How do we measure success in the classroom? Well, here is a little moment for me that made it all worth it! Wednesday of last week, it all came together. I teach Hybrid Entrepreneurship at Clemson…I also teach a business writing class, both classes are wrapped around entrepreneurship. Wednesday was the day of success.
I teach both of these classes back to back. The Business Writing class at 2:30pm and the Hybrid Entrepreneurship class at 4pm. When I walked into the Business Writing class, one of my students had a huge smile on her face. It was a smile of passion. This semester, they are writing about their passion, their business idea, and putting it in a business plan. Each class, a new piece of the puzzle is due then inserted into their business plan notebook. She had an idea.
As I made my way to the front of the class, she began pitching her idea. She explained the vision, the customers, the market, and how much it would cost. She had the entrepreneurial spirit and looked at me and asked, “Do you think I can do it?” I said…”What is stopping you?” She sat and thought…she said…”The money and the time.” The more we talked, the more I realized the idea was great and expensive. I told her to take what we learned in this class and write the plan. You could see she could not wait to get out the door and put her thoughts on paper. The spirit was alive.
As class ended, I made my way to Sirrine Hall for Hybrid Entrepreneurship. This class has to create a business idea that would solve a social problem yet generate profit. We are almost done with the project and I have been encouraging each group to not stop at the end of the semester. Each of the five groups have viable business ideas solving real social problems. Each could start a business immediately.
Two members of a group came to class early to find me. They had a question, “How do we actually make this a business?” They wanted to know about creating a LLC and they also wanted to know about how to manage the finances. They wanted to know about partner agreements. They were serious. They have a great business idea and they were ready to make the leap of faith into the world of entrepreneurship.
My goal with these classes, to teach the culture of entrepreneurship. I wanted to find and unlock the hidden passion and potential. These bright students are the leaders and innovators of tomorrow, they are the creative class. This day was a day of success, they are beginning to think beyond the A’s and B’s…and how to convert ideas into viable business ideas. Regardless if they succeed, they wanted to get up to the plate and take a swing at that fast ball.
So I have been doing some research looking for companies and individuals engaging in this new trend of Hybrid Entrepreneurship. Yes…those who want to solve a social problem as major initiative, yet they do not want to be a non-profit. They want to generate profits and create a sustainable change, social progress. I found this student in New York City with similar thoughts.
Yes…we feel ya my friend. This is a conversational trend, Bloomberg Businessweek wrote about this trending topic in 2009…the idea of turning a profit solving a social problems. Here is a story about the Greystone Foundation…click here to read and watch. Are they Hybrid? It sure did lead to an interesting class discussion in my ELE 499 class at Clemson.
So what has brought about this trend…this need for sustainable change. With the trends of “going green” to “sustainability,” organizations are realizing that the world of running “not for profit” business models is not a one-size fits all. Back in 2004, some were still calling it Social Entrepreneurship. Click here to listen to Randy Komisar and his interview from Stanford’s Entrepreneur Corner. But there are those that do not feel like it fits into that model nicely.
This semester, I have been teaching a new class at Clemson in the Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurship. The whole point of the class is to explore, define, articulate, and showcase an emerging entrepreneurial area known as Hybrid Entrepreneurship. Late last year, I wrote about this new emerging area as I was preparing to teach this class…you can read about it by clicking here.
So…the class is compiling case studies and examples of what we define as Hybrid Entrepreneurship. But before we can do that…we have to define as a baseline. So below are four definitions from four groups of students in this class:
Improving a social condition with the intent of making profit through traditional and untraditional business methods.
An entrepreneurial endeavor with goal to provide social change. The business has to generate profit but cant give all profits to charity. The product or profit can provide social change and must be disclosed and included in the business plan.
One whose focal point is to bring about positive social change or create awareness of a social problem while making a profit.
Organization or individual that is driven by a social need, but operation runs with a double bottom line of profit and social.
So if you take each of these four definitions and place them in a word cloud, this is what you would find.
Can you think of any companies that might meet these criteria?
Teaching entrepreneurship is one of the biggest challenges I have under-taken in a while…but here I am teaching at the Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurship. Little ole me with my little business teaching tomorrow’s knowledge economy. Sometimes it is kind-of frightening, but more so enlightening.
The one thing I am rustling with internally…whether entrepreneurship is a learned concept or is it embedded in our “DNA”? I worked for a great entrepreneur a few years ago who hit it big during the telecom days. He used to tell me that entrepreneurship is exercising and unleashing your God given, natural talent. He did not try to explain how to take an idea, leverage your resources, and bringing that idea to market. No…he talked about having passion for an idea and bring it to fruition.
Entrepreneurship to me is more about language and culture. Was I born with the innate ability to become an entrepreneur? Or was it a series of life experiences and connections that led to that point in time when I worked for an entrepreneur, and he unlocked the urge to seek entrepreneurship. Did he teach me entrepreneurship or surround me with that language, showing the opportunities when seeking out my own marketable interests?
The culture or entrepreneurship for me is about passion. What is the one thing that you love to do, the thing that gets you up in the morning and makes you tick. What would be the one thing you would want to do if the world was going to end tomorrow. What is your life passion? For serial entrepreneurs, they have evolving interests. They have numerous passions, one that leads to the next. But it is more than just language and culture, it is identifying that desire to bring an idea to market and acting on those impulses…taking the leap.
I am coming up on the one year anniversary of officially being out on my own. Yes…it is going to be a big day for me. Little context, in January 2007, I entered the world of start-ups joining a technology company. Great group of people, but it ended up being an evolution of previous technology companies rolling over debt from one to the next. They closed the doors the day after I closed on our house. Me and few of my co-workers decided to negotiate the purchase of that business (client list and assets), and off I was jumping into another start-up with new partners. What a learning experience.
What did I learn? Well, choose partners wisely and have a good agreement in-place. I also learned that I had the personality and the drive to venture out on my own…and do what I am passionate about, telling stories. My former partners are now running a successful business and pushing forward with their vision and I am excited for their success. So here I am, less than a month from starting Bobby Rettew, llc.
So now as I am in planning stages for year two…I am putting together my strategic plan for the next few years. I am excited about the opportunities, some cool projects on the horizon, and thinking through how I want to grow my business. This is the fun part…planning the dream and putting a plan in place to make it happen.
I am also excited about my teaching career and growing academically. It is my humble opinion that teaching at a major university has given me credibility and opened doors that normally would take years to open. I began teaching at Clemson University with the Advanced Writing Program, teaching Business Writing in the Department of English. I was able to leverage that opportunity to create a student led networking event called NetworkBash. These events have been great over the last two years. Now I am joining the Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurship to begin teaching Hybrid Entrepreneurship this coming spring. This growth academically has taught me how to manage my business, my clients, my classes, and serve my passion…to tell stories.
So how do we meet our goals, how do we push forward? How? Well, I am not perfect but this is what I am thinking.
1. Have a focus! Yes, know who you are and where you are going. What is the mission statement for your business? Seriously think about what problem(s) are you trying to solve and can you generate revenue by servicing this need? Balance your passion with how you can generate revenue. We are in business to make money…right?
2. Have a plan! Not only a simple business plan…but a short term and long term business plan that maps out goals; covers all aspects of your business. What happens if you hit a recession, what happens during a time of growth, where do you want to grow and how will you get there? This plan should be re-evaluated on a quarterly basis for goal setting, then yearly for revisions and re-focus.
3. Have a mentor! Find someone that you can talk to outside of your business. This person should be someone you can trust and provide perspective while building and growing your business.
4. Grow professionally! Have a place to step outside of the business, a place to stretch the brain and grow. This could be conferences, continuing education, workshops, etc. Plan to take time off for this growth, and plan financially for this expense. I just joined WOMMA and this is a huge investment for me and my business. Not only financially but also when it comes to time commitment. I want to leverage this knowledge for my business growth.
5. Grow your network! Continue to grow your sphere and be willing to remove people from your sphere if they are not helping you grow. Continually evaluate and re-evaluate where you spend your time networking and where you can find like-minded people.
6. Retain professional help! Have a good accountant and attorney. They will not only provide professional advice but will help you grow your business and protect your interests. I have both and THEY ROCK! TJ Way of Nason Way Accounting, LLC and Andy Arnold of W. Andrew Law Firm make my life easy!
7. Make time for family! Work hard and play hard. I take three vacations a year with a minimum of a week each. This lets me get away from business and re-energize. Also…know when to turn off business when you are home with the ones you love. I am always learning to make this distinction…it can be tough!
8. Have the desire to grow! Seek ways to become a better person and know that you have faults. Be willing to grow from each decision you make!
9. Treat your customers/clients like family! It is all about relationships. You want to be on the speed dial so that you can be their expert.
10. Love your business! Keep the passion alive so people can feel that passion when you walk in the door.
Where am I taking this business, well that is for me to know and you to find out. No big secrets…just working on my year two plan. But I do know this…my failures over the last 20 plus years have taught me so much. From starting as a broadcast journalist, through graduate school, multiple start-ups…and now my own deal. I am so fortunate to be where I am today. I just want to have some fun! Year two…here I come! Also…my CFO (my wife) has given the ultimate support needed to be successful, thanks beautiful!
So I have been asked to join the Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurship at Clemson University as a lecturer. I have been teaching Business Writing in the Department of English for the past two years…so this is going to be a fun challenge. It is funny how things happen, people you meet, and how planets align. After meeting with Dave Wyman this morning, he is the Interim Director of the Spiro Institute…we have a great plan for this class.
If you are interested in the curriculim of the Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurship, CLICK HERE and you will see the class I am teaching: ELE 499 – Executive Leadership and Entrepreneurship III provides an opportunity for high-potential students to participate in an entrepreneurial field experience such as starting their own businesses or participating in a special project.
So what is Hybrid Entrepreneurship? Hmm…well this will be part of the introduction to this class. But, let’s try to define. If you look at the triangle above, you will see the three points entitled Entrepreneurship, Cause/Passion, and Profit/Discipline. If you look at Wikipedia, it defines the word “entrepreneur” as a person who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. Bottomline, the person(s) see a need, take a calculated risk to bring this idea to market with the sole purpose of gaining a return or profit. The other point of the triangle is “Cause/Passion” where someone has the desire and the passion for a “cause” and solves a social problem. And the “Profit/Discipline” point is where a person(s) gains some return from this idea using some defined discipline. Hybrid Entrepreneurship falls right in the center of this triangle.
Some would say that this sounds like Social Entrepreneurship? Hmm, well one again Wikipedia does a good job! Social Entrepreneurship is defined as someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Whereas business entrepreneurs typically measure performance in profit and return, social entrepreneurs assess their success in terms of the impact they have on society. While social entrepreneurs often work through nonprofits and citizen groups, many work in the private and governmental sectors.
Social Entrepreneurs tyically have the goal to take the “profit” that is generated from the venture and re-invest back into the cause. Making a profit is not the ultimate goal but a byproduct of the greater good for the cause.
Some people think that Hybrid Entrepreneurship to be similar, if not the same, as Social Entrepreneurship. Hybrid Entrepreneurs are ones that have the same social responsibility yet have no problem with making a profit, and are willing to disclose this part of the purpose.
So…what is the purpose of the class? Well, to teach students about Hybrid Entrepreneurship and find opportunities/projects in the community to help solve problems and create business ideas to solve these problems.
Here is the fun part about this class…we will be using video and social media to document and track the projects in this class. The class will be structured to achieve a couple of goals:
1) We will be taking requests from community organizations that have some “problem” that needs to be solved…they have a need. These organizations will submit a request and the class will pick 5 to 6 different problems/issues to analyze. We will invite these organizations to the class to make a 10 to 15 minute presentation and the class will make an assessment then recommendations. Then the presenting organization will select the best recommendations during the class session. We will do this over a four week period.
2) The next part of this class will be dedicated to finding a social problem and solving this issue. The natural part of the first section of this class. The students will be exposed to local organizations and their problems through the above presentations. This will create a natural dialogue…to look for other similar ideas to solve. OR, they can pick from one of the presentations. This project will be to find, research, and solve a problem…then present in s a final presentation using video and presentation slides. The students will have to document this process using video (probably flip cams) and online properties like Twitter and Blogs.
The goal of this class, to explore the idea of Hyrbid Entrepreneurship through research and praxis. I LOVE IT!
I would love to hear from you? Have any examples of Hybrid and/or Social Entrepreneurship? Please share!
Much of this blog was based on information from Will Marre, check out his site by CLICKING HERE.
