Challenges related to getting financial support for female development projects
Discuss about the Practice To Develop Sustainable Business Model.
I=Change has faced challenge in the attraction of that of early stage investment. This had acted like a barrier for i=Change and an enterprise can get financial support after it has been operational for a few years. The management of the company found it difficult to raise the funds in relation to female development projects. They were not able to get the help of any kind of support system at the initial stage and this acted like a huge barrier in relation to their development projects. The options of i=Change in relation to raising funds from the financial institutions had been limited and this proved to be a setback for the social enterprise, i=Change. It was extremely difficult for i=Change to get support in the initial stages. The foundations want to offer fellowship only to those enterprises that have been around for a long time and this challenged i=Change (Bocken et al. 2014).
The weak financial structure within Australia made it very difficult for the social entrepreneur Jeremy Meltzer to make use of concrete financial support from those of formal financial institution. There is no standardized legal model within Australia that covers the social enterprises and hence the issue in relation to financing got more complicated for i=change (Porter and Kramer 2019). All these factors contributed to create a fragile environment in relation to sustainability of the enterprise. The social entrepreneur found it extremely difficult to get hold of the capital that could aid i=Change. The empowerment of women is an underfunded issue and the social enterprise i=Change found it difficult to get the funding that could help them in supporting female development projects. Balancing the need of operation of a successful business within that of a competitive environment proved to be a great challenge for i=change (Ortiz?de?Mandojana and Bansal 2016). Real business acumen is required by the entrepreneur running a social enterprise and Jeremy Meltzer initially had to face setbacks for supporting the female development projects. The social impact investor are generally willing to accept the financial dividend in return of the assurance that it will be able to benefit other people. The standards of the investors are unrealistically high on account of the complex inequities that are confronted (Dyllick and Muff 2016). Jeremy Meltzer’s business is supporting female development projects by taking recourse to corporate social responsibility and hence it is making use of a “Robin Hood model”. The income that is generated from the commercial activities were being used for providing subsidized service to the disadvantaged female class. Diversification brought about benefits but there were risk considerations that i=Change had to face and they were open to potential negligence claim (Witjes and Lozano 2016).
Issues related to balancing profit-making and social purpose
The intense focus in relation to price at that of the local authority level found i=Change in the midst of a competitive environment. I=Change had to compete with the local councils that were frequently undercutting the prices. Losing local authority contract proved to be disastrous for i=Change. It made them lose a large part of the business and being dependent on a single revenue stream proved to be disastrous for i=Change (Joyce and Paquin 2016). A social enterprise should take recourse to collaboration if it has to survive within that of the changing environment. The social enterprises are working in the midst of harsh environment has to partner with other organisations. There are some charities that are envious of the social work of other charities and the contribution of others are necessary so that it can work well. The other social enterprises did not offer their helping hand for i=Change that made it difficult for the company to survive in the midst of the hostile environment (Bocken, Rana and Short 2015). I=Change faced difficulties in the arena of striking of right balance between the diversification into different revenue streams and that of maintaining of core ethos. I=Change at several occasions lost sight of the social purpose as these kinds of enterprises may get attracted by money.
A social enterprise that focuses on generation of profits along with that of societal benefits have to face challenges in relation to competitive margin. Social mission initiatives paved the path for decreased margins that can negatively impact the profitability in relation to an enterprise. A large amount of the profit had been spent by I=Change for the female development project and this acted like a challenge for the enterprise. Dual business model in relation to I=Change created an environment that evoked tension that led the decision-makers of the company to focus on how to earn revenue instead of making the balanced decisions (Porter and Kramer 2019). I=Change lost sight of the purpose so that they could survive in the environment. Finding the perfect balance between profit-making and that of people proved to be a hurdle in the path of I=Change. Mission drift occurred in the organisation that led the social enterise away from the intended path.
The traditional commercial start-ups are asked to be transparent in relation to the business practice in respect to the environmental impact but the social enterprises are asked to do so from the very start (Ridley-Duff and Bull 2015). The social enterprises have to provide case to understand whether the intervention is effective irrespective of the competition.
Strategies for success: crowd-funding, social media, and sustainable business models
There are many kinds of financial support system that is available for the social enterprise. I=Change should target the large networks and this can help the brand in benefitting from that of crowd funding website. Crowd funding can prove to be a success factor for I=Change owing to two reasons- pre-orders along with press coverage. It can help in driving the revenue of the company and create awareness in relation to I=Change. Crowd funding can prove to be a useful tool that can help in measuring the success of the social enterprise (Wry and York 2017). It can provide I=Change with instant feedback regarding how the community would take their business idea.
Social Media can be made use of by I=Change that can act as a valuable tool. Story-telling can act as the centre in relation to social enterprise and the stories of the girls can be highlighted with the help of social media that can help in them in relation to the female development projects. Showing the face of the young girls who have been able to benefit from that of the initiative of I=Change can help them in creating a position in the market. The photos and narratives of the girls should be shown to the public that can help them in their drive in relation to corporate social responsibility (Fowler, Coffey and Dixon-Fowler 2017). The philanthropic missions of the company should be elaborated over social media that can help them in relation to their business.
Innovative strategic thinking can be made use of by I=Change that can help them in reducing the environmental impact and it can help in the creation of higher value within that of the society. The stakeholders of I=Change should be involved in the transition like that of policy makers and technology. The green agenda is very popular in the present age and they can make use of circular economy that can help in the sustainability of their business. The systems approach of I=Change should be able to understand the relationship of the different components that can ensure their success in the competitive environment (Bocken et al. 2014). The Balanced Scorecard can be used as a strategic planning tool that can help I=Change in achieving the desired results. They should be able to develop the new solutions that can help them in solving the social problems. I=Change should be financially sustainable and they should not rely on that of government support for their continued success. They should compare the business model with that of a traditional non-profit organization and I=Change should create such a business model that can help them in the creation of social value that can be measured. The circular economy should be considered among the success factors in relation to the social enterprise, I=Change. Change in relation to value proposition can act as an important variable that can help I=Change in staying successful within the industry. The model of I=Change should take care of the fact that strategic direction of organization is in relation to environmental problem (Joyce and Paquin 2016). This can help in the remodelling of the value proposition and can ensue the sustainability of their business.
References:
Bocken, N.M., Short, S.W., Rana, P. and Evans, S., 2014. A literature and practice review to develop sustainable business model archetypes. Journal of cleaner production, 65, pp.42-56.
Porter, M.E. and Kramer, M.R., 2019. Creating shared value. In Managing Sustainable Business (pp. 327-350). Springer, Dordrecht.
Ortiz?de?Mandojana, N. and Bansal, P., 2016. The long?term benefits of organizational resilience through sustainable business practices. Strategic Management Journal, 37(8), pp.1615-1631.
Dyllick, T. and Muff, K., 2016. Clarifying the meaning of sustainable business: Introducing a typology from business-as-usual to true business sustainability. Organization & Environment, 29(2), pp.156-174.
Witjes, S. and Lozano, R., 2016. Towards a more Circular Economy: Proposing a framework linking sustainable public procurement and sustainable business models. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 112, pp.37-44.
Joyce, A. and Paquin, R.L., 2016. The triple layered business model canvas: A tool to design more sustainable business models. Journal of Cleaner Production, 135, pp.1474-1486.
Bocken, N.M.P., Rana, P. and Short, S.W., 2015. Value mapping for sustainable business thinking. Journal of Industrial and Production Engineering, 32(1), pp.67-81.
Ridley-Duff, R. and Bull, M., 2015. Understanding social enterprise: Theory and practice. Sage.
Wry, T. and York, J.G., 2017. An identity-based approach to social enterprise. Academy of Management Review, 42(3), pp.437-460.
Fowler, E.A., Coffey, B.S. and Dixon-Fowler, H.R., 2017. Transforming Good Intentions into Social Impact: A Case on the Creation and Evolution of a Social Enterprise. Journal of Business Ethics, pp.1-14.
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