{"id":579,"date":"2011-05-09T15:11:32","date_gmt":"2011-05-09T05:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cameronburgess.org\/?p=579"},"modified":"2011-05-09T15:11:32","modified_gmt":"2011-05-09T05:11:32","slug":"structuring-for-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cameronburgess.com\/structuring-for-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Structuring for Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m fortunate to have been working with changemakers for more than 15 years. It\u2019s inspiring, humbling and frequently frustrating work.<\/p>\n

Frustrating because I\u2019ve watched great ideas succeed \u2013 for a time \u2013 before failing and watched others never get past the drawing board. Frustrating because every venture that fails takes time, money and energy away from others \u2013 and in doing so reduces the impact on social and environmental conditions that urgently need changing. I\u2019ve said on many occasions that<\/p>\n

… if you\u2019re not going to do it right, go and do it for someone that is …<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s the reason I\u2019m a sustainable venture strategist. It\u2019s the reason we founded w1sd0m.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This post doesn\u2019t seek to answer the question \u201cwhy do ventures fail\u201d but to provide an effective, sequenced structure for asking questions about your venture that will steer it more effectively toward success.<\/p>\n

VISION<\/strong>: The translation of changemakers\u2019 individual and combined values into a strategic and operational framework is frequently ineffective due largely to poorly defined vision. Crafting an effective internal vision statement gives the venture its \u201cTrue North\u201d. It\u2019s what your leaders are responsible for championing, and it\u2019s the touchstone for all strategic and operational decisions. If it\u2019s incongruent with the vision, you simply don\u2019t do it. Period.<\/p>\n

STRATEGY<\/strong>: How are you going to achieve the vision? What are your success metrics? The strategy has to be achievable or it\u2019s purposeless; and if it doesn\u2019t factor in resource constraint, it\u2019s a fantasy.<\/p>\n

STRUCTURE & GOVERNANCE<\/strong>: Both organizational and operational structures are best determined after deciding the strategy. Whether you should be a for-profit, non-profit or hybrid is a decision that the strategy will answer. Once answered, develop a governance and operational structure that is congruent with the vision that supports effective implementation of the strategy.<\/p>\n

OPERATIONS<\/strong>: Operational activities such as capital raising, team development, branding, collateral design, business development and sales frequently get most of the attention and are where the symptoms of not dealing with the preceding three steps become visible. There\u2019s not much point having an inspiring name, money in the bank and an engaged community if the structure, strategy and vision are deficient.<\/p>\n

Most, if not all of the problems social entrepreneurs have set themselves up to solve have been decades if not centuries in the making; take the time to engage with your venture through this framework and create something that is measurable, sustainable and impactful. We need long-term systemic \u2013 not short-term symptomatic \u2013 change.<\/p>\n

This article was originally written for beyondprofit<\/a> and originally published here<\/a>.<\/em>
\nIt’s shorter than i would have liked, however, and so I’ll be expanding upon this further shortly<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m fortunate to have been working with changemakers for more than 15 years. It\u2019s inspiring, humbling and frequently frustrating work. Frustrating because I\u2019ve watched great ideas succeed \u2013 for a time \u2013 before failing and watched others never get past the drawing board. Frustrating because every venture that fails takes time, money and energy away from others \u2013 and in … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,8],"tags":[53],"yoast_head":"\nStructuring for Success | Cameron Burgess<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cameronburgess.com\/structuring-for-success\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Structuring for Success | Cameron Burgess\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019m fortunate to have been working with changemakers for more than 15 years. It\u2019s inspiring, humbling and frequently frustrating work. Frustrating because I\u2019ve watched great ideas succeed \u2013 for a time \u2013 before failing and watched others never get past the drawing board. Frustrating because every venture that fails takes time, money and energy away from others \u2013 and in ... 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