What is a viable social enterprise?

Here’s a suggested framework from my colleague Jim Kucher (founder/managing director, Income for Outcomes).

A viable social enterprise must have:

• A viable social change theory (what makes you think you can actually effect the change you seek)
• Market opportunity analysis (both social and commercial – who is in this space, what are they doing, why is that not working)
• Venture feasibility study (again, social and commercial – are there enough customers, can you price competitively, etc.)
• Match to mission (sadly, not focused on nearly enough IMHO)
• Capital access plan (ok,so who’s gonna pay for this, and what is the plan for return on investment)
• Exit strategy (not just financial but social- how will you know when you have effected the change you seek)

Therefore, assisting in developing each of these becomes our work, and the way we go about that work becomes the “code”.