Women in social enterprise, forget the “soft touch”, focus on this instead.

Focus on the essential (in this post and the ones that precede… we are here to serve!)

• People are waiting for your insights. Spend your time building a strong process, then deliver and evidence your work; segment your participants in meaningful categories. Learn from your results, amend, pilot again and ship for good.
• Then become an educator in this market.
• Bring the discipline and the proof (they are not separable) that your model makes a difference
• You have got  a chance of a lifetime and the opportunities to make a difference in this market place. Seize it.
• Angels find new businesses at pre-revenue stage very difficult so chase any small amount of money you can.
• As an entrepreneur, you need to be outstanding in putting your story across. Make it understandable, jargon-free, granny proof!
• Investors are not here to fund a lifestyle for you, it’s about shared risks.
• Cornerstones invest if your business has a chance to attract angel investment.
• If you can go to a bank, get a cheaper loan!
• Get yourself a financially savvy mentor or a non-exec finance director for instance.
• You need to be able to challenge figures as the business grows. If it is not your speciality, have you envisaged attending a course in finances for non-financial managers? If not, do so. You’ll survive!
• You found the business, and then you have to build a team. Failure happens inevitably when you think you can do everything!
• Be able to provide evidence of your social impact.
• Monitoring and evaluation are inspirational. (Whether you use it to track your weight or build a new business strategy. If you want a more in-depth conversation about it, let’s chat ( Find us on twitter here).
• Build your due diligence pack and tidy up the loose bits.
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• As Banksy says, if you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.