Dried ink

A medical condition + vacation = a break

“Waiting for the pen to dry up so he can start fresh with thoughts that are worth new ink.” ~ Story People

The last few days, before leaving town for vacation, were full of meetings - networking with fellow entrepreneurs, photographers, a distributor. As an entrepreneur with a cause, there was also a meeting to discuss how to expand the college scholarship program that I started, and now run, in order to include internships as part of college experience.

A fellow entrepreneur who is now gaining acknowledgment and a significant market share in the local fashion industry advised me about focusing on one enterprise. This is where the mental conflict comes around, when one has too many 'brilliant' (self-declared) ideas and tries to realize them simultaneously.

Now, the dilemma lies within starting a business benefiting a cause separate from the business? Two separate co-dependent entities. In my case, one business is making a surplus which is being used to finance the development another that is more strongly related to a social cause and expected to incur losses for the first three years. So, developing both together has been a challenge (for the lack of a better word). How does one give equal attention to both? How does one with genuine passion for entrepreneurship and a social cause sacrifice one for the other? Impossible would be the easy answer. For an enterprise, timing is crucial; for a cause, the need is ever growing. But one plausible scenario would be to focus on profit making for the for-profit enterprise and gather funds over time to start another social enterprise which is not profit-oriented and designed to be initially dependent of donations (assuming no angel investor). This, however, is a confirmation that profits, though as a tool, somehow come first. This does not go well with idealism, especially that of a fresh blood in the world of social entrepreneurship where the social impact always comes first. So what are some other scenarios?

Delegation, perhaps. Having partners is always preferred; in spite of inevitable conflicts, partners are more likely to get things done, making division ofun attention and resources possible. Hiring employees who don't believe in the vision of the entrepreneurs is unproductive. Vision casting takes time.

Loose leadership? I bought a book on clearance titled Loose: The Future Business is Letting Go with the following description:

“The future of business is loose—loose organizations, management styles, brands, thinking, and communications. For example, Google breaks the traditional rules of branding by changing its logo everyday, … Shaking up the status quo and showing how prevailing business wisdom needs to change, this book will help you change their terms of business, before they are changed for you.”

I am still regretting not bringing this book with me for the trip, but I will get to it soon.

This kaleidoscopic perspective is certainly unsettling. Unsettling enough for me to consider keeping my one of three enterprises dormant. We’ll see.

Question of the day: Profits or social impact, or both? Both simultaneously or consecutively?