Aspiring changemakers come to me with passion, a business plan, and a PowerPoint. I ask one question that most cannot answer: “What are you actually selling?”
The wrong answer is the one that kills ventures: “We’re selling [product/service] to fund our mission.” This creates two separate jobs: running a business and running a charity. They will fight each other for resources, focus, and time. The business will always win, and the mission becomes a cost center.
The right answer integrates them: “We are selling a direct, measurable result of our mission.”
Let’s be concrete.
- A Non-Profit for Education: You are not selling “school supplies” or “donor goodwill.” You are selling verified improvements in student learning outcomes. Your corporate partners and donors are buying proof of impact.
- A Women’s Craft Collective: You are not just selling handmade goods. You are selling documented financial empowerment of artisans. A premium customer and a CSR funder are both buying the story and data of change attached to each product.
My training focuses on building this Impact-First Business Model. We strip away complex theory and work on three pillars:
- Define Your Core Change: What is the one specific, observable thing you change in a person or community?
- Measure It Simply: How will you track it with basic, low-cost tools? (e.g., pre/post surveys, transaction records).
- Package & Price It: Who will pay for that proven change? How will you show them the evidence?
Your mission is not your marketing. It is your product. Build everything—your operations, your team, your narrative—to deliver and prove that one change. That is the only model that is both passionate and sustainable.
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