How I Turned My Company into a Social Enterprise
I’ve always loved the start of a New Year. I love how it renews our sense of optimism, or as I posted on LinkedIn over New Years, I believe very strongly that there is always an optimistic point of view, even in life’s toughest moments. I can probably credit my optimism to the work I do. That is when you feel that the work you do is purposeful, its almost always going to be fulfilling. That is likely what has always attracted me to social enterprise businesses.
What is a Social Enterprise?
Virgin Group’s Sir Richard Branson’s book ‘Screw Business as Usual’ was a big source of inspiration for my love of Social Enterprise
According to the definition on Wikipedia “A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in human and environmental well-being – this may include maximizing social impact rather than profits for external shareholders.”
We are about to celebrate our 5th year at Marketing Talent, and one question I get all the time is how I manage to run my business and volunteer so much time with Mentor Exchange or the other AMA programs. The answer quite simply is that my volunteering is actually part of our business model.
What started out originally as plain old good corporate citizenship and social responsibility, eventually lead to where we are now… A Social Enterprise.
It’s been incredibly satisfying to run a business that is not only focused on profit. By dedicating our resources to helping Marketers take control of their careers by sharing networking and educational opportunities, matching them with an esteemed industry mentor, or being able to bring thought leaders together to collaborate on all the changes happening in Marketing these days.
All of this would not be possible if the business wasn’t modeled to support it.
As it turns out, doing business by doing good is actually quite a profitable way to operate.
As such we have created a company that is seen as a destination for passionate marketers, not just job seekers or hiring managers, and our clients are seeing tremendous value because of it.
I’m thankful for what we’ve accomplished in 5 years and excited to continue our growth here in Canada and in the US
In the spirit of giving thanks and showing gratitude. I’d like to invite you to the inspirational Canadian Marketing Hall of Legends Ceremony that will be taking place on January 21st in Toronto.
I have arranged for a promo code to knock $50 off the price of tickets. Just use the code MTI2016 when selecting your ticket.
