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Why Social Entrepreneurship is a Waste of Time

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Today we want to tackle a very controversial subject. More specifically, we want to take a position which may be controversial.

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BIGG success is life on your own terms. So we pay a great deal of attention to terms.

The term we want to talk about today is “social entrepreneurship”.

It’s a popular term, a buzz word even. People say with pride, “I’m a social entrepreneur” or “I want to be a social entrepreneur.”

Wikipedia defines a “social entrepreneur” as “someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change.”

Let’s deconstruct just one part of that definition – the term “social” as an adjective.

Among other definitions, Merriam-Webster defines “social” as “tending to form cooperative and interdependent relationships with others.”

The problem with social entrepreneurship

So here’s the problem – here’s why we say social entrepreneurship is a waste of time: It’s redundant.

  • ALL entrepreneurs are social entrepreneurs.
  • ALL entrepreneurs exist to serve society.
  • ALL entrepreneurs must recognize a social problem – a problem affecting the welfare of a group of human
    beings.
  • ALL entrepreneurs must use entrepreneurial principles to solve that problem.
  • ALL Entrepreneurs add value in the lives of others to create value for themselves.

All entrepreneurs need money

Now, some entrepreneurs have a profit motive while others don’t. But they all have to find funding somehow.

Some entrepreneurs raise capital to get a venture going and then repay it from profits. Other entrepreneurs rely on donations of time and/or money to get a venture going. But they must find a steady flow of cash from somewhere.

But to describe one activity as social and the other as not is a mislabeling.

ALL entrepreneurs are social because ALL entrepreneurs try to help a group of people.

Profit is not a dirty word

Entrepreneurs who forget this basic tenet of entrepreneurship are the ones who fail. Novices often go into ventures only thinking about how they will make money. You have to think about the people and their problem.

Of course, you have to think about the money too – whether you’re starting up a for-profit venture or not. And don’t ever forget:

Profit is not a dirty word. Every entrepreneur – for profit or non-profit – has to find a money trail to sustain their operation.

But focus on the problem first. Then figure out your funding and your cash flows.

Once you know how to create value for yourself by adding value for others, you’re ready for BIGG success!

Do you think “social entrepreneurship” is redundant?

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00839-120612.mp3

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The Power of We Begins with Me

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Blog Action Day | BIGG SuccessWe’re thrilled to participate in another Blog Action Day. Bloggers and podcasters like us from around the world and across the internet all post about a single subject.

And fittingly, this year’s theme is “The Power of We.”

Now that’s a theme we can get behind. In fact, our biggest challenge has been to filter through all of our BIGG ideas about this subject!

Listen to this post! Click a player to hear George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show Podcast.
(Duration 5:00)

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[haiku url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00832-101512.mp3″ title=”The BIGG Success Show #832″]
The first Blog Action Day was in 2007. BIGG Success wasn’t around when they did it so we first participated in 2008. The theme that year was poverty.

Collaboration across continents

We bring this up because we talked about collaboration across continents that year. It was about a group of farmers in Ohio working with a group of farmers in Kenya to end poverty in a village of 5,000 people.

The power of we!

This amazing feat was started by the vision of one man – the minister in the village in Kenya. He didn’t want his people to be dependent on outsiders supplying food and other essentials.

Now we want to share two stories:

The Women Roofers

The Women Roofers are professional women – in the Rutherford County, North Carolina area – who voluntarily ban together to help people who can’t help themselves.

The power of we!

When a recent widow with no money found herself with a leaky roof, she made one phone call. The Women Roofers showed up in days, according to a story on CBS News.


Nell Bovender is the driving force behind the group. She arranges for donations of supplies and organizes the volunteers, who – in most cases – have never hammered a nail in a single shingle.

That doesn’t slow this group of BIGG goal-getters down one bit! They saw a problem and they’re fixing it one rooftop at a time.

Code for America

Code for America is also known as “The PeaceCorps for Geeks”. Tech stars take a year off to work here in the States, helping government use technology to solve persistent problems.

Founded by Jennifer Pahlka, this group built an app for the city of Boston that made a game out of keeping fire hydrants clear of snow. Citizens adopted a fire hydrant.

They could name it. They could paint it. But they had to shovel the snow away from it or risk losing their beloved hydrant.

It went viral – Honolulu now uses it to make sure their tsunami sirens have good batteries in them. Seattle uses it for storm sewers. In total, nine cities are using this app today.

They can do it faster and cheaper than government. In Jennifer’s TED talk, she offered another example – software to help parents decide which public school was best for their kid.

Through normal channels, this would have taken two years and $2 million dollars. Three people from Code for America only required two-and-a-half months.

The power of we!

The power of we begins with me!

But we haven’t told you the rest of the story. Jennifer closes her TED talk by saying we need to lend more than a voice. We need to lend a hand.

The power of we begins with me! To fully capitalize on the tremendous power of collective action, we must all take individual responsibility.

  • We can’t look at a situation and just complain. We have to be willing to take action as well.
  • We can’t wait for someone else. We have to be the one. In all the stories we shared here, there was one individual who inspired other individuals.

The power of we begins with me!

You can’t take on the problems of the world. But you can take on a problem in your corner of it. That’s BIGG success!

What are your experiences with the power of we?

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00832-101512.mp3

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Success as an Entrepreneur is NOT a Marathon

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Run races for BIGG SuccessYou often hear people say that the race for BIGG success as an entrepreneur is a marathon. We think they’re wrong.

In fact, we don’t think it’s a race at all. You don’t run one race – you run races. Plural.

Listen to this post! Click a player to hear George & Mary-Lynn on the BIGG Success Show podcast. (Duration 5:00)

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[haiku url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00830-100512.mp3″ title=”The BIGG Success Show #830″]
A series of sprints

And they’re not marathons, they’re sprints. You reach BIGG success as an entrepreneur by running a series of sprints.

You sprint every day. You strive to get to the finish line in the fastest time possible. Only then – unlike a sprinter who has just completed a race in the athletic world – you line up for another one!

Sure, you may take a short break between races, but you’re driven. You have more work you love to do. So you keep pushing day after day, from one sprint to another.

A money management principle applied to time management

Now there’s a reason why we think making this distinction – between a marathon and a series of sprints – is important. It has to do with conditioning.

Don’t train for a slow, steady, long race. Prepare yourself for fast, hard-charging bursts!

So rather than run – run – run – rest, think run – rest – run – rest.

This is a concept we can apply from money management to time management. It’s called duration matching.

When dealing with money, you want to match the duration of your debt to the expected life of the asset that debt is financing. Do something similar with your time.

If you’re not running a marathon, if you’re in a series of sprints, take frequent, short breaks rather than longer ones. Get away from your work every hour or two.

An important part of rest

But just as important as when you rest is how you rest. The BIGG idea behind BIGG success is synergy.

The right rest at the right time ramps up your running ability.

So while you get the rest you need, you don’t give up anything for it. In fact, quite the opposite – you get even more done.

If you’re a long-time reader, you know we believe in life blend. And this run – rest concept is part of that. You need variety. It’s up to you what it is, but it’s a custom blend.

If it works for you, it works! For example:

  • We often take quick breaks where stand up, stretch our legs and clue each other in to what we’re working on. One of us may have an idea the other hadn’t thought about.
  • We often find that when we step away from my desk for just a minute or two – to grab a cup of coffee, walk around or get outside – it often helps us get unstuck.
  • Another thing we’re fitting into the blend is to make sure we exercise. It doesn’t mean the brain shuts off. It just means we work the body too.
  • But sometimes shutting the brain off is just the thing. Research
    published in     Psychological Science suggests that mindless tasks which allow your thoughts to roam can be springboards for creative thinking.

Participants in the study were presented with a creative challenge. Immediately after, the first group performed an intellectually demanding task while a second group did an undemanding one.

The researchers concluded that doing a mindless task allows your brain to wander more.

So next time you get stuck – mop the floor, file away some papers or clean off your desk.

Take frequent, short rest breaks so you can keep sprinting to BIGG success!

What do you think? Is the race for success a marathon or a series of sprints? How often do you rest?

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00830-100512.mp3

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A Sign It is Time for a Career Change

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A sign you need a career change for BIGG SuccessHow do you know when it is time to change careers? We found the answer thanks to a friend.

Listen to this post! Click a player to hear George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show Podcast. (Duration 3:34)

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[haiku url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00824-082312.mp3″ title=”The BIGG Success Show #824″]
He worked his way up in a small retail business. Now he’s a manager.

He’s an industrious person. So he started a service business on the side.

It’s been pretty demanding. But he’s made it work. Until recently…

His part-time business is doing very well. He’s attracting more clients and making more money from it.

The sign

But he’s also unconsciously demonstrating one sign that it’s time for a career change. He gets frustrated easily with his full-time job.

The hours bother him. They never did before. He doesn’t have the same patience for his co-workers. Customers irritate him more, too.

However, it goes beyond just a little frustration and irritation. He admits he has felt hurt by upset customers and employees. The things that used to roll off of him just don’t roll so fast anymore.

In those times when he’s with close friends, he expresses anger.

What it means

Subconsciously, he’s trying to rationalize his move to working his business full-time.

And he’s scared.

He’s scared because he feels like he’s setting sail and the world may be flat. It’s the great unknown.

But it really isn’t. He’s been working his business part time. It’s growing nicely. It should grow even faster when he devotes more attention to it.

And you know what? If he sees he may be a little short on cash, he can always get a temporary gig.

He could work part-time for a while if need be. And if things really don’t work out, he can always get a job.

Heck, he could probably even get his current job back.

We tend to think it’s all-or-nothing. We tend to overemphasize the risk. We tend to limit our options. We tend to think we can’t go back.

But you can probably walk back over the same bridge as long as you don’t burn it.

When you’re traveling down a road, you’ll probably see a sign if the road is closed ahead. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen that way with your career.

But there are signs. They’re usually just more subtle. It’s a feeling – or the lack thereof – that used to be there.

Ignore them to your own detriment. Pay attention to them for your BIGG success!

What signs you have you noticed when you changed careers?

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00824-082312.mp3

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image of sunset for post that ponders when you will be a success

When Will You Be a Success?

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image of sunset for post that ponders when you will be a success

You work and work and work.
When will you be a BIGG success?

Listen to this post! Click a player to hear George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show Podcast.

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Day after day. Week after week. You push and push and push.
When will you reach BIGG success?

You try and try and try. Again and again and again.
When will you be a BIGG success?

You learn and learn and learn.
When will you finally reach BIGG success?

You do everything every expert tells you to do.
When will it happen for you?
When will you be able to live the life of your dreams?

Screw that, when will you be able to live like a normal person?
When will you have weekends to yourself?
When can you get at least part of your evenings back?

Success seems so close

At times, success seems so close. You know it is.
But you don’t really KNOW it is. You HOPE it is.

You hope, beyond all hope, that – the next time you pull yourself up, the next time you try again – the next time will bring BIGG success.

So you dust yourself off. You work up the courage. You go for it.

And still you come up short.

Discouragement. That doesn’t even begin to describe it.
You are dejected. You want to crawl into a cave and cry.
You’re so tired. Sleep. Maybe you just need some sleep.

So you struggle to get to sleep. You’re scared. But you finally drift off.

The next day you wake up. You’re still discouraged, but at least that overwhelming feeling that your world was collapsing around you has passed.

You know you have to act. Action crushes worry. So you do act.

Maybe today will be different.
But it isn’t.

So you try again tomorrow.
With the same result.
When will you be a BIGG success?

When doubt enters

You see others succeed. It seems like it came easy.
How did they do it? What do they have that you don’t have?

Maybe you’re just not lucky.
Maybe you were never destined to succeed. Maybe the status quo is your lot in life. Maybe God has conspired against you, instead of for you.

Belief has turned to doubt. You doubt yourself. You doubt everything.

You never knew it would be this hard. If you did, you wouldn’t have tried. But here you are.

You never know

So you keep plugging away. You keep going. You keep adapting.

Because you never know when you will be a BIGG success until you are a BIGG success.

You just know you will. At some point in time.

As long as you don’t quit. History has shown us that people often quit just before success. They finally run out of fuel. They just can’t do it anymore.

A perfect process

This is a game of belief and endurance.

As long as you can maintain the belief you can succeed, you’re still in the game.

If you persevere, you will reach BIGG success. You just don’t know when.

So you must keep pushing. And once you hit BIGG success, you’ll realize how perfect the process is.

Each step of the way, you learned something that ultimately led you to BIGG success.

You’ll recognize that, each step of the way, you became stronger. Your strength enabled you to conquer obstacles that keep most people from ever reaching BIGG success.

You’ll see that the joy is ever bit as much in the journey, complete with all its struggles, as it is in reaching BIGG success.

When will you reach BIGG success?

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00757-112911.mp3