This resource provides key operational, social, and financial criteria a social enterprise should consider when deciding how to grow. Social enterprise executive teams who are evaluating the potential of a growth strategy should review this resource and develop their own set of venture criteria.
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Growing an ESE
Learn more about how to grow your ESE to new and sustainable heights!
Welcome to the pivotal stage of growing your Employment Social Enterprise (ESE), where your vision expands and the possibilities are boundless. This phase involves a strategic process of evaluating feasibility and crafting a comprehensive strategy for pursuing new avenues of expansion, each holding the potential to amplify your social impact.
Growing an ESE isn’t just about scaling up; it’s about making well-informed choices that align with your mission and values. These choices may include exploring new business lines, launching innovative products, diversifying your sales channels, establishing partnerships with government agencies, or expanding your reach into new geographical areas.
A thoughtfully developed growth plan is your compass in this journey. It empowers you to allocate your limited resources optimally, ensuring they are directed toward the most promising initiatives. It also equips you to analyze growth options from various angles, considering social, financial, operational, and organizational aspects. Importantly, it enables you to effectively communicate the rationale behind your growth decisions to key stakeholders, including your dedicated employees, board members, and valued funders.
In this section of our website, our comprehensive resources will equip you with the knowledge and tools to assess the requirements for your growth journey, from personnel and equipment to facilities, all while carefully considering the potential impact on your current operations.We understand that growth can be both exhilarating and challenging, and we’re here to support you every step of the way.
Welcome to the world of expanding possibilities and deepening impact. Your journey to grow your Employment Social Enterprise is not just about doing more; it’s about doing more with purpose. Together, we’ll continue to shape a brighter future for your organization and the communities it serves. Get ready to embark on this exciting adventure of growth and positive change.
Resources For Your Journey
Growth planning is the process followed by organizations to determine IF & HOW to pursue a new growth opportunity such as starting a new business line, launching a new product, opening a new sales channel, or expanding geographically to a new location.
During my annual evaluations with my Board, I began giving transition signals, saying that I saw myself remaining in my CEO role for “no longer than five years.” Then it became “two to five years” …and then “about two years.” Until one day, I said to my Board Chair and Vice-Chair, “I would like to leave in a year.”
Session 1 began with an introduction to some of the basics to consider when you're getting started on your organization's succession plan
This deep dive will cover some of the key components to implementing an effective job readiness assessment process, as well as share a tool that can help you do so.
The tool establishes a threshold for essential skills and personal readiness for social enterprise employees ready to move into competitive employment. The standards are compelling because they are designed to measure workers’ on-the-job performance, rather than a measurement of inputs or test-based performance.
Intro A growth plan is a social enterprise’s articulated vision and rationale for how it will grow its business in the marketplace and scale its ability to achieve its mission. In order to develop a clearly articulated, compelling, and comprehensive growth plan, you will need to address at least the following considerations: Below, we explore […]
You can use this tool to determine whether prospective customers are a good fit for the organization and how likely they are to become customers.
Logic Models are useful tools to help ESEs write out their plan for impact and how to potentially measure it!
The strategic purpose of major gifts is to activate generosity through personal, high-touch donor relationships.