Social Entrepreneur

This week, I continued my annual ritual of reading The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.  For the past 4 years, I have taken the time at the beginning of each to read the book to remind myself about the lessons that can be learned from this book.  The book is focused on the following personal agreements made by an individual:

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
2. Don't Take Anything Personally
3. Don't Make Assumptions
4. Always Do Your Best

I understand that life and business can be complicated.  With that being said, I think the four agreements in this book can be useful for personal and professional reasons.  From a business perspective, the agreements can help to create a sustainable culture for your company.

I mention culture for a company because the culture is often overlooked during strategic planning sessions.  Additionally, culture will trump strategic implementation every day of the week.

Whether you are a business development professional or a social entrepreneur these agreements can assist you.

Do you have an annual activity to begin your year?

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Yesterday, I ran a 10-mile training run.  At the beginning of the run, I began to think about the similarities between a running partner and partnerships in business.

Business partnerships can come in the form of joint ventures, distribution deals, co-founders and even virtual business partners.  Running partners occur in several forms including a daily running partner, group running and running against/with virtual partners (see Nike+ training system).

My first running partner helped me train for the 2005 Chicago Marathon.  He was faster than me but we both had one common goal - finish the 2005 Chicago Marathon.  As we trained together, I became a faster runner because of him.  He became a more patient runner because of me.  As a result, we both finished the race and accomplished our goals.  This scenario is similar to the business development efforts of a for-profit partnership or that of a social entrepreneur partnership between two NGOs.  Together both entities have a common goal.  Along the way, both sides learn and grow from each other while achieving their respective individual goals.

What lessons have you learned from the miles you've run with your running partners?

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Last night, I spent four hours in a strategic planning session for a non-profit board on which I am chairperson.  During the meeting, I was reminded about a few business benefits of participating on a non-profit board.  Of course the opportunity to impact the people in my community is never lost on me.  From a business perspective, you can learn about best practices for business networking and business development.  Additionally, you can learn what not to do in a board meeting for your business.

For the first two items, the non-profit world must constantly get out their message and cultivate donors and volunteers.  This is no different than cultivating clients both internal and external.

As for learning what not to do, the lessons can be endless.  There are several lessons but two that I think are most important are getting materials out early and board members reviewing the materials.  This can ensure a productive and action-driven meeting.  One of the best blogs I have read about this area is the Market Mine blog by Penny Herscher, President CEO of First Rain. 

A good example of an organization that crosses the line between non-profit and for-profit is the social entrepreneur-driven organization.  Have you reached out to one?  You may learn something new.

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In recent BusinessWeek article titled Why Clean Tech Is Taking Biotech's Shine, the author makes an observation on the linkages between the life science and clean tech industries and the entrepreneurs in each.  Although I don’t agree with the complete analysis, I understand the similarities.

The article made me think about the linkages we see from a business consulting perspective everyday.  In addition to the common skill sets of our clients.  We look to other industries such as the hospitality industry for examples of best practices or transferable linkages.  For example, an Indiana life science company’s sales team could learn from a team that serves them while dining at a fine dining establishment such as Moe’s Steakhouse.  From touch points to playing a particular role for the particular client, there are many lessons to be learned.

On a more technical level, professional services firms such as a solo practice law firms can learn many lessons from a start-up IT firm.  Consider business development.  A start-up IT firm will use guerrilla marketing including blogging to make things happen.  Forget the yellow pages.  The solo practice firm could be successful by using just this aspect of the IT ecology.

Whether you are hiring new people or growing your current market share, you can learn from the indirect linkages you have with other industries.  Have you checked out your indirect peer group lately?

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I just finished speaking with my friend Dave Castor of Alerding Castor LLP.  During the past few weeks, he has been moving at a hectic pace to grow his business.  This is the life of an entrepreneur who advises entrepreneurs on the legal issues related to business formation and international licensing agreements. 

The world of the entrepreneur is constantly changing.  Dave has recently added business blogging to his list of weekly action items.  Fortunately for Dave, his firm's has several contributors to spread out the responsibility of creating content for the blog.

To stay ahead of the hectic pace, Dave has scheduled time with himself today and tomorrow.  Although it sounds counterintuitive to take time away from business development, I think it is a good decision.  In my opinion, working at a hectic pace without time for yourself leads to a cluttered mind and workspace.  Clutter is not good.

Have you scheduled a regular meeting with yourself?  If not, why?

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"People hire you for your integrity and your discretion...You can't really do a first-class job for a client unless he's willing to tell you everything.  And in order for him to tell you everything, he's got to believe that you'll keep his confidence." - Bob Greenhill

This quote from the June/July issue of Dealmaker by Bob Greenhill the founder of Greenhill & Co. explains in simple terms the key to business formation, business relationships (including business networking) and successful businesses.

In the end without trust, you can't have solid relationship with clients or employees.  In order to gain that trust, you must begin with a defined transparency within your organization and with your clients.

I think the ever-changing global market presents an opportunity whether you are a social entrepreneur, working in emerging markets or in the financial districts in Hong Kong or London.  Trust and transparency will help guide your success.

Who do you trust?  Do they trust you?

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 We have all heard about the K.I.S.S. method of making decisions.  If you haven't, "K.I.S.S.", stands for Keep It Simple Stupid.  The question is, how many people actually practice K.I.S.S.? Are you the person with a 1,000 people on your social networking site or the entrepreneur focused on the minutiae working of the strategic implementation of your latest business venture?  If you are in this group of people, you may want to consider simplifying.

Bruce Lee said, "True refinement seeks simplicity."  In his book The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss describes two ways of living your life.  The "Deferrers" live life to have more at the end of their life.  The "New Rich" live life to have more quality and less clutter throughout their entire life.  Both focus on simplification.

Simplicty is not just creating less steps in a process.  It includes recognizing that you may be over-thinking a process and thus cluttering it up.  As a result, you are wasting time.  Simplifying can occur almost anywhere in your buiness including business formation or your interactions within your business social network.

How are you keeping it simple?

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In the City of Indianapolis, there is a major decision about to happen related to the funding of art programs and organizations.  According to a recent article in the Indianapolis Business Journal, due to budget deficits (not unlike many other cities in the United States), the funding for the arts could potentially be phased out over the next three years.

Multiple online communities and social networking sites including one by the Arts Council of Indianapolis have been create a dialogue and to post comments and concerns.

From a business perspective, I understand why cuts need to happen in the short term.  However, expenses can be decreased without sacrificing an often overlooked business development and employee attraction/retention.

In today's market, the "quality of life" quotient is a key reason why people live, work and play in a given location.  As an entrepreneur trying to attract the best talent for your team, you need all the help you can get.  This includes the arts and cultural aspects of your community.

What do you, your employees, friends and family members do when they are not working?  I'd guess that the arts are involved in more ways than you think.

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Ideas + Experience = Companies (Yes, money is a part of this equation but not in the context of this post)

Last week, I attended Innovention 2008, the annual Indiana Life Science industry event hosted by the Indiana Health Industry Forum.

Two of the panel discussions during the event had divergent comments with regard to the state of the life science industry in Indiana.  One panel suggested multiple technologies with high commercialization potential exist in Indiana but there is a lack of experienced individuals to capitalize on the potential.  On the other panel, the comments indicated that the experience can be pulled together via a virtual business model.  In the former, the glass is half empty.  In the latter, the glass is half full.

I agree with the latter opinion.  We are working with our clients and network to license some of the technologies and capitalize on the potential.  If you are a budding entrepreneur looking for a business formation opportunity, this model may work for you.  If you are an established organization, this model may create services or products for increased business development.

What does your glass look like?

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On Wednesday, I attended a conference titled, "Nanotechnology: Concept to Commercialization...What You Need to Know".  The hosts for the event were The MEK Group and Barnes & Thornburg LLP.  The stated purpose of the event was to bring together academia, entrepreneurs, service providers and investors to discuss current status and future potential of nanotechnology.

From my perspective, the global business of nanotechnology is moving forward.  The presenters, especially global education leaders including Purdue University, informed the attendees about how nanotechnology is already being used in multiple industries.

Additionally, the collaborative efforts of these international education institutions were discussed.  One example was nanoHUB.  This is another example of how online communities are crossing borders to achieve a goal.

Although there is still much to learn about nanotechnology, our firm will be looking for the opportunities for business formation.  Through the collaborations of academia, investors and entrepreneurs, businesses will be formed.  The question of leading or following is the main challenge.

What collaborative efforts are happening within your industry between academic research and the service providers related to commercialization?  If you are a NGO (Non-Governmental Organization), what are your observations with regard to the current state of collaborations for common goals or missions?

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In a press release on July 1st, CoLucid Pharmaceuticals announced the closing of their Series B financing of $25US million. This is not out of the ordinary with regard to the financing.  On the other hand, it is a good example of a potential business model for your company to utilize.

CoLucid was founded in Indianapolis, Indiana.  However, the business operates from several locations.  CoLucid is a solid example of a virtual business.  According to a recent article in the Indianapolis Star, "Its three full-time researchers work in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. Its chief executive, a former Lilly manager, works in Boston, where he most recently was a senior executive at a drug-discovery company specializing in insomnia. Four of its five investors are based outside of Indianapolis."

Whether you are a social entrepreneur or a business solutions firm, the virtual business model may work for you.  If you are looking to explore this model for starting a new firm, make sure to analyze all aspects of the model as they relate to the strengths of your team.  For starters, increased flexibility and decreased overhead are a couple of the benefits of this model.

Are you planning expansion into emerging markets - domestic or global?  The virtual model may work for you.

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