with whom. Opting to give their hard earned cash to companies and brands that gave them a sense they were contributing to the greater good.

In 2016 the Edelman’s annual Trust Barometer report found that 50% of consumers were now opting to spend their money with companies and brands that were contributing to the greater good, making the world a better place and all that good stuff. Not only is that a 25% rise over 8 years, it’s tipping point.

I reported in 2016 that we had reached tipping point in the market and the growth of this interest in companies providing the consumer with a sense of purpose and contribution was only going to increase until it became mainstream. And that growth would happen within the next two years.

Why It’s Necessary To Turn Your Business Into A Social Enterprise For Future Success And Sustainability

It was no surprise to me then, that in 2018 the Barometer reported that statistic had risen another 25% in just 2 years, so now 75% of consumers want to know the brands and companies they buy from are giving them a sense of purpose and contribution to the greater good.

There was also an addition of this thing called social activism in companies to last year’s survey. Consumers are now demanding that we not only give to charities, but we are socially active in levelling the playing field, ending poverty, ending discrimination, ending wars, ending inequity and injustice, ending hunger, ending pollution, saving our oceans and so on.

Essentially consumers want us, as business owners and entrepreneurs, to be active in working one or some of the Global Sustainable Goals adopted by the U.N Assembly back in 2015.

Over here in Business 2.0 where companies are focused on a triple bottom line approach - purpose, planet, profit - It’s very much alive and often outperforming growth statistics of Business 1.0 by as much as 30%. Another reason to make the switch.

Supply and demand is the core of any successful business, and now the market demands we be socially active, social good is now what we have to supply! It’s not enough to trade goods and services any more. We now need to trade purpose and a sense of contribution to the greater good. Purpose has become a currency!

But how do you do that?

The most common question I get asked as a business mentor for social entrepreneurs.

My belief is that when you align to what you’re really on the planet to do, how you’re really here to contribute, it gives you the natural direction of how to be relevant in the new world we’re entering into.

If purpose is what our consumers want, then we need to start with our real purpose and life’s mission.

3 Steps To Align Your Business To Purpose & Social Impact

Step 1 - Align to your life mission and purpose

Purpose is such a huge broad topic. It can be vague and etheric. Business owners are constantly complaining about having done purpose courses yet being none the wiser as to how that fits into a business context.

Aligning to your life mission and purpose in a business context requires you to know how you’re here to expand and express yourself because this is where you gain fulfilment and can make the most impact. Your life mission is the ripple effect of your existence, the real reason you’re alive today and what you’re supposed to be doing.

Knowing these two aspects of your purpose, then injecting them into your business can breathe life into your sales in a relatively short period of time. Yet most people struggle to figure that out on your own.

That’s why I created the Purpose To Profit KickStarter Microdegree you can complete within 5-7 hours. It has some soul searching and self discovery processes as well as manuals on how to use the results of what you discover to turn your business into a for profit social enterprise.

Step 2 - Pick a Global Sustainable Development Goal and be active in that in your business

I know the United Nations adopted Global Goals is controversial for some, deemed as being political and the goals are incomplete. But it’s a very great big huge start. The SDG’s as they often referred to, has businesses, NGO’s and individuals pledging to take a goal and focus on solving by 2030. Millions of people are getting on board, so why wouldn’t you?

Here’s the deal - What we focus on increases, what we focus on exponentially increases exponentially. So climb on board and be part of the movement and intention to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems through your entrepreneurial skills and business acumen.

I have a process to help you discover what Global Goal would be best for your business so you’re now a social impact company.  

Step 3 - Communicate that in your brand, positioning, mission statement and marketing

Once you’ve discovered your personal purpose and life mission, your best global goal to focus on in your business, it’s time to align all your communication and marketing messaging. You want your prospects and customers to feel there is a greater purpose to buying from you than the simple trade of money and goods for services.

How can your contribution to the greater good be pictorial represented in your brand imaging? For example, in our Social Entrepreneur Training Program Right Mission Right Money, our logo for the social impact business model has the peace sign on it. My Global Goal is number 17 - Peace on earth.

This marriage of social good with social imaging goes beyond creating a “feel good factor” for your prospects. It’s also a “contribution factor” that by trading with you I’m also getting to help solve a big problem in the world. I’m playing my part not just in what I do, but how I also spend my money.

Here’s why I do what I do and I’d like you to join me in the global movement to use entrepreneurship as a form of activism to create a better world…

At the end of 2012 I had a vision that has been the WHY behind what I do with the Mission Mastery Academy for Changemakers. I saw the ripple effect of all the clients I had in that year, who I had helped start a social impact business aligned to their purpose. I saw their ripple effect of everything they did extend out to join the ripple effect of everyone else. I saw so much peaceful and joyous social change, it was amazing.

Then the vision expanded as I saw millions of entrepreneurs aligning to their purpose in their business and the ripples got bigger until so many problems in the world were solved, and we had peace of earth. We had a peaceful transition from this world to what Eckhart Tolle has described The New Earth and it’s golden age of peace and prosperity.

I didn’t see armageddon and complete financial collapse. I saw a peaceful transition from one inequitable system to another level playing field that served 100% of humanity. Now I admit, this was just a vision. But it contained within it a way for use to peacefully bring about a world where all can prosper.

It’s as simple as you playing your part and deeply aligning your business to your life’s purpose and mission… The ripple effect takes care of the rest.

I am now on a mission to spread the word, gather the taskforce of changemakers, help the entrepreneurs and business owners step forward to do their bit to ensure that vision of a peaceful transition happens.

Here are some tangible action steps you can take to step forward and make this peaceful transition a reality.

Step 1 - Align Your Business To Your Social Impact Purpose

I’d love for the entire world of entrepreneurship to take this as it’s a beautiful discovery of why you’re here and an alignment process that will serve your business and serve your customers.

You’ll transition into a triple bottom line business that attracts that 75% of the market that want to know you’re being socially active and providing a sense of greater good for them to be involved in with you when they purchase from you.

>>>> Check out the microdegree for only $97

2 - Can We Collaborate?

If you sense we might have some points of collaboration potential, please book a collaboration call here.

>>> Book a collaboration call

3 - Start A Social Impact Business

If you’re in start up or idea incubation knowing you could be applying your professional or entrepreneurial skills to make a much bigger impact, then you’re perfect fit for our Social Entrepreneur Training Program - Right Mission Right Money.

As this course helps you put all the pieces together or your business model from idea incubation and purpose alignment to launching your first marketing plan.

>>> Check out the social entrepreneur training

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