Diversifying sources of income has increasingly been a priority for many small to medium size charities, certainly for those who work with us and look at their sustainability a few years down the line. Often we end up talking about generating unrestricted income through setting up a new offer or even a social enterprise arm. This seems like a feasible solution but we all know it’s not as easy as it sounds.
So what does it take to set up a successful enterprise?
I have spoken to two social entrepreneurs at different stages of their journeys to explore what it is that drives them, what have they learnt from entering the start-up world and what their main challenges are.
Colin Crooks is the founder and CEO of Tree Shepherd, a social enterprise dedicated to creating employment for disadvantaged people through growing local economies and, in particular, helping people start their own business eventually becoming employers themselves.
Umesh Kumar recently founded Pace Ventures, a strategy and innovations consultancy which acts as a bridge between the corporate world and the start-up ecosystem.
Both Colin and Umesh are serial entrepreneurs and have experienced successes and failures throughout their journeys.
What does it take to set up something completely new and make it work?
- Colin: “I think you need to be tenacious, patient and flexible: tenacious about keeping going, making the next call, speaking to the next person; patient in that meetings can take time to organise, documents need to be prepared, systems don’t work as fast as you want them to; and flexible to respond to what the customer needs which is often not exactly what you thought you wanted to sell!”
- Umesh: “Setting up a new project, charity or company can seem very different but have very similar challenges. For me, the biggest attribute needed is belief. You also need a knowledge bank of people's opinions to not always agree with, but at least consider.”
Imagining we are a charity looking at setting up an income generation arm, what lessons can we learn from your experiences?
- Colin: “The biggest single lesson I’ve learnt is to do the thing that you are most passionate about – you may need to be flexible about how you do it but never compromise on what you do.”
- Umesh: “For me the ability to adapt and be agile in a world moving so quickly is vitally important to anyone setting up a new project or business.”
What is the biggest challenge you have faced and how did you overcome it?
- Colin: “The major challenge is persuading people that what you are doing should be focused on and that your idea is a good way of doing it. I’ve overcome this by talking to lots of people and finding out the best way of describing the problem and making it resonate for all stakeholders. Once I’ve got them on board with the concept I’ve been able to develop the business.”
- Umesh: “My biggest challenge was trying to create a brand and launch a new company on a shoestring budget with limited support. I overcame it, by breaking such a big task into smaller manageable projects and networked as much as I could to bring in the right people to help me get there!”
And finally, what drives you to face these challenges?
- Colin: “I get a really powerful sense of achievement when I can help someone overcome major challenges and improve their lives.”
- Umesh: “Setting something up can be a difficult and lonely profession, but it is also rewarding and liberating. My drive comes from the need to challenge myself, explore new areas of interest and make sure I am continually learning.”
It was fascinating talking to both Colin and Umesh as, although at different stages, the similarities in the way they work, particularly how they network, believe in their ideas and have the passion to see their idea come to life, really give you a sense of what it takes to be an entrepreneur. I guess the lesson for our charity partners is that you might already have someone in your team that has the attributes of an entrepreneur. To create something new they just need support and time to drive it forward.
