The importance of networking

I recently read the article How to get a social enterprise off the ground: The money trail, which was written by Esha Chhabra on July 12th, 2011 and can be found online at http://dowser.org/how-to-get-a-social-enterprise-off-the-ground-the-money-trail/. To be frank, this article is a must read for anyone trying to start a social enterprise in a foreign country. When you think of starting a social enterprise, I would imagine that most of your thought process would be pertaining thinking through the logistics of your idea. When thoughts came to financing your operation, you may think about how much money you might need and who would provide that money for you. However, what you might not think about is how to physically get the cash to where you need it.

This article addresses the problem of how to get the cash where you physically need it. This author is trying to start an enterprise in India and realizes the difficulty of physically getting the cash. The obvious first solution, which the author thinks of, is to wire the cash from another country to India. Unfortunately, she finds out that there is a wire fee of $45. We can easily see how getting multiple installments of cash which cost $45 each could get very expensive. When faced with that steep cost, the author inquisitively asks around and tries to find other ways she can get the cash. She finds out that it is very easy for established charities to get donations from non-resident Indians, but that these banks do not have established programs for non-established charities. After exploring this option, she disscovers that Wells Fargo Bank and ICICI have a partnership that allows people send money for only $5. However, even with this solution, she learns that she may need a FCRA (Foregin Contribution Regulation Act) license, which is difficult to get. One solution to get around this that she identifies is to partner with another organization that already has this license. Either way, she identifies that "setting up a strong money trail is the most challenging part of running an organization when your support is coming from abroad but your operations and costs are located closer to home". In order to help herself, she seeks assistance from various partners.

The main lesson that I take away from this situation is the need for a strong network of people who can assist you when starting any new venture, where profit or non-profit. You need people who can assist you in any problem you may face, especially when you don't understand how things work or really understand the lay of the land. If you can network with individuals who understand these intricate situations, you can have a much greater chance of having a successful venture. The best that the author does in this situation is that she does her research and seeks help and partnerships with larger firms/knowledgeable people. By doing this, she was able to find how other firms went through and solved the same problems. This is vital to having a successful venture.