Why social entrepreneurs should have a profit goal
I got into a battle today. Not a real fight, but a word battle. At a network meeting, I met someone and we started a conversation. In the beginning, it was a nice chit-chat on our businesses and then suddenly this nice gentleman started judging social entrepreneurs for wanting to make a profit with their business. In his opinion, it wasn’t ethical. You do good or you do business. In his opinion, you can’t do both.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
WHAT THE HELL IS HE THINKING?
Unfortunately, he is not the only one. There are still some people who think that social entrepreneurs “don’t have a life” so they don’t have to make a living. They are good for society but they are not supposed to make a profit.
And what angers and scares me is that there are social entrepreneurs who believe the same thing. They are so busy making a difference in other people’s lives that they forget their own. By the way, I don’t call them social entrepreneurs, they are social servants.
As an entrepreneur, you have to think about profit to sustain your business. But also sustain your income for you and if applicable, for your family. In my training, I teach my students my own 3 L-method to give them clarity why they MUST focus on profit too.
As an individual you have 3 kinds of costs:
Livelihood (like rent or mortgage, groceries, insurances, etcetera).
Leisure and lovely things (like hobbies, holidays, theme park, etcetera).
Life after work (retirement).
I know that money isn’t what drives social entrepreneurs, but you have to make a profit to pay the bills, enjoy life and think about the future. If you’re not making any profit you can’t have those things. And instead, you’re going to have a lot of other things like debt, stress, burn-out. Believe me, I’ve been there. So I know what I’m talking about. Maybe THAT is the reason why I’m pressuring my students to think about the earnings of their business ideas.
Did you manage to figure out a business model for your social venture? Or are you still struggling? If so, I invite you to contact me to see if I can help you find a solution.
And if you did find a solution then it would be great to hear your story. Please share it in the comment box below to inspire others.
Grace & Gratitude,
Erica
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