blog posts
Insight
Pivoting during COVID: responses from Fiji
Recently, we caught up with Deb Sadranu at Essence of Fiji to see how things are going for her, her business, and Fiji in the face of COVID-19. Tourism is a key industry for Fiji, and Essence of Fiji usually serves the tourists. As a result of COVID-19, Deb’s whole business model has pivoted from predominantly local, in-store sales, to predominantly international, online sales. READ MORE
A letter to my daughter about Black Lives Matter and racial inequality
A letter to my daughter in the wake of Black Lives Matter. READ MORE
Why mindset matters to women’s entrepreneurship and why we should invest in it, especially now
At The Difference Incubator (TDi) we’ve been supporting social entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses for over a decade. In 2019 we partnered with PNG Women’s Business Resource Centre and Kate Wilson from Kamaji Tree Consulting and Coaching, with the support of the Australian Government, to unlock the full potential of eleven talented female social entrepreneurs in PNG. At TDi, we know that an individual’s mindset is a big driver of business success. For us, mindset is made up of the underlying beliefs we hold about ourselves, others and the world. It shows up in all ... READ MORE
Customer Empathy Interviewing
When was the last time you asked your customers what they thought? We use Customer Empathy Interviews to help businesses deeply understand their customers and design competitive products and services. It’s also been one of our top coaching tips for business owners needing to adapt their business model during COVID-19. Our behaviours have changed significantly in a very short amount of time - for example: We might be spending less money on going out for dinner at our favourite restaurant, but have increased our spending on Ubereats or Hellofresh. Understanding things from your customers ... READ MORE
Pivoting your business model during a crisis
A conversation with Geert from FarmWallGeert Hendrix founded FarmWall in 2016. Farmwall is an agrifood-tech startup that designs urban farming technology and experiences to enhance fresh produce accessibility in the city. In our constantly developing world, the need for more efficient and sustainable ways of living is rapidly becoming a must. Farmwall is a response to this call to action. Here’s what Geert had to share…Thanks for meeting with us Geert. You've recently been working with TDi as you’ve had to quickly pivot your business. So I wondered if you can share your story with other ... READ MORE
Business During COVID-19: In perspective
At TDi, we believe in the significance and power of small business’ and social enterprise’s contribution to life and the economy. It is this belief that drives us to support them now more than ever. READ MORE
Working from Home
It’s one thing to make the choice to work from home, but it’s another to be forced to for reasons beyond your control. Even the seasoned work from homers are feeling the pinch in this time of forced isolation – I am no exception!! Oh, and throw in supervision of remote learning for your children and it’s even more challenging. READ MORE
Surviving the campsite in the COVID-19 crisis
Two weeks ago, I shared with the team an analogy of a campsite. I reflected that our house has burnt down and we are struggling to reconcile the shock and the grief of all that is happening. I shared with them that I’ve been thinking that we need to set up camp, for now while we figure out how to reinvent for the new normal. We have a temporary place of residence and it’s not what we would have chosen but we can create from it. So, for the past two weeks, we have been focused on getting the campsite set up, trying to work out where stuff goes, who’s sleeping where and how to trade out of a tent. READ MORE
Navigating upheaval: our last 7 days
Like most small business and NFPs we only just began to comprehend the wholescale impact of the Coronavirus on our business and the Australian economy last week. Within 7 days it hit us hard. READ MORE
The Hidden Value of Creative Industries: Bringing Life to Many Economies
It fascinated us that creative industries aren’t included in Papua New Guinea’s GDP, in fact there is very little data to understand the economic impact of creative industries in PNG. This is staggering considering that creative industries represent $US2.250 Billion in the global economy (World Economic Forum, 2015). This includes all creative industries including visual arts, media, TV, music etc. Other research suggests Handicrafts contributes around US$32 Billion to the global economy (The Aspen Institute Artisan Alliance) but this is a difficult figure to nail down when whole economies don’t even count handicrafts in their GDP. Other interesting facts from the World Economic Forum’s study found that Creative industries are more inclusive employers employing more youth (15-29 years) than any other sector, employ a higher percentage of women compared to other sectors globally and small business makes up a large portion of this sector as well. In the US artists are 3.5 times more likely to be self-employed. READ MORE
TDi celebrates UN World Day of Social Justice with demonstrations of hope for a more just and inclusive economy.
20 February 2020 Today the UN is calling for “closing the inequalities gap to achieve social justice”. We want to share the ways in which TDi and our partners are helping to address inequalities through the power of business and cross-sector innovation. Inequality is rising and our current economy is frankly unsustainable. Inequality affects us all – it threatens peace, deepens poverty and contributes to our climate crisis. It is time to reduce inequalities globally. As the United Nations and the International Labour Organization Office state: “One in 5 workers still live in ... READ MORE
Celebrating the 2019 difference makers as we enter a new decade
At TDi 2019 was another amazing year. Again, we’ve had the privilege of helping Difference Makers from Fiji, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Cambodia and Australia. We’ve helped entrepreneurs build out their ideas and business models. We’ve worked with NFPs to explore new revenue streams and forge new pathways of doing business. We’ve had interesting and important conversations with our corporate and government partners. It’s interesting because most people assume our work is about numbers and spreadsheets, marketing plans and slogans. But our work goes much deeper than that – it’s the human ... READ MORE