You've come up with an amazing prototype for a new product or service that could benefit villagers in rural Kenya or slum dwellers in India. Now how do you figure out if there is a sustainable business model to get this innovation into the hands of your customers? This 5-week course from +Acumen & Santa Clara University's Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship will help you think through how you can create financial value while delivering products or services to the poor.
You'll learn about 5 social enterprise models that Acumen has seen effectively create value, and then you'll use the business model canvas to map out components of your own potential company. You'll analyze your value chain—from manufacturing to distribution—and determine the stages you want to get involved in vs. where you'll need to partner with other key players. You'll walk away from this course with hypotheses about the size of your target market, the key business partners you'll need to reach out to, and potential cost structures and revenue streams. While this course will not delve into the intricacies of financial modeling, you'll emerge with a big-picture understanding of the key components to consider if you are building a business that prioritizes social impact and strives for financial sustainability.
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Understand the unique considerations for building a business model and analyzing a value chain in the social sector
- Use the business model canvas to map out key components of a social enterprise
- Create and test hypotheses about a social enterprise's target market size, cost structure, revenue streams, and value chain partnerships
