Guest post by Jasper Vallance, Marketing Director at StartSomeGood

Social enterprise is an idea whose time has come. All around us we are seeing growing demand for purpose-led products and brands, not only from consumers but workers and even investors.

There’s never been a better time to start a social enterprise, and the world has never needed your ideas and energy more, if we’re to achieve a more equal and sustainable future.

But let’s not mince words: starting a social enterprise is hard.

At StartSomeGood, we work with emerging social entrepreneurs every day through our crowdfunding community, courses and events.

We have seen many many people attempt to launch their enterprise, full of optimism, hope and good intentions. But these things alone are not enough.

You also need incredible clarity into your impact and business model, your specific target market, story and go-to-market strategy. You need a great product and a great pitch. You need a great team and a supportive community around you.

At StartSomeGood, we’ve all been where you are. Filled with a big idea and a desire to make a difference, passionate about our purpose and excited about the opportunity to create something ourselves.

As a team of social entrepreneurs and founders, we also know how challenging the leap from idea to public launch can be, and we’ve learned that it is worth it to take the time to carefully design and test your idea before you get to that point.

This report should give you greater clarity on where you are and where you need to focus your efforts to get launch or growth-ready.

From 12 years of helping people like you launch impact enterprises and projects we have learned that there are five big things that matter most when launching.

We call these the 5C’s of Launch Readiness

CLARITY – how clear are you on your impact model, business model and value proposition, and can you explain this to potential supporters, customers, investors and collaborators in a compelling, intuitive way?

CREDIBILITY – You may have an inspiring story and a great idea, but without signaling your Credibility it’s hard to get people to listen. Credibility can come from a number of different places, from your own previous experience to showcase the progress you’ve made so far to endorsement from thought-leaders and partnerships with credible organizations.

COMMUNITY (that’s carefully curated) – you need to know who this is for, and who is most likely to care and support. A common mistake passion changemakers often make is saying their idea is for “everyone.” That may be your aspiration, but it’s not realistic, especially at the beginning. You need to focus on a specific niche that will respond to your message and your offer, otherwise you’re just spraying and praying.

THE RIGHT CHANNELS – once you’re clear on how you are trying to reach you need to figure out how to most effectively reach them.

COURAGE – as a founder you need to demonstrate courageous leadership. It takes a lot of guts to start something new, and for a lot of people pitching on stage or to a big potential client is incredibly scary, but you’re going to need to do it anyway.

You likely have some of these but may be weak in others, and without all five elements in place you’re unlikely to make progress.

What are your blindspots?

Take 5 minutes to complete the Social Enterprise Launch Readiness Scorecard.  

Need help closing your gaps?

This is why StartSomeGood exists.   

Our Good Hustle course has been designed and optimized to set you up for success to make a difference and achieve sustainable growth.

Our next Good Hustle course starts on the 27th March.  Attend the free info session to learn more about the course from Tom Dawkins himself.  

If you’re based in Queensland, you are in luck thanks to support from the Queensland Government which has funded the Emerge course (based on the Good Hustle) specifically for those in QLD.  Which means it’s free to join – learn more here.

If you’re looking for inspiration and connections, you can find it through our StartSomeGood Network community.