Understanding the Problem: Approaches to Impact Solving
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The goal of any social enterprise is to act as an effective solution to a social or environmental problem. As this can be a crucial and intricate journey, we’re here to offer some guidance on how to ensure you are targeting the challenge effectively, and how you can remain focused on the mission.
To start with, you need to be able to articulate the specific problem in order to build the right solution. When emphasis is not placed on thorough research, what can happen is that you end up addressing a problem that doesn’t exist, or you have a business that only serves a small group of people, or you have a business that doesn’t address the problem deep enough. To avoid this scenario and have the impact you want to, you can implement routine practices.
The most important practice is to champion the role of lived experience. This means involving the end beneficiary in the strategy of the business solution. By taking the time to understand the experiences of those you seek to serve, the gaps in infrastructure and what they require, can truly differentiate your business and fast track your solution.
A great way to get to the root of the problem is to engage with your beneficiaries regularly. Although referring to established research houses can be a great source of data, conducting your own grassroots research through means such as information sessions is imperative to your success for many reasons.
Firstly, hearing directly from your target audience at the start of your journey can quite quickly validate your business and assure you are on the right track.
Secondly, consistent engagement can develop an intentional learning environment. This is extremely beneficial as it allows you to continuously analyse business activities and outcomes to identify any gaps of your product or service.
Thirdly, building meaningful relationships with your beneficiaries can also bring to light cultural, regional or religious nuances when addressing a social problem.
If your solution does not align with your beneficiaries needs, you risk having the opposite effect and negatively impacting these communities.
Case study 1 - PlayPump International aimed to provide clean drinking water to rural communities in Africa through a child-powered water pump system. However, the organisation failed to conduct adequate research and understand the local context, leading to inefficient and burdensome tasks for children, causing negative impacts on their well-being and education. Insufficient consideration of maintenance and repair needs resulted in non-functional pumps, leaving communities without access to water, as well as a sense of skepticism towards similar technologies, and a hindered progress in addressing water access challenges.
Case study 2 - TOMS Shoes' "One for One" model, which aimed to donate shoes to underprivileged communities, faced criticism and negative consequences due to a lack of research and understanding of local markets and long-term sustainability. The initiative flooded local markets with free shoes, negatively impacting local economies and traditional shoe producers. It failed to address underlying causes of poverty and overlooked the complexity of community needs, leading to a dependency on aid and disempowerment.
Another practice you can adopt at the beginning of your journey as well as periodically throughout, is conducting a regular landscape exercise to understand what others are doing in the field. Whilst it’s key to ensure you are not replicating an existing solution, it’s also helpful to gain a clear picture of where your business fits within the ecosystem. This can either end in a shift of your businesses offering, or it could highlight potential strategic partnerships that can result in a a collaborative solution.
Case study 3 - Numida, a fintech social enterprise, and Apollo Agriculture, an agritech social enterprise, collaborated to address financial inclusion and agricultural productivity among small-scale farmers in Africa. Through their collaboration, Numida and Apollo Agriculture have developed an integrated solution for small-scale farmers. Farmers can access financial services through Numida's platform, which includes credit assessment and loan disbursement. This allows them to access affordable credit provided by Apollo Agriculture, which can be used to purchase quality inputs, receive agronomic advice, and increase agricultural productivity.
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Ultimately, maintaining a beneficiary-centric approach with an up to date understanding of the ecosystem in general ensures that the solution remains aligned with the needs of the communities being served, and keeps your business focused on its mission, especially in the face of evolving challenges. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are a helpful way to address any social and environmental problem, and are a great framework to align your solution with, particularly through the importance of partnership.
