Social Enterprise – We try harder.

Like some old marketing campaigns in the 80’s for Avis,  highlighting their 2nd place market share to Hertz Rent-a-Cars, Social purpose enterprise hybrids know they are in second place to for-profit run businesses in steely cold profitability.  Yet, the social enterprises may have an advantage,  in fact, if they work harder.

There is a grass-roots craving in this country to get back to basics.   Small business owners want to make a comfortable living, but they want to disengage from the greed and excess that has  been driving the American market place culture of late.   They want to take back their positions of responsibility and appreciation to their local communities and beyond.

Social purpose enterprise can’t rely simply on good mission. It must provide an equal or better product and service and link that to its mission.  The message to the for-profit-world from the social enterprise world must be saying  our products and services will meet your needs to be more profitable and your participation in our mission will fulfill your needs to be better members of the human community.

It’s happening.  I get calls every day from people all over our country and even places away who want their purchases to have that double value of comfortable profitability and social responsibility.  Social purpose is very marketable in these tough times and should be a model for government as we progress to better our human situation.

Public and Private Support are Critical to Social Enterprise.

We spend a lot of time and energy marketing our commercial products and industrial services that generate the financial currency to fulfill our social mission.   We do this because it is necessary to survive and promote our cause.

There are reasons to supplement the funding for the mission of  The Nezinscot Guild so as to accomplish the goals of our social purpose.  Private and Public  partnership is necessary!

Yes, we manufacture quality wood products and we perform respected repackaging services for industry, but we also do many of the professional activities associated with social service agencies.

The human capital of our organization is our most important product.  It is why we exist at all.

We are a manufacturer of quality products and services on the surface.  But first we advocate for and train our potential employees.  We analyze their skills and any possible barriers to productivity.    After assessment we create jigs and other disciplines to overcome whatever physical and cognitive obstacles that may exist to prevent successful employment.

We create an environment of support and encouragement well beyond the norms or expectations of regular small business.  We acclimate people to the culture of the work place.

We provide an environment of trial and error experiences in a dynamic small business.  We feel the time we invest in a potential worker with disabilities will benefit our enterprise, the individual and the community.

This attention to making people with special needs successful is part of our success as a social purpose enterprise.  But it does have a cost beyond the operations of a small business.  Time spent encouraging and enabling people to succeed doesn’t fully get recaptured in the cost and profit we return on our products and services sales.  If we were to charge the full cost of our social investment in addition to  our commercial products and services costs we would no longer be competitive in the market place.

Social services are, by  their nature, not profitable. Combining enterprise with social service has the real potential to slash tax payer costs and eliminate the inefficiencies of government bureaucracy in meeting society’s obligation to its less fortunate citizens.  While savings to the American tax payer is clearly an outcome, only the naive would suggest that social enterprise can cover the full cost of services for social responsibility.

The Nezinscot Guild has self supported itself for 31 years.  We currently fund 95% of our operational expense through our businesses.  We need public and private partners to grow our special services and mission as we strive for 100% self sufficiency.