The Entrepreneurial Spirit Supports Nonprofits
When I was a child, I lived in a neighborhood with a lot of other kids around my age. Being from working class families, we had to earn our extra spending money (the candy and comic books didn’t pay for themselves!) so we were always looking for ways to earn some cash.
Of course, we started with that classic first business – the lemonade stand. We would get some change, mix up some of that oh-so-summer beverage, and set up our signs.
Living in an historic neighborhood was great as we were surrounded by interesting things and places, but we also saw a lot of people buying the historic homes and fixing them up to live in or resell.
A light bulb over our heads!
Why not take our lemonade mobile to provide refreshments to the contractors fixing the houses? We decided this was a great idea and mixed up more lemonade, commandeered a wagon, left our younger siblings in charge of the stand, and went around the neighborhood selling lemonade to the thirsty workers.
This is a great example of using the resources you have on hand to bring to fruition a plan to accomplish a goal. Additionally, we identified a market segment and made our product available where they were.
We didn’t have much to work with but because we had the entrepreneurial spirit, we made our idea a reality by investing our imagination, energy, and time.
When it comes to nonprofits, sometimes the entrepreneurial spirit is overshadowed by doubt and an aversion to risk. Many times we say “well, that’s the way we’ve always done it” or “my Board won’t support that” or “it’s too risky” or “we don’t have the resources.” Every nonprofit is different, but these long-standing excuses are just that: excuses. These are obstacles we put in our own way that prevent us from trying something new and different.
The entrepreneurial spirit motivates organizations to add new products or services, grow their market share, reach new members of the public, and to imagine what could be and what’s next. It’s an energy that invigorates the oldest of organizations and sparks the creation of new organizations. To be an entrepreneur is to be a leader, a visionary, a risk taker, and an example to others.
To be entrepreneurial is to do what you can, when you can, with what you’ve got. To me, those are words that ring true and clear with nonprofits.
Solopreneurs like myself know the power and the benefit of the Entrepreneurial Spirit. It is that drive to take a concept, to develop an idea, and to take action to bring it to life; this sparks advancement in any profession or industry.
