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Want more sales? Can not afford to hire more sales professionals? Then drag Considering how things including your competitors and look at things you are looking to change.

Now before you think I am nuts and stop reading this article, I would ask you this question?

Have you ever walked into a networking event and saw another competitor just hung out his shingle? What measures have you taken? Go to the other side of the room or walk through andimagine?

When you come out from your competitors see as a potential strategic partner, you can start your business in a way that you grow ever imagined. Of course, you need to spend some time with your competitors to learn, if you share the same target markets, a similar sales and, above all similar values. Increase Sales Coaching Tip: Not all competitors will make the ideal strategic partner. You need to be selective.

For example, when a companyBusiness Coaching training, provide the services, my focus is with C-level executives with organizational corporate training and coaching services. Apart from a few of my first clients, I rarely work in the non-profit arena. If an opportunity presents itself, I will make a referral to a colleague who has not, in essence, what I do, but take a different target to target. And, conversely, will refer the person back to me.

Other strategic partnershipsturn around companies with similar target markets, but not compete against each other. For example, an accountant and lawyer could unite as a strategic partner and cross recommendations. Another example could be a broker, mortgage broker, a bank, residential, insurance brokers, home inspector, interior designer, computer technician and audio (surround sound / home theater) specialists. All of these people a concerted effort to help its partner companiesIncrease sales.

Strategic partnerships are why so many formal networking groups have emerged during the last 10 plus years. From the BNI to leads to LeTips, all these groups working together to help each other on the critical strategic partnerships.

Another way to leverage the strategic partnership is through the creation of Master Mind groups. From 5 to 10 entrepreneurs together to enhance each other to increase their growth revenue. This strategy is a littleintense and very confidential. However, a commitment to such a group can only make you a better business person does not give a detail.

Take some time to think about this increase in sales coaching tip and after this critical strategic partnerships. If you improve rethink these sales skills, you will begin to realize your goal to increase sales.

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After a long week of work in setting up a renewable energy social venture in South Africa, I was relaxing at the Kruger National Park with world famous guide and game reserve owner – Vic Wilkens – of Simbavati Lodge in South Africa.  In this video, Vic, me and my wife Sommer were in an open Landrover only 10 feet away from these 8 lions.  It was breathtaking – for more reasons than one!

For assistance in setting up and structuring social ventures, contact Ray Dinning, JD, LLM at (757) 232 -2619.  The initial consultantion by phone is free.  Thanks for watching.

Buick has taken the gloves off in a billboard attack on Lexus. “Something else for Lexus to relentlessly pursue” is Buick’s response to Lexus’ most recent campaign, “The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection.”

Buick’s attack is witty and successful. It has received a lot of attention in the automotive and media worlds, and on the highways where the billboards are shouting their message–a lot of heavy traffic areas where people have time to linger. It also highlights the importance of well thought out messaging.

The attack very accurately exposes the vulnerability of Lexus’s key message. Philosophers and deep thinkers alike agree that perfection is an unattainable ideal. However, do your really want a consumer thinking that about your product?

A better tag line would have been Lexus’ strongest offense. In lieu of that, they need a clever defense. Which may not be coming, since the billboard attack first started in September in California, which should have been plenty of time for their strategists and creatives to get something out there.

Social Ventures and the Maasai Tribe - Adventures from Africa

Spending Time with the Maasai Tribe was Amazing

Based upon the response from “Cows on the Beach”, I thought that another story about Structuring Social Ventures in Africa would be appreciated.  This story is about “Spending time with the Maasai”.

In the Summer of 2007, my wife and I were asked to assist a University with the structure of a social venture to promote college education among the Maasai Tribe of Kenya and Tanzania.  The Maasai Tribe then asked us to assist them with the structuring of a tourism social enterprise.  Since this was a grassroots, community-based social venture and I would never pass-up a trip to spend time with the Maasai People, my wife and I made the trek to Kenya and Tanzania.

Our Community Meetings (shown above) were on a mountaintop overlooking the Masai Mara National park in Kenya.   The Wildebeest Migration was coming to an end but we witnessed hundreds of thousands of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, giraffe and gazelle followed by lions, hyena, cheetah and other predators.  Of course, the views and the experience were amazing.

One story of note, Maasai Warriors are required to kill a lion on their own armed only with a traditional spear at age 16 to become a true Maasai Warrior.  While showing a film that was created for the Maasai about the tourism social venture – we noticed that these people had never seen a movie before in their lives.  The film was short but showed the typical indigenous safari viewing lodges, wildlife and scenery as an introduction to the tourism social venture.  In one scene, there was a large picture of a beautiful lion lying in the bush.  At the sight of the lion, one overly aggressive young warrior stood up and promptly threw his spear at the lion and through the movie screen.  Have to say, that was one reaction that no one anticipated.  Of course, after he saw the effects of the spear, he relaxed and everyone else went back to watching the movie.  I have to say, spending time with the Maasai was one of the highlights of my life and certainly my career as a tax lawyer.

When structuring social ventures (especially when dealing with grassroots meetings with indigenous people) in Africa, it is important to understand the culture and mannerisms and social customs of the people you are working with.  I always advise clients to “learn from the local people” and to “listen alot and speak less.”  We have to be cognizant of the reality that we are trying to help these people but we are not supposed to westernize them.  I hope that the social ventures that I have assisted with have supported the local people without changing them.  Africa has amazing cultural heritage that should be preserved for as long as we can.

These two social ventures are on-going and the structures are simple in design but complex in operation and in real life experience.  Real life experience can teach you more about social ventures and social entrepreneurship than an textbook or individual ever can.

Thanks for your support.  Please contact me at Ray Dinning (757_ 232-2619.

 In June, 2009, I was asked to assist in the structure of a green power, eco- tourism social venture in South Africa which will primarily benefit the Xhosa Tribe along the Indian Ocean coastline.  This was a tremendously beautiful day on a pristine stretch of beach and it was the beginning of the Greatest Migration on Earth – the Great Sardine Run had begun.  So, with up to 60 kilometers of sardines schooling along the coastline, dolphins, whales, sharks, diving gannets and abundant bird life and marine life could be seen with the naked eye (we saw 30 whales breaching).

 On this day, we were walking along the beach and talking with the local community about their needs and desires for this project.  The Xhosa People along the coast live in relative harmony with abundant fruit, vegetables and seafood with great weather (always about 80 degrees F or 25 degrees C).  However, there is a great need for jobs and a future for their children.  A small tourism lodge will promote job creation, teach valuable skills and feed up to 12 families (12 jobs X 5 family members per family = 60 people).  Furthermore, profits are set aside for micro enterprise loans and job creation projects that feed off of the tourism project. 

 So, in a grassroots meeting we kept being interrupted by 20 cows walking down the beach with us.  If you haven’t ever seen cows on the beach, it is truly an unnatural site.  We finally chased the cows back into their grazing lands and continued on with our grassroots Board of Directors meeting.

A Board of Directors Meeting in Africa

 At the end of the day, we meet with the Tribal Leaders of the area surrounding the project.  Here, we are meeting with the Chief and the Community Trust Members of this Xhosa Community.  After a successful meeting, we ended up structuring the project using an LLC-type entity in South Africa which is owned by the developers, an NGO, the local community and the social investors.  Profits are set aside to promote education, job training and micro finance loans with the ultimate goal of creating a self-sustaining, profitable tourism social venture for the Xhosa People in South Africa.

Thanks to all.  Ray Dinning JD, LLM.  For more info or to get involved, call (757) 232-2619.

by The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies CentreThe Top 50

 42

Dato ‘ Haji Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat

Religious Guide of the Islamic Party of Malaysia

Dato’ Haji Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat is a Malaysian politician, an Islamic scholar and the current chief minister of the State of Kelantan. He holds the position of Mursyidul Am—the religious guide—within the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS).

 Scholarly Influence over Malaysian Politics

 As the religious guide of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, Nik Mat is the spiritual leader of Malaysian Islamic politics and holds very important sway over the tenor of politics in the nation. His advocacy of sharia law to be applied to all Malay Muslims has, however, drawn criticism, especially his suggestion that women would be at a lower risk of being raped if they abandoned wearing lipstick.

 Political Importance in Malaysia

 Nik Abdul Aziz’s fundamentalist party has close to one million members and enjoys strong support from the northern rural and conservative states such as Kelantan and Terengganu. Nik Mat is the chief minister of the Kelantan state, the only one of Malaysia’s thirteen states that is not ruled by the governing coalition.

____________________________________________________________________________________

 The following 12 leaders merit an honorable mention in the 450 list for accomplishments in their respective fields that place them amongst the most significant Muslims in the world. They command influence almost comparable to those in the Top 50. They deserve mention here:

 IBRAHIM, H.E. DR ANWAR

MALAYSIA

Political p.105

Anwar Ibrahim, leader of the Malaysian opposition, is credited for dramatically changing the political landscape of the country as former finance minister and subsequently, former deputy prime minister of Malaysia. He has been an outspoken critic of Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad’s administration, and now garners increasing influence for his liberal political stance and popularity with young Malaysians.

____________________________________________________________________________________

 Top 450 list

 Scholarly

 Bakar, Prof. Dr. Dato’ Osman

MALAYSIA

Bakar is a Malaysian academic who is widely respected and critically acclaimed in both the Muslim and non-Muslim world. His books have been translated into numerous languages. He has also published books with many of the leading global experts on Islam and interfaith relations. He has served as the vice chancellor of the University of Malaysia, a position that enables him to exert a considerable amount of pressure in Malaysian academia. Bakar was also the first holder of the Chair of the Philosophy of Science at the University of Malaysia. He is one of the founding members and has also served as president of the Islamic Academy of Science of Malaysia. He has also been awarded the honorary title of Dato.

Kamali, Prof. Dr Mohammad Hashim

MALAYSIA

Kamali is the world’s leading expert and author on Islamic law and modern law and comparison between them. He is one of the most prolific producers of quality scholarship on Islam in the world today. Originally from Afghanistan, he is a dean and professor at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and  Civilization (ISTAC) and the International Islamic University in Malaysia.

Political

Ibrahim, His Excellency Dr Anwar

MALAYSIA

Ibrahim is a Malaysian politician of global stature. He is the former deputy prime minister of Malaysia, former finance minister and is currently the leader of the Malaysian opposition coalition. He is well known for his liberal Islamic stance on politics, and is incredibly influential as a leader and role model for young people.

Mohammad, His Excellency Dr Mahathir

MALAYSIA

Mohammad was Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister and has been credited with engineering Malaysia’s rapid modernization and spearheading the phenomenal growth of the Malaysian economy. Mahathir is known for his outspoken attitude towards the West, especially the US, and was highly critical of George Bush’s actions against Iraq.

Woman

Aljeffri, Sharifah Zuriah

MALAYSIA

Sharifah Aljeffri is an artist and curator incorporating the Chinese brush style with Arabic calligraphy to produce unique works of art. She is also an outspoken social activist who founded Sisters in Islam, an organization committed to gender issues and increasing respect for women.

Anwar, Zaynah

MALAYSIA

Zaynah Anwar is the executive director of Sisters in Islam, an organization committed to gender issues and increasing respect for women. She is also a journalist who has contributed to the New Straits Times and the Star, the country’s two main newspapers, and has written a book about Islam in Malaysia.

Development

Kader, Mohideen Abdul

MALAYSIA

Kader is vice president of the Consumers’ Association of Penang, which works to secure the rights of every person to basic needs, clean and safe environment, and the development of indigenous culture and knowledge. He is also a board member of Citizens International, an NGO working on international political issues.

Arts And Culture

Raihan

MALAYSIA

Raihan are a world famous Malaysian nasheed group with four members: Che Amran Idris, Abu Bakar Md Yatim, Amran Ibrahim and Zulfadli Bin Mustaza. Since their coming together in 1996, they have made 11 albums and have received numerous awards in Malaysia.

Experienced Junior hockey fans recognize the strategy.

Successful junior hockey teams across the country have been using it for a while now.

Why? Because it works!!!

In leagues where players regularly come and go, entering the league at age 16 or 17 and graduating at 20 one of the keys to building a successful franchise and winning team is to maximize your assets.

How do you they do that?

They do that by setting up their team to take a run for the championship in a certain year.  Some call it a 3 year plan, sometimes it becomes a 4 or 5 year plan.

Here is how it works:

Step 1: Teams will choose the year they want to compete for the championship.

Step 2: They will try to acquire players that will mature in that year.

Step 3: If they are in the lower half of the standings before the trading deadline, they will trade away some of their star players to teams in the upper half of the standings in order to acquire top quality rookies that will mature in the year that they will make a run for it.

Step 4: In a year or two when they are competing for the championship they will add top players from the teams in the lower part of the standings in exchange for their future stars.

This is the strategy that we witnessed Jason Brooks and the Guelph Storm use when they traded away Thomas McCollum last year.

Veteran Dan Mohle now a Cyclone

And that is the strategy Guelph Hurricanes GM Matt Mullin used when he traded two of their top players in Forwards Ken Rolph (1989 birth year) and leading scorer Dan Mohle (also 1989 birth year) to the Listowel Cyclones for two rookie Forwards Blair Goss (1992 birth year), Jake Weidner (also 1992 birth year) and Future considerations.

According to Mullin, “Not only did we give Ken and Dan a chance to compete for the Sutherland Cup, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add 2 quality kids that will set us up nicely for the next couple of years.”

Blair Goss played the last 2 years with the Fergus Devils (Jr. C), scoring 76 pts. in 79 games, but is a big power forward 6′0″ 205 lbs. He was Listowel’s first star, scoring 2 goals in his last game.

According to the Listowel Cyclones website, “Blair Goss lead the Cyclones scoring attack with two solid strikes and did his best to help his team win with timely scoring and an energetic effort. The Fergus native is just getting his game back on track after suffering a broken ankle in summer lacrosse action.”

Jake Weidner (6′2″ 175) played AAA Midget in Grey-Bruce and is described as an excellent face-off guy and penalty kill expert.

Here was the description of how he played in his last game as a Cyclone, “Rookie forward Jake Weidner who put in another solid game on the PK and in the face – off circle. Make no mistake hockey fans; this young forward will be a dandy player in this league for seasons to come.”

And the best part is that instead of watching two senior players graduate in the next few months, we will be able to watch these two players develop over the next few seasons.

 Now that is what I call maximizing your assets.

*Note: You can see the new players Thursday night (Dec. 3rd) when the Hurricanes host the league leading Brantford Golden Eagles at the Sleeman Centre. Game time 7:45 pm.

You won’t have to wait too long to see Dan Mohle and Ken Rolph as the Listowel Cyclones play the Hurricanes in a home and home series. Friday night in Listowel and Saturday Dec. 5th in Guelph. Game time at the Sleeman Centre is 7:30 pm and remember Saturday night is “Kids Get in Free Night”, where 4 kids can get in free with every paid Adult admission.

“Change is the new normal.” That was quoted by Philip Kotler in his new book “Chaotics”. While many see change as negative, there are a lot more businesses today see change as a good thing. Peter Drucker wrote in his book, “Entrepreneurship and Innovation”, that change in organization, industry and demographic are sources of innovation. And from Jack Welch in his book, “Winning”, he also said “change is inevitable, you got to embrace it!.”

Change means any change that happened in this world that leave impact to your business. We have witnessed how change in technology has changed the way communicate and commute these days. We also experienced change in demographic and how it has transformed many businesses in this world. We also have seen how change in population has revolutionized the food business and supply chains. We also recently shocked by the global financial crisis that only happen once in the lifetime for many of us. Change is inevitable but the ability to respond to change is what matters. As Darwin once said that “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”. And it has to be done fast enough.

Let’s take a look of what happen in the recent crisis. Don’t look far, look around us. How many us realized the subsequent few months after the crisis hits Malaysia (or at least the spiral effect), the advertisement dollars shaved and subsequently plummeted. You will see this especially in The Star, English dailies, on their Saturday’s copy because that’s like the bumper issue of the week. And usually inflated by the job advertising for various companies but when the crisis hits, it was very thin. I remember holding The Star on two Saturdays of a Sunday size (usually the Sunday size is the thinnest of all). Is it fair to say the recruitment was freeze that time? Potentially yes.

I also observed there were less commercial ads filling our TV3. Well, ASTRO advertised itself in its own channels, so we don’t see much differences. There was a lot of SALE going around at shopping malls to charge back the economy. Government pump priming few billions ringgit to cushion the economy a bit. Not to mentioned the stimulus packages and new projects worth billions of ringgit to give more hope to our business people in the country. All these changes have a chain effect in our business environment.

Take for example if early of the year we already plan to launch a new premium service and suddenly the crisis hits, we will think many times whether to launch or postpone. Chances are we will postpone it. When crisis hits, don’t take chances. Deal with the present first.

Another example is reflecting how Malaysia has evolved so much demographically. And we are still in the transition period of this change. We haven’t settled yet. Our demographic is evolving and it is evolving very fast. It is unlikely to slow down. In fact it will not slow down because it is like a moving average in the financial market statistical tool; the average gets
higher and higher by the day. Look how it has changed the job market, consumer market, commodity market, technology market, education market and a lot more other markets. Not to mention the emerging of women purchasing power. 

I attended a seminar in Kuala Lumpur recently and bumped into a client. He is now
working with a top public university in Malaysia. We chatted and I asked him why his university still doesn’t offer distance learning to cater for growing “middles” i.e. middle class, middle manager and middle age group that account more than 30% of Malaysian total population of 28 million? Remember he is the Head of Marketing and his answer was, “We have yet to see a real demand.”

My eyes went rounded and I was shocked. I told her that Open University Malaysia (OUM), one of the leading pioneer of distance learning universities, has cumulatively more than 90, 000 students, Multimedia University has more than 20, 000 and not to mention other private universities and colleges that usually cater long distance students in their twinning programs with United Kingdom, Australia and United States. In total I estimated at least 250, 000 adults now on part time or distance learning and attending weekend classes. If you don’t call that a niche market and demand, I don’t know what is.

Therefore, changes in the marketing and business environment do affect strategic marketing, but what are we going to do about it matters the most. Remember, the direction should be on the customer and not you.

Check out our Marketing Plan e-Book Preview @ www.slideshare.com/bitesconsulting

It’s the Customer, Stupid!

If you have experience working in marketing or sales, you will know what I meant. Not many organizations know what they can and cannot do when it comes to looking for specialty to serve their customer. We all want to be everything to everybody but at the end we are nothing to everybody. So we are nobody. Business wise, we are just a product, not an experience or utility.

I remember a visit to an organization that wants to launch a new product. I was hired as the consultant to facilitate the brainstorming and discussion about their new product. They are in software development and the CEO feels that they can do more with what they have now. So I was hired. Remember, this was my first time meeting so I don’t have any idea what is it about but I rather not investigate. I attended the brainstorming session with an open mind.

The moment of truth came. That meeting I attended was the 4th meeting (work in progress meeting) which is conducted bi-weekly. The CEO will be there and the head of departments will present their progress. I observed through the presentation, trying to grasp what really happen, watching their face to engage, writing some notes on my book but I still don’t get it. What I scribbled in my book was, “I don’t understand.”

Then going-roundtable if any question, I asked. “Who is the target group for this product?”. I got a super laugh from all of them except from the CEO. I concurred something was not in place. I continued asking all the marketing questions and no one could answer. Aha! Then I can see the CEO face smiled and he quickly excused himself to another meeting. The CEO sms’ed’ me and I took over from there.

When we design a product (new, extension or refresh), we need to focus it to the customer. While all of us know about this because we are customers too to some other service providers, many didn’t know how to exactly use the marketing tools and direct it to the customers. We usually jumped into the product features based on our own experience and lenses. At that experience and lenses are from a provider perspective instead of customer’s. Peter F. Drucker once said, “The customer sees a product (or service) as their utility. As long as their needs are satisfied by the utility delivered by the product the customer will continue to purchase until that product is no longer provide them the satisfaction they wanted.”

Take home point here is, focus all your marketing energy to the customer.

Also, for more ideas about business and management, visit http://entreprenovator.wordpress.com

Lack of Expertise

Actually there are not many “real marketing person” around in the job market. Real marketing person means someone who can see, feel and understand the total marketing from business perspectives. Most of the time the marketing person employed based various
criteria. Based on my experience that candidate with event, branding and media background will have the highest value; at least in today’s world. Therefore you will notice that some companies overused the event, branding and media such as public relation as their marketing strategies.

We all know they are oblivious with what they do, but that’s the reality here. The second highest value now is, if you are from FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Good) company. Companies such as Nestle, Procter & Gamble and Coke. More so in today’s highly populated world (around 6.2 billion people) where food needs are in high supply, marketers with FMCG background know more about consumer than any other people in this world. Some might argue that FMCG is more of retail than business to business marketing which involves millions of dollars in transaction, but people in FMCG deals directly with the consumers.

They are usually upbeat and adaptable to change quite easily. They also are very close with the market and sensitive with the changes around it. Simply because that’s how it is when you are dealing with highly fragmented customers these days e.g. same product needs different packaging and size to cater to different needs. Tough right?

Can you guess what type of marketer an organization will employed when they are in crisis? People with financial expertise and background. They say, now it is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is the number two most powerful person in organization. Sometimes the CEO assumed position as CFO, in that case they are the number one. To me, typical financial person only concerns about profit and loss. But the good news when we hire financial background people for our marketing department; we no longer have any problem with the CFO. They talk the same lingo and they shared the same values and opinions. They probably the same person who handles finance and marketing departments! You will see (or rather experience) budgets slashed in marketing. Of course it will be reflected as higher net profits by the fiscal year in the balance sheet, but we all know that will not last. Marketing requires investment, and investment requires time to flourish. Quarter to quarter will not work.

Because of lack of expertise, our dream for strategic marketing is a tragic nightmare. We spend a lot of money but our return on marketing investment (ROMI) is very poor.

The second reason why our strategic marketing fails to deliver is customer focus. Check out my next post!

3014718    กลยุทธในการป้องกันและควบคุมโรค    Strategic Prevention And Control Of Diseases

ระดับการป้องกันโรค หลักและวิธีการในการป้องกันและควบคุมโรค วางแผนกลยุทธในการป้องกันและควบคุมโรค ทั้งโรคติดเชื้อและโรคไร้เชื้อที่สำคัญตามแผนพัฒนาการสาธารณสุขแห่งชาติ

(Levels of prevention; principles and methods of prevention and control of diseases; strategic planning in prevention and control of crucial infectious and non-infectious diseases under the existing national health development plans.)

(3014718 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

Social Venture Capital on the Rise

By:  Ray Dinning, JD, LLM

In 2009, social venture funds are rapidly increasing at an unprecedented scale. At least seven new and follow-on funds billed as social venture or social entrepreneurship funds are on track to raise about $1 billion this year

“It’s really peaked in the last six months,” says David Chen, founder of Equilibrium Capital, a planned $200 million fund focused on the cleantech and wellness sectors. Commencing in the Fall of 2008, , Chen has seen a great increase in interest levels from investors in the social venture investment area.

The rise in social venture comes as institutional and accredited investors are putting significantly more money into so-called socially responsible investment (SRI) vehicles. Today, roughly $2.71 trillion—or 11% of assets under professional management in the United States—are now involved in SRI, according to the Social Investment Forum, a trade group.

Resources like Social Venture Network and social venture legal specialists like B. Ray Dinning, JD, LLM are providing guidance to the burgeoning social venture market.  Social Entrepreneurs require necessary capital but they also need guidance in proper structuring of these helpful ventures.

Structuring Social Ventures:  Choice of Legal Structure

By:  B. Ray Dinning, JD, LLM (taxation)

November 30, 2009

Part II

Foundations of Social Venture Legal Structures

The Foundations of Legal Structures for Social Ventures

In 1992-1994, I was privileged to provide research, drafting and editing skills to my esteemed professor, Mr. Michael I. Sanders, in the creation of his authoritative legal treatise, “Joint Ventures Involving Tax Exempt Organizations (Wiley & Sons).  This early work set the stage for the concept of the modern day social ventures.   Having structured hundreds of social ventures in the United States and, in fact, worldwide, the choice of entity generally depends on the specific facts of the transaction and the needs of the parties involved.  However, generally speaking, the most common legal structures utilized for social ventures, both domestic and international, are the tax-exempt organization, the limited liability company (LLC) and various partnership entities.  When used in a strategic manner designed to meet the needs of the social venture, a legal structure can be created which will allow the social venture to meet both charitable, social needs and also pursue the profit-making activities in a fairly straightforward and simple to use structure.

Tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations are generally designed to provide a structure for its directors and members to pursue a fairly well-defined set of charitable, exempt purposes. However, they are not conducive for the operation of for-profit business activities.  Additionally, tax-exempt organizations are generally not able to raise capital, sell stock or borrow without significant restrictions.  Nonprofit corporations cannot issue stock and therefore have no “owners.” Revenues generated by the nonprofit organizations must remain within it and cannot be paid out to investors or other stakeholders except as reasonable compensation for services rendered.  Its income must be devoted to charitable purposes.  The board of directors of a nonprofit corporation is duty-bound to give its primary attention to pursuit of the social mission rather than the production of net income. Organizations exempt from federal tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (often referred to generically as charities) must abide by even greater restrictions that prohibit payments to insiders and impose taxes on any business activity that is not directly related to the organization’s tax exempt purposes.   As you will see, however, tax-exempt charitable organizations have been conducting “business” for decades using a typical joint venture structure which allows the charitable organizations to pursue both non-profit activities via the tax-exempt organization and also the for-profit social venture via the “parallel” venture entity – typically a limited liability company or limited partnership.

Take for example, the tax-exempt, nonprofit university dedicated to charitable, educational, scientific and other charitable purposes.  Many large universities make millions of dollars per year on corporate sponsorship, advertising, concessions and branding of their sports programs such as college football.  Hospitals conduct a myriad of non-profit and for-profit activities under the large umbrella of a tax-exempt organization.  Low income housing tax credit ventures link profitable developers and construction companies to non-profit housing development agencies to provide low cost housing to those in need.  These non-profit and for-profit purposes have co-existed since the 1970s under the careful structuring of a few legal professionals who possess the requisite skills to provide tax, corporate, partnership and non-profit legal advice.  With the recent advent of “social ventures” and the skyrocketing use of these social entrepreneurship projects worldwide, it is actually the lawyers, accountants and governmental agencies who are trying to play catch-up which is much of the cause of the confusion.

For-profit business corporations, on the contrary, have shareholders (owners) and a board of directors (carrying out the general business of the organization) and perhaps officers and managers (who do the day to day operating of the business).  The directors of the corporation have certain fiduciary duties to the business and the shareholders which require them to always act in the best interests of the shareholders and the corporation.  Unless a link exists which can tie their social venture activities directly to some business purpose, the managers and directors of for-profit companies may be sued for breach of their fiduciary duties and misuse of corporate assets. Only in cases where the owners of the business are in agreement with the idea of operating in a socially responsible manner, or dedicating a percentage of profits to charitable causes, can such activity take place.  Even then, this fragile balance of business and social purposes can be destroyed by a drop in corporate earnings or an unforeseen consequence of the social venture or the lack of reaching  the projected profits from a social venture or the complaint of one or more shareholders.

So, what is the answer to the question of proper legal structure?  That begins Part III of the Series.

B. Ray Dinning is a United States attorney specializing in nonprofit joint ventures and public private partnershps  Ray Dinning assisted Professor Michael Sanders with the research and drafting of the authoritative legal text in this area called “Partnerships and Joint Ventures Involving Tax Exempt Organizations by John Wiley & Sons in 1994 with later editions.  Mr. Dinning can be reached at (757) 232-2619.

Structuring Social Ventures:  Choice of Legal Structure

By:  B. Ray Dinning, JD, LLM (taxation)

November 29, 2009

Part I – Introduction

This is Part One of a Four Part Series on Choice of Legal Structure for Social Ventures

Social Ventures and social entrepreneurship are alive and well in the for-profit and non-profit communities, universities, foundations and with social investors worldwide.  With every major MBA Program educating future business leaders about the social benefits of ventures that make money and help others and with amazing examples of social entrepreneurship by Professor Yunus and the Grameen Bank, Social Ventures are the business wave of the future.  With roughly 2/3rds of the world’s population living with an income of $2 a day, the applicability of technology and products to this burgeoning world market is a new phenomenon.  Bill Gates, Richard Branson and others are finding new ways to market products and services to this market.  Innovation is a key component to this process as products must be re-engineered to be affordable to the world market.  For example, the wind up computer, cell phones and other technology are currently being marketed and sold to this demographic group.  In Africa, this challenge is even greater and the need more prolific.  One thing is certain:  social entrepreneurship is the wave of the future in world markets.

A social venture is an undertaking by a firm or organization established by a social entrepreneur that seeks to provide systemic solutions to achieve a sustainable, social objective. The distinguishing characteristic of the social venture versus the commercial venture is the primacy of their objective to solve social problems and provide social benefits to those in need. The social venture may generate profits, but that is not its focus. Rather profits are the mechanism to achieve sustainability in providing a social benefit. The problems addressed by social ventures cover the range of social issues, including poverty, inequality, education, the environment, and economic development.

The challenge in this fast-paced developing area is that guidance in how these beneficial ventures should be structured is amorphous and undefined. Some have estimated that – depending on how one defines social enterprise – this activity could account for as much as 4 trillion dollars in the global economy. Social Enterprise Alliance estimates in a recent poll, 71% of respondents reported that making a determination as to the proper and best legal structure for their social ventures was the greatest challenge they faced. The pool of respondents included not just people who were starting new ventures, but also investors seeking a social return on investment (SROI) in addition to financial returns.

Because so many legal disciplines are necessary to properly structure a venture which many include non-profit, for-profit and even community partners and where business principles must be modified, it is hard to find concrete guidance in how to set up and structure social ventures.  The legal areas implicated in a structuring social ventures include:  tax, non-profit, corporate, partnership, international, mergers & acquisitions, business entity formation and perhaps more.

Social ventures can be structured in several legal formations including, but not limited to: business for-profit corporations, nonprofit corporations, tax-exempt organizations, for-profit subsidiaries of nonprofit entities, limited liability companies, charities created by business corporations, joint ventures, and less formal structures created through financing, shareholder and licensing agreements.  New forms of business structures including the use of the L3C entity and the so-called “B Corporation” are also adding to the mix of potential business structures available to social entrepreneurs.

Perhaps because of our capitalistic roots and the emphasis in the United States on profit and wealth generation or simply because of the relative infancy of social enterprises and social ventures, our legal system in the United States does not provide a legal form that is designed to accommodate the particular needs of social ventures.  Obviously, public companies have, as their primary objective, the bests interests of the shareholders of the company which, to date, has allowed them to pursue “green” or eco-friendly ventures as an aside to their primary objective of producing a good or service which generates profits for the shareholders.  Non-profit organizations have social good and charitable purposes as their primary objective but many complex rules and onerous penalties exist for the organization and its directors should their profit making objectives be structured improperly, become too large or simply conflict with their tax-exempt social purposes.  Additionally, non-profits face potential donor confusion when they start to introduce the concept of “business” and “profit” to their donor base.  Thus, many pitfalls, regulatory landmines and business issues such as access to capital and modifying the traditional rules of business come into play when attempting to structure a social venture.

In structuring a social venture, the ideal legal structure for social enterprise would allow management to pursue the dual goals of profit and social benefit within a single venture. It would allow the venture to raise private capital and compensate investors for the use of their capital on competitive terms but also management to make business decisions that further the social mission of the venture, even at the risk of reducing profits.  This ideal legal structure would also allow donors to support the social purposes of the venture with tax-deductible contributions, provided the money they give is a gift and they do not receive anything in return. Such an enterprise could freely enter into joint ventures and other business relationships with charities or for-profit companies without jeopardizing the tax or corporate status of the participating entities or exposing management to complex regulation or potential liability. Under the right circumstances, the social enterprise itself could become exempt from paying tax on its net revenues.

Next, we will discuss Foundations of the social venture movement.

B. Ray Dinning, JD, LLM (taxation) is a United States based attorney specializing in nonprofit joint ventures, social ventures, domestic and international taxation and public private partnerships.   Mr. Dinning assisted Professor Michael Sanders with the research and drafting of the authoritative legal text in this area called “Partnerships and Joint Ventures Involving Tax Exempt Organizations by John Wiley & Sons in 1994 with later editions.  Mr. Dinning holds an Advanced Law Degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Taxation – an LL.M in Taxation.  Mr. Dinning has traveled around the world structuring social ventures from the grassroots to the Heads of State.  Mr. Dinning can be reached at (757) 232-2619.

Clearly, strategic planning is no panacea. Strategic planning is simply a set of concepts, procedures, and tools designed to help leaders, managers, and planners think and act strategically. Used in wise and skillful ways by a “coalition of the willing,” strategic planning can help organizations focus on producing effective decisions and actions that further the organization’s mission, meet in mandates, and satisfy key stakeholders. But strategic planning is not a substitute for strategic thinking and acting. Only caring and committed people can do that. And when used thoughtlessly, strategic planning can actually drive out precisely the kind of strategic thought and action it is supposed to promote.

Furthermore, strategic planning is not a substitute for leadership. There is simply no substitute for leadership when it comes to using strategic planning to enhance organizational performance. At least some key decision makers and process champions must be committed to the strategic planning process, or any attempts to use it are bound to fail.

In addition, strategic planning is not synonymous with creating an organizational strategy. Organizational strategies have numerous sources, both planned and unplanned. Strategic planning is likely to result in statement of organizational intentions, but what is realized in practice will be some combination of what is intended and what emerges along the way. Strategic planning can help organizations develop and implement effective strategies, but they should also remain open to unforeseen opportunities. Too much attention to strategic planning and excessive reverence for strategic plans can build organizations to other unplanned and unexpected—yet incredibly useful—sources of information, insight, and action.

The discipline necessary for strategic planning can be of two sorts. The first harkens back to Latin root of the word “discipline,” emphasizing instruction, training, education, and learning. The second embodies later interpretations of the word, emphasizing order, control, and punishment. Emphasis should be placed on education and learning, although there clearly are occasions when imposing order, taking control, and enforcing appropriate sanctions are appropriate. Certainly, key leaders, managers, and planners can best use strategic planning as an educational and learning tool, to help them figure out what is really important and what should be done about it. Sometimes this means following a particular sequence of steps and preparing formal strategic plans, but not necessarily. The ultimate goal of strategic planning should not be a rigid adherence to a particular process or an instance on the production of plans. Instead, strategic planning should promote wise strategic thought and action on behalf of an organization and its key stakeholders. What steps to follow, in what sequence, and whether or not to prepare formal plans are subsidiary concerns.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

A factor that is driving the trend towards automating the sales department is the extent to which speed has become a strategic advantage in the selling process. Once, it was acceptable for salespeople to promise to get back to customers with answers to questions. Increasingly, those salespeople are finding that by the time they get back to their customers with the necessary information, the sales opportunity has evaporated. The ability to respond to customers quickly is crucial to success, and the tolerances are narrower than ever before.

Similarly, the ability to compress the sales order cycle is becoming an extremely significant factor in a competitive situation. Your customers, who are under the same competitive pressures as you, are placing more and more emphasis on increased cash flow and reduced inventories. Reducing your sales order cycle from four days to two can make an important and measurable difference, certainly enough of a difference to determine whether or not you get the order.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

I’ll be uploading a new article sometime later today (It’s not on my laptop and I’m currently housesitting), but in the meantime something that an anonymous commenter posted got me thinking.

Before I continue, if you want a bit of understanding as to where my thought process came from, please read the comment “This is a losing battle” on “Taking the Mickey out of the R18+ Debate”.

When it comes right down to it, as much as I agree with and support Gamers4Croydon, I do not believe they can win the position unless they put forth a strong candidate who can beat Atkinson. Not necessarily at his own game, I wouldn’t like to put a politician into power who’s as… I’m trying to find the right word… “Eccentric” as Mickey, but I’d be willing to put up with a fair bit to see his face when his supposedly untouchable position is taken from under him.

What this really led to, however, is whether or not G4C would consider stepping aside as a political party (or remaining as one) and throwing their support to a different candidate. If G4C can drum up enough votes in the seat of Croydon, whilst they may not be able to threaten Mickey directly there is the possibility of putting into power a politician who does speak with the voice of Gamers. Mickey would most likely call this sort of strategy out as “fixing” an election. Thankfully he has absolutely no ground to stand on there as voters who don’t want him aren’t going to vote for him anyway and they’re simply taking part in what they see as the most effective strategy to remove from office a man they do not believe capable of running the Croydon seat.

It’s just a thought, but perhaps it would be worth speaking to David Doe and potential Liberal (or other) party candidates to get this idea out there.

Toshiba a creat o reclama ce intra mai mult in zona de marketing viral decat in cea de reclama traditionala. Desi filmul are aceeasi lungime cu o reclama clasica de lansare de campanie sau de brand, un minut, te incita caci incepe cu imagini pe care nu te-ai astepta sa le vezi, te atrage sa vezi ce se intampla, te incanta cand imaginile arata lucruri pe care muritorii nu le vor vedea pe viu vreodata pentru ca, in timp ce se deruleaza secundele de promovare a produsului la sfarsitul reclamei, sa ai deja in minte ideea de a-l vedea inca o data sau de a-l da mai departe.

Ajungem in felul acesta la marketingul viral care prin definitie este o tehnica de marketing ce foloseste retele sociale existente pentru replicarea mesajului si pentru a creste brand awareness-ul produsului sau marcii vizate dar si pentru a atinge alte obiective strategice (de exemplu vanzari). Marketingul viral ia forme diverse printre care clipuri video, jocuri interactive in timpul navigarii pe Internet, jocuri publicitare, carti electronice, software branduit, imagini si chiar text.

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