Determining your business model is a big decision for any entrepreneur, but perhaps even more so for a social entrepreneur. At Fast Forward we talk to tons of social entrepreneurs who have built amazing tech for good products, but gotten stuck when trying to determine if they’ll incorporate as a 501c3 nonprofit or not.
Focus on Social Impact as a Social Entrepreneur
When your focus is on social impact, there’s strong rationale for the nonprofit model. But in the early days, a social entrepreneur is fielding advice from so many different people, some of whom will likely recommend for-profit as the best approach. How do you decide what’s best suited for your company’s mission?
3 Questions to Ask When Determining your Business Model
We partnered with Comcast NBCUniversal to make the decision-making process a little easier for social entrepreneurs. This week we’re sharing the 3 essential questions every social entrepreneur must ask themselves before making the business model commitment:
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- Who is your customer?
- What is your mission?
- Could nonprofit status be your competitive advantage?
In the video above, we unpack these questions and share stories of how Fast Forward alumni like Sixto Cancel of Think of Us, Liz Lee of OnlineSOS, and Heejae Lim of TalkingPoints have used the nonprofit model to succeed. You might be surprised by some of the hacks, or “nonprofit judo,” these social entrepreneurs have used to get to where they are today.
