This was the message from the inaugural Entrepreneurs’ Summit hosted by Opportunity International Australia in Sydney this week.

The Summit brought together four leading experts in the field of social entrepreneurships, each of whom shared their vision for the future of social entrepreneurship, with discussions ranging from ways in which Government can play its part, to how Australia can foster a culture of philanthropy and volunteering in Australia.

The four panellists leading the discussion were Kristina Keneally, the former Premier of NSW responsible for the induction of social impact bonds, Benjamin Chong, CEO of Right Click Capital and business mentor, Allan English, Founder of Silver Chef and the English Family Foundation and Celia Hodson, CEO of the School for Social Entrepreneurs.

As CEO of Right Click Capital, Ben Chong identifies, invests in and helps grow a range of internet businesses.  Mr Chong said that the culture of volunteering and philanthropy in Australia was not as strong as in some other countries and needed to improve if young social entrepreneurs were to receive the support they need.  Regulation is also a barrier according to Chong.

“Social entrepreneurs need the freedom to move quickly with their ideas and not be strangled by red tape,” he said.

Allan English spoke about his experiences as a philanthropist and entrepreneur, and said that firing up young people already passionate about social causes is key. 

“Giving someone a higher purpose to work towards seems to give them permission to really succeed,” he said, “And I find that when I am employing young people, the fact that they will be working for a company that gives back to the community in a real way through organisations like Opportunity International Australia is very appealing, and can make the difference to attracting the best people.”

Celia Hodson, CEO of the School for Social Entrepreneurs agreed, adding that it is crucial to give social entrepreneurs and enterprises the tools they need to become sustainable, and for these businesses to value themselves and act, in many ways, as a real business does.

“Too many social entrepreneurs don’t even consider paying themselves a wage, let alone looking at business processes, cash flow management and the like, and that has to change,” she said.  “If a social enterprise isn’t successful because it is not well run, then it achieves nothing.”

As the pioneer of the concept of social impact bonds in Australia, Kristina Keneally concluded by saying that there were myriad difficulties for social entrepreneurs seeking support, in that Government tends to be inflexible, risk-averse and entrenched in the past.  “They will implement some good ideas, but then don’t give them the time and support they need to be successful, and are too quick to punish failure by cutting programs rather than looking at ways of improving them,” she said.

“The bottom line is that we all need to sit down and have the really hard conversations.  Tax revenue is falling just as demand for social services is rising, and the reality is that Government can no longer afford to deliver services at a level expected by most Australians.  Other ways forward need to be found.”

“Increased support for social entrepreneurship is one way that the shortfall could start to be addressed,” she explained.

The host of the event, Robert Dunn, CEO of Opportunity International Australia, concluded by saying that the type of microfinance programs that Opportunity International supports often start because of a passionate response to poverty and disadvantage.

“Social entrepreneurship in Australia is no different, and that it is why we are so pleased to be looking at ways of encouraging social programs everywhere.”

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With more than 40 years’ experience working with the poor, Opportunity is a leading provider and pioneer of socially focused microfinance and support services. Its Social Performance Management (SPM) project commenced in 2008 and is a multi-year project aimed at enabling Opportunity’s microfinance institution (MFI) partners to gauge the effectiveness of their work in three areas:  delivery of services; their ability to reach target clients (those living in poverty); and the impact on clients’ lives.

Opportunity says that the effective delivery of services is dependent on robust up-to-date information on who is using the services and how their lives are changing as a result. However, with no standard methods of managing social performance, Opportunity’s MFI partners have struggled to assess their impact. Opportunity’s program provides this information and enables MFI partners on the ground to access and apply this information themselves.

So far the project has designed and piloted an innovative and effective program to assess client protection and outreach. The support from the Macquarie Group Foundation will enable Opportunity to roll-out these two elements across MFI partners’ operations, and to assist them in developing systems to assess how microfinance is transforming clients’ lives.

The project will be rolled out initially in India and has the potential to assist its partners across the other regions it operates, namely Indonesia, the Philippines and Africa.

Stephen Robertson, Philanthropy Director at Opportunity International Australia noted: “The successful deployment of this project will enable our microfinance partners to effectively monitor and implement their programs to achieve their overall mission to help people out of poverty. As a result of this project we expect our microfinance program will target the right people with best-fit services which will deliver lasting benefits to them, their families and their communities. We are enormously grateful to the Macquarie Group Foundation for their support.”

4 July 2012

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Across the rest of the world there has been explosive growth in the number of social entrepreneurs over the past decade— innovators who take a business-like approach to solving social problems.  According to Opportunity, whilst Australia has long lagged behind its foreign counterparts in nurturing social entrepreneurship, the tide appears to be turning.
 
Universities are embracing the discipline of social entrepreneurship, both in terms of the research they conduct and the options for studying this field.  For the one million university students in Australia there are now at least six universities in Australia offering social enterprise or entrepreneurship studies.  This compares to 250 courses offered in the US, where university students number more than 17 million, and 20 opportunities to study this discipline for the UK’s two million university students.
 
Stephen Robertson, Philanthropy Director of Opportunity International Australia commented: “The growth in social entrepreneurship as a field of study is in response to student demand.  For many years prominent universities in America, such as Yale, have offered courses in the field and we are seeing burgeoning interest in Australia.  For example the University of Sydney, Swinburne and Adelaide University all offer either modules of study or full courses for budding social entrepreneurs and the School for Social Entrepreneurs has also recently set up its Australian campus.”
 
Opportunity also credits the Government with helping to stimulate social businesses through initiatives such as The Social Enterprise Development and Investment Fund (SEDIF) which provides funding to social enterprise.  SEDIF is also playing a role in helping to engage the private sector. A total of 105 social enterprise projects have been funded to the total value of $73.6 million.
 
While more is being done to encourage new enterprises through the likes of SEDIF funding programs, Opportunity also claims that social entrepreneurialism is the new breed of philanthropy and is attracting Australia’s top entrepreneurial minds.
 
Stephen Robertson commented:  “We are seeing a trend for entrepreneurs who have built successful empires to apply their skills to social businesses. If you were to look across the BRW Rich List you would see many faces now successfully turning their hands to social enterprise or supporting entrepreneurs in some capacity.  Indeed many of our own donors are entrepreneurs who have chosen to support Opportunity because nurturing and helping entrepreneurs in developing countries is what we are all about.”
 
Opportunity claims that there are a number of synergies that companies look for when offering support to social entrepreneurs and social businesses:  a logical fit between their existing business and the new venture, chemistry between the parties, a natural fit with the brand, commercial viability, longevity and ability to leave their legacy, and opportunity for the entrepreneur to grow and develop their personal skills.
 
Stephen Robertson concluded: “Entrepreneurs are not prepared to throw money at any social business, rather they are extremely considered and the opportunity must tick all the boxes, both commercially and personally.”

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