What’s it like to be a social entrepreneur – not a textbook social entrepreneur but one on the ground? This book offers an explanation. Michael Gordon, leading Social Entrepreneurship expert from the University of Michigan, spoke with more than one hundred social entrepreneurs – from six continents, young and old, just starting out to several decades in, addressing seemingly every societal problem of the day. This book uses their words and experiences to provide a kaleidoscopic description of what it means to become a social entrepreneur. It ranges from the personal and emotional challenges they often face to the grand impact many hope to produce. It touches on the sublime but focuses on the everyday, highlighting the mistakes that have been made, the lessons learned and, especially, what advice they would give to those wanting to start a social venture. This book presents the truth, not the varnish, and is ideal for use in the classroom with students studying social entrepreneurship, and for all new and experienced social entrepreneurs seeking real-life examples of how to overcome challenges. For anyone else, it offers a penetrating portrait of the lives of those committed to changing the world.

In development circles, there is now widespread consensus that social entrepreneurs represent a far better mechanism to respond to needs than we have ever had before--a decentralized and emergent force that remains our best hope for solutions that can keep pace with our problems and create a more peaceful world.David Bornstein's previous book on social entrepreneurship, How to Change the World, was hailed by Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times as "a bible in the field" and published in more than twenty countries. Now, Bornstein shifts the focus from the profiles of successful social innovators in that book--and teams with Susan Davis, a founding board member of the Grameen Foundation--to offer the first general overview of social entrepreneurship. In a Q & A format allowing readers to go directly to the information they need, the authors map out social entrepreneurship in its broadest terms as well as in its particulars.Bornstein and Davis explain what social entrepreneurs are, how their organizations function, and what challenges they face. The book will give readers an understanding of what differentiates social entrepreneurship from standard business ventures and how it differs from traditional grant-based non-profit work. Unlike the typical top-down, model-based approach to solving problems employed by the World Bank and other large institutions, social entrepreneurs work through a process of iterative learning--learning by doing--working with communities to find unique, local solutions to unique, local problems. Most importantly, the book shows readers exactly how they can get involved.Anyone inspired by Barack Obama's call to service and who wants to learn more about the essential features and enormous promise of this new method of social change, Social Entrepreneurship is the ideal first place to look.

Don't just make money...make a difference. As a social entrepreneur, you can build a business that changes the world. But you will face some unique challenges. This book will prepare you for them. Packed with advice, inspiration and real-life stories, it will help you: Define what you want to do and why you want to do it Find the right kind of funding Build a brand that makes you unique Find a team as motivated and inspired as you are Measure the impact you're having How to be a Social Entrepreneur is the only social enterprise start-up guide you'll ever need. "This is the seminal book on social enterprise" —Martin Murphy, Network 2012 "An essential read for any aspiring or existing social entrepreneur. Full of practical examples of real life social enterprise scenarios and written in Robert's usual uncomplicated format" —Marc Davies, Wales Co-operative Centre Limited, walescoop.com "Social enterprises need social entrepreneurs. This book will help you decide is you've got what it takes to be one" —Peter Couchman, Chief Executive, Plunkett Foundation, plunkett.co.uk "This very practical book will guide you as to what it takes to be a social entrepreneur. Enjoy it and then do it!" —Lord Andrew Mawson OBE, author of The Social Entrepreneur: Making Communities Work, amawsonpartnerships.com "I was genuinely impressed by how comprehensive it is!" —Peter Holbrook, CEO, Social Enterprise Coalition, socialenterprise.org.uk "A treasure trove filled with practical insight and knowledge that will give you the edge to start, grow a sustainable and successful social enterprise" —Stephen Gyasi-Kwaw, CEO/Founder Youth Enhancement Int.Ghana "I particularly enjoyed the section on sales, which is a fundamental topic too often neglected" —Andy Brady, '3rd Sector Futures', Anglia Ruskin University, anglia.ac.uk Robert Ashton is a leading small business troubleshooter, entertaining small business speaker and the bestselling author of many business books including How to Start a Business for Entrepreneurs, Instant Entrepreneur and The Entrepreneur's Book of Checklists.

The field of social entrepreneurship continues to grow by leaps and bounds as innovative entrepreneurs find new ways to create a positive social impact on their community. More often than not these ventures find it difficult to expand their initial concepts into new environments. As funding for social programs on a government level tightens, the ability for social programs to broaden and deepen their impact while maintaining financial stability has never been more important. This goal is only achievable when good intentions are combined with comprehensive analysis and planning that takes all aspects of a venture's ecosystem into consideration. Paul N. Bloom, a professor of social entrepreneurship at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, explores the key components that any social entrepreneur needs to consider when approaching the challenge of scaling. Here Bloom explains the SCALERS model, which stresses that successful scaling requires organizational capabilities in seven areas: staffing, communicating, alliance-building, lobbying, earningsgeneration, replicating, and stimulating market forces. Rich with numerous examples of social entities that have developed these capabilities, Scaling Your Social Venture provides the tools to help social entrepreneurs take their venture to the next level.

Make the business of society your business No one knows the business of social entrepreneurship better than Rupert Scofield. Cofounder and president of FINCA International—a nonprofit microfinancing institution with 7,000 employees serving 750,000 customers in 21 countries—Scofield has been a social entrepreneur for 40 years. In The Social Entrepreneur’s Handbook, Scofield leads you through the entire process of starting up and running a nonprofit, sharing personal success stories and advice on what not to do—valuable lessons he learned the hard way. The process, while risky, isn’t as difficult as you might think. Practically speaking, you need only two things: an idea and a plan. The former comes from you and you alone. This book supplies the latter. The Social Entrepreneur’s Handbook illuminates the path to building a successful nonprofit from the ground up. You’ll learn how to: Create a realistic plan for getting started in your chosen cause Assemble the perfect team for putting your plan into action—and keeping it rolling in the right direction Develop a business model specifically designed to run a nonprofit organization Keep yourself, your staff, and your cause in solid financial shape One of the many beauties of social entrepreneurship is that it’s never too late to start. You can be right out of school or working in the highest ranks of corporate America. It doesn’t matter. Social entrepreneurship begins with a noble cause, which turns into a passion, and soon becomes a mission worth dedicating your life to. The Social Entrepreneur’s Handbook is the one and only resource you will need to attain your dream of working full-time in service to others—and making a real, measurable difference in the world.

Available for the First Time: The Complete Social Entrepreneur's Playbook Covers all three phases of the start-up to scale-up process, developed with reader feedback from "one of the more unusual ebook...experiments of the year" (ThinReads) Wharton professor Ian C. MacMillan and Dr. James Thompson, director of the Wharton Social Entrepreneurship Program, provide a tough-love approach that significantly increases the likelihood of a successful social enterprise launch in the face of the high-uncertainty conditions typically encountered by social entrepreneurs. MacMillan and Thompson used their own systematic framework to publish The Social Entrepreneur's Playbook. To test the market, they offered the first phase in their start-up method (step 1) as a free ebook. Readers were invited to join The Social Entrepreneur's Advisory Group, and nearly 300 aspiring and active social entrepreneurs shared feedback that helped shape the complete edition of the book, which covers all three steps in the start-up to scale-up process. Based on this crowd-sourced feedback from readers of the free ebook and drawing on the authors' more than 26 years' combined experience developing and studying social enterprises in the field across Africa and in the United States, this new edition provides guidance for each phase: Phase One: Pressure Test Your Start-Up Idea. Based on the free ebook, this expanded section now includes advice on setting revenue and social impact goals, how to navigate the sociopolitical landscape, and how to develop a strong concept statement. In addition, MacMillan and Thompson provide advice on how to identify and test a proposed revenue-generating solution and define and segment your target population. Phase Two: Plan Your Social Enterprise. All new to this edition, this critical phase shows you how to frame and scope the venture, determine what it will take to actually deliver a sustainable enterprise, identify the key assumptions that have been made, and design checkpoints to test those assumptions before making major investments. Phase Three: Launch and Scale Your Social Enterprise. Available for the first time in this edition, you will learn how to effectively launch your enterprise, manage upside potential and downside risk, and strategically scale up. Filled with accessible frameworks and tools, as well as inspiring stories of social entrepreneurs, The Social Entrepreneur's Playbook is a must-read for any aspiring or active social entrepreneur, as well as philanthropists, foundations, and nonprofits interested in doing more good with fewer resources. Includes access to downloadable planning documents, including user-friendly spreadsheets

Award-winning social entrepreneur Madeleine Shaw shares insights from her 25-year journey and offers tools and encouragement for others considering starting their own impact-based projects or ventures for the greater good. The Greater Good is a 21st century call to action for everyday people-particularly women and others who have traditionally been excluded from the mainstream business community-to tap their unique perspectives to found and lead successful social impact ventures. Groundbreaking menstrual health innovator Madeleine Shaw (co-founder of Aisle-previously known as Lunapads) presents an inspiring look at the inner journey behind creating businesses and initiatives that make a difference. In addition to sharing frank insights from her own career, she highlights the journeys of a host of other successful social entrepreneurs, and in so doing surfaces an emerging movement-a movement that may be the driver of a more just and sustainable future. Dispelling the myth that you need a business degree or a blockbuster tech idea to change the world, Shaw guides readers in mining their own experience, values, and passion to forge a unique and personal vision for the greater good.