Social Enterprise is like Sex

The same rules apply. Mutual respect is key in both cases if the thing is to last. Yet for many newcomers to social enterprise, especially (if I may be controversial) those founded by people running charities, this simple rule is forgotten.

It’s usually an issue of culture. There remain in our third sector some deeply rooted traditional beliefs that today are as current as communist ideology in Moscow! The world is developing fast but not everyone is managing to keep up.

We all know some third sector die-hards.

They persist in the belief that they alone are the best judge of what is needed by their particular beneficiary group. They spend on service delivery without considering their funder’s agenda. In their mission to save one small part of the world, any sacrifice is legitimate and no demand for resources unjustified.

Then, when the pressure’s on they turn to social enterprise. Not because they have a particularly valuable business proposition, but simply because they want to widen the net and generate income from new sources.

Of course the harsh reality is that no organisation is indispensable and no need so vital that it must be retained at all costs. Our society is fluid and dynamic. If one organisation sinks, another will inevitably emerge. It’s a kind of economic process of natural selection. The weak die and the strong adapt and create new ventures.

So where’s the link with sex?

Well just as you only get new people when men and women get together, so you only get truly innovative social enterprises when it is the product of a relationship between two or more physically different organisations.

Let me explain.

Gay sex does not make babies (well not yet anyway) and you certainly can’t make a baby on your own! In a remarkable number of ways, it’s the same with social enterprise. However hard most of us work on it in a darkened room, it’s simply too big an evolutionary leap for most charities to spawn a social enterprise on their own.

The answer in my view is to play the mating game

Find an organisation that you find attractive, with which you share some common values, but also see significant structural differences.

Then, as with any human relationship, you develop a relationship based on mutual respect.

Just like men and women, those you partner with need to be fundamentally different, as well as largely the same. They need to excite, frustrate, confuse and inspire, in the same confusing anxious way as any courtship.

Just as getting married doesn’t always lead to children, so a partnership between two organisations is not guaranteed to bear fruit. There are consultancy firms who can sometimes help if the union at first appears infertile. Sometimes however, you have to admit defeat and start all over again.

Think back to that charity manager I mentioned earlier. He or she is convinced they need support at all costs, but are blinded by their conviction to the practicalities of trade.

A commercially focused partner can share an enthusiasm for the beneficiary, but equally be realistic when it comes to doing business.

Furthermore, the different outlooks will create a tension that whilst at times uncomfortable, will create innovation.

So if you’re reading this as a charity manager seeking salvation through social enterprise, do not attempt to do it on your own. Any satisfaction is sure to be short lived and on later reflection rather self indulgent.

Go out instead and find a commercial partner. One with whom you can develop a mutually rewarding, sustainable and fruitful relationship.

You’ll both make money and together you’ll achieve much more than either could on their own.

It’s a tough step to take and your organisation won’t have those hormonal drivers to push you.

But look around you at what other successful cross-sector partnerships have achieved. Follow their good example and get out there.

Good luck!