blog posts
Insight
SBS Reports: Samoa’s Economy Riding the Wave of Coconut Trend
Over the past year, we’ve been working closely with coffee-growing and producing enterprise Tanna Coffee on the island of Tanna in the south of Vanuatu. But Tanna Coffee isn’t the only entity drawing attention to the island- last night saw Australian filmmakers Bentley Dean and Martin Butler head to the Oscars with the stars of their nominated film Tanna. The feature film, shot entirely on the island of Tanna, powered by solar batteries, was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. We caught up with Bentley before the ceremony to discover how they found filming a movie on Tanna and how ... READ MORE
Why Two Feet?
All entrepreneurs face hurdles in their business journey. Often they question their purpose and where they’re putting their effort, and both their business model and management team are challenged. To survive these difficult times, they and their business need to learn to stand on their own two feet. "We got to bounce our ideas, our current business model, our preconceived ideas off a whole bunch of very informed people... both the TDi staff, who were brilliant, and our cohort" -Steve Morriss, Circular Food TDi developed our Two Feet program, an accelerator ... READ MORE
How un-social sector of us…
There’s a lot of talk in the market about Investment Readiness and Capacity Building programs, but few real results are being generated. So how on earth is anyone meant to navigate this mess and figure out where to go for help? If you’ve ever tried to navigate the wonderful world of social enterprises and intermediaries you’ll know just how confusing it is. Sadly, intermediaries haven’t made it any easier for those seeking help. In fact, from reading websites and hearing people speak at events, it all sounds like much of a muchness. “Two Feet was designed by ... READ MORE
How to Make Your Organisation Investment Ready
When an investor is looking to make an impact investment, they’re looking for a business that will be able to use those funds to scale something of value that already exists in the business. In other words, when taking on investment, it’s best to take something that already works and make it bigger and better. So how do you make your business investment ready?An investor also wants to see that the business is one that is ready to scale. This generally means your organisation will need to have proved there’s a market for it’s value proposition, by demonstrating that your product or ... READ MORE
Are You Curious Enough to Build a Good Business?
by Ishani Chattopadhyay, Head of Programs at TDi (2016) Over the past 15 years I have been an entrepreneur and worked closely in the operations of several social and environmental enterprises. I am attuned to the philosophy of “make what you have work”, as well as the strong intent with which an entrepreneur will set up their enterprise.\r\n\r\nMy personal journey has led me to realise that while the path of entrepreneurship is joyful, it is also tough. Without support along the way, it can be a very lonely road ahead. In fact, in research I conducted interviewing over 100 social ... READ MORE
Israel: Second only to Silicon Valley?
When you think of the tech hubs of the world, you think of Silicon Valley; maybe New York, London, or even parts of China, Japan and Korea would come second to that. However, Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google and current tech executive, said in June this year that Silicon Wadi, a technologically concentrated area of Israel, was second only to Silicon Valley. He also added that Israel is punching well above its weight in technological advancements; but is this true? Paul Steele, co-founder at TDi and Benefit Capital, let us know what he thinks. Paul says: “I don’t think he [Eric ... READ MORE
Myth: There is no Profit in a Not-for-Profit
by Paul Steele, Co-Founder of Benefit Capital & TDi When people think of not-for-profit (NFP) organisations, there’s an assumption that they make no profit. It’s an understandable assumption, given the name, but it’s one of the biggest myths about the sector, and it isn’t true. Firstly, we need to consider the definition of profit. To put it simply, profit is when there is more money coming into an organisation than going out. Any organisation, no matter what sector it’s in, has to be somewhat profitable to survive. While just breaking even should prevent an organisation from ... READ MORE
Bessi meets BRAC
BRAC – the world’s largest development organisation and NGO, dedicated to empowering people living in poverty, has cracked what most of us only dream of. They have taken an iterative, design approach to building social enterprises that not only address major social need but drive much needed revenue for their development work, and they’ve done it at scale! (L-R) Asif Kashem, Partnerships and Donor Liaison Office, BRAC. Dr. Muhammad Musa, Executive Director, BRAC. Bessi Graham, CEO, TDi. Tom Nettleton, First Secretary, Australian High Commission in Dhaka. Chung-Ling Chau, DFAT ... READ MORE
The Importance of Your Value Proposition
In every social enterprise, there’s a tension; two competing ideas that will shape almost every decision you make. These ideas are so important that they’re the focus of the first two sessions of our Two Feet Program. The first is your ‘Intent’; why your organisation exists and what change you want to see happen in the world. There’s a skill in creating a clear statement of intent, but it’s also easy for social entrepreneurs to talk for hours about their passion for social impact. I find these sessions quite inspiring. The second is your ‘Value Proposition’ to your customer; why ... READ MORE
Ishani’s Key Learnings from SOCAP 2016
I attended SOCAP (Social Capital Markets Conference) this year, after about 5 years, and I must say it was a rather reflective journey for me. It was evident that the social enterprise sector has grown in leaps and bounds in the last decade or so, and the sheer number of people at the 4-day conference was testimony to that. Coincidentally I was also visiting San Francisco, the host city of SOCAP again after about 15 years, so the journey became nostalgic for me. In many ways the Bay Area has been the epitome of entrepreneurial success in the last 15 years or so, after the likes of ... READ MORE
Three Unhelpful Obsessions
If the macro problem is: “How do we solve social and environmental challenges with a marketplace approach?” there are three unhelpful obsessions that are read as ‘the problem’ and subsequently lead to unsatisfying outcomes. Finance First A ‘Finance First’ approach takes the macro problem and names the issue as “money”. This leads to “if I had more money I could…”, with the solution then being articulated as “find more money”! This has lead to solution designs like the Social Enterprise Development and Investment Funds (SEDIF). In the case of SEDIF, by focusing on ... READ MORE
In the fast world of entrepreneurship, can we achieve more by slowing down?
I have been a keen observer of human behaviour for a long time…. one of my favourite pastimes is to sit in silence in public spaces and observe and absorb what is happening around me. Over time, when knowledge and experience have fallen short, or when things are crazy around me, it has been these insights that have given me clarity. - by Ishani Chattopadhyay, Head of Programs at TDi (2016) In light of the amount of information that is constantly flowing around us leading us to act more quickly, constantly and endlessly, I started to think about the impact on entrepreneurs ... READ MORE