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What Rural Solar Energy Enterprises Can Learn from Mobisol’s Hard-Earned Lesson
Energy access pioneer Mobisol’s insolvency, announced last spring, sparked questions about the industry’s health. But according to Rob Goodier, managing editor at Engineering for Change, subsequent analyses suggest that many of the company's problems were internal, not a reflection of the industry as a whole. He explores what the rural energy sector can learn from Mobisol’s struggles, based on interviews with industry insiders and two people close to the company.
- Categories
- Energy, Social Enterprise
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The Sales Mistakes That Are Holding Back Africa’s Solar Enterprises – And How to Fix Them
Selling solar energy products is challenging, so you'd expect solar enterprises to focus on making their sales departments as effective as possible. But in fact, as Whitten & Roy Partnership CEO Scott Roy points out, most solar companies are underemphasizing sales, harming not only their businesses but the broader industry's growth. He shares essential tips for how they can create truly effective sales teams.
- Categories
- Energy, Social Enterprise
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Understanding the Other Side of the Table: Closing the Gap between Social Entrepreneurs and Impact Investors
In over a decade working in social impact, Ayla Schlosser, the former CEO of Resonate, increasingly realized that she had a lopsided view of funders. In fact, she says, both entrepreneurs and investors tend to sit on one side of the table or the other, which can lead to mutual blind spots and inefficiencies. She shares insights from a Miller Center research project, in which she interviewed 42 investors, entrepreneurs and others to identify best practices and help bridge this information gap.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- impact investing, startups
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‘You Hired me as a Ballerina and Now Want Me to be a Basketball Player’: Hard Truths About Evolving Talent at Scale
Does your talent strategy look the same as it did a year ago? If it does, you're probably doing it wrong – especially if your organization is scaling. According to Kimberly Langsam at CASE at Duke University, a growing organization's talent strategies and support infrastructure must constantly evolve. She explores why talent is one of the key challenges of scale, and shares insights from social entrepreneurs and others featured in a new report from the Scaling Pathways series.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Unleashing the Social Intrapreneur: Why Organizations Should Look Inward to Boost Global Development and Economic Sustainability
The term “intrapreneurship” has been around for decades, but the concept itself – which refers to practicing entrepreneurship within a larger enterprise or organization – is more important than ever. Authors at IDEX Global Fellowship explore why this entrepreneurial mindset is needed within both traditional and social businesses, and how impact-focused intrapreneurship is not only changing employee management and retention, but also benefiting the broader world.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
- Tags
- employment
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Storytelling as a Strategy: What Entrepreneurs Can Gain from Crafting a Compelling Narrative
As Steven Spielberg once said, cinema’s power of persuasion is shown by getting “everybody to clap at the same time.” Likewise, successful entrepreneurs must also tell stories with persuasion and purpose, says Ami Dalal at FINCA Ventures. She explores how effective storytelling can help an enterprise build its brand and attract investors, customers and talent, and shares two essential approaches to help early-stage companies craft compelling narratives.
- Categories
- Energy, Investing, Social Enterprise, WASH
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The Rise (and Rise) of the Gig Economy in Kenya – And How to Take It to the Next Level
The gig economy is growing fast in East Africa, fueled by a young population and burgeoning mobile and smartphone penetration. Countries like Kenya now have gig platforms offering everything from taxi rides to cleaners and handymen, and analysts say this is only the beginning. Gituku Ngene at Google.org Youth Impact Labs explores the gig economy's growing impact, the barriers it faces – and solutions that could unlock its full potential.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise, Technology
- Tags
- employment, gig economy, youth
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Designing for Social Good, Not ‘Feel Good’
Designing products for multinational corporations and their affluent target markets is very different from designing products for low-income, rural consumers. Jordan Westerberg, industrial designer with social venture development firm Factor[e], has worked in both of these worlds. He discusses a recent project that redesigned a solar conduction dryer for Indian farmers, and cautions against being drawn to simplistic, feel-good products when designing for social impact.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Social Enterprise, Technology
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