DAY 2
THE PROBLEM WITH ENTREPRENEURS By: Brittany Thoms Co-Founder of SEE.SPARK.GO. @brittanythoms
I
t’s a fad to start something. It’s rare to finish.
I recently learned that some 600,000 new businesses are started in America each year. For nonprofits, these “start-ups” come with extreme passion, ideas to solve human problems and hope for people. They have big hearts, big ideas and most of the time, no clue what they’re getting into. From setting up a 501(c)(3), determining a scalable model, fundraising and continually fundraising, creating a board of directors and crafting the pitch of why an organization is needed in this space, etc., it can be overwhelming … and can prevent you from doing what you set out to do in the first place. Here’s the kicker: all too often, there are people doing exactly what you’re setting out to do already. So, what prevents us from going to these existing organizations and joining forces to make them “better”? Who knows – it could revolutionize the problem you want to solve. I believe that what prevents us from teaming up with similar organizations is two things: people and ownership. With people, perhaps we had a bad experience volunteering for that organization or we don’t like its founder. Maybe we don’t believe they are doing
what they’re doing for the right reasons. It’s hard to get “under the hood” of any organization and see the reality of flawed people. I’m an idealist, so I like to believe in people, and there’s nothing worse than being let down by another person not living up to our hope for them. So we start something ourselves. The other thing that prevents us from joining the ranks of some other entity is “ownership,” and this is why I think entrepreneurial nonprofits are the solution. There’s something about ownership that makes you work harder, sleep less, think more and determine within yourself to make a real difference in the world. Business and nonprofit leaders everywhere work hard at giving away ownership and empowering their team members. Great organizations do this well. Not so great ones “hold on” to the power and decision-making at the top and never grow beyond themselves. Closed walls and gated communities, proverbially speaking, prevent success from spilling over, whereas “hubs” of growth and innovation lead to more growth and innovation on the adjacent and parallel “streets”. Success beyond our wildest imagination only
Solving Problems
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