For all the budding social entrepreneurs out there, the Harvard Business Review has pointed out two very important concepts not to be neglected during the planning process: Sustainability and Scale.
Regarding "scale", the article notes that: Therefore, for social ventures, our search for scalability is a search for the definition of what works, for procedures and interventions that can be replicated — perhaps still with high-energy investment, but in a consistent way in each new place to generate consistent impact.
Regarding "sustainability", two definitions: Firstly, "soundness of our organizations' financial footing" and secondly, "the durability of that social benefit".
Note that both definitions point, albeit indirectly, at one thing: the organization's bottom-line.
The importance of "scale" emphasizes the need to "generate consistent impact", which can only be brought about by continuous adaptation to changing circumstances as well as environmental and consumer pressures. Investment must be channeled proportionately to cater to a reasonable estimation of growth. Too high an estimate leads to a losing war against economies of scale, too low an estimate leads to customer dissatisfaction.
The importance of "sustainability" is clearly depicted in the emphasis on the "soundness of financial footing", but not so clearly in terms of "the durability of social benefit". While proper scaling brings about the necessary profit from consumers to carry the business forward, the impact on the targeted community varies from group to group, ensuring the necessity of customization of efforts. Customization is, unfortunately, not free-of-charge, and may require a certain amount of monetary investment to conduct pilot tests, surveys and research to ensure sustained impact.
A little planning can go a long way, and the results of good intentions can potentially be multiplied by spending a little more time considering these two valuable concepts.
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