A Promising Practices Guide for Reducing Risk in the Creation of Employment Development Social Enterprises

Author: Chris Kantowicz
MBA Candidate, Sauder School of Business - University of BC
August 2007

This guide is meant to supplement the resources already in existence for starting social enterprises. It was developed specifically for the Vancouver/Burnaby branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA/VB) but it is expected that the steps outlined will be relevant to any non-profit hoping to create a social enterprise to better serve its target population of individuals with barriers to traditional employment.

The guide is broken into three sections with recommendations to reduce the risk of your social enterprise failing at any of the initial stages of developing the new social enterprise:
1. Assessing your parent organization's readiness
2. Identifying a business opportunity in an appropriate industry
3. Developing a business plan