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Entrepreneurship

Starting a business is hard. Starting a social enterprise—a mission-driven business that has giving back baked into its DNA—is even harder. Here I explore some of the challenges that come with building a mission-driven business.



I have a fairly exhaustive list of “rules” that serve as reminders for me as I navigate my way through building. I don’t write these in any particular order. Rather, they’re written as they pop up as issues for me — Rule #20 hits me routinely.

Do you have a thought or challenge that you’d like to see explored or a struggle that you’d like an answer to? Let me know here — I may have already wrestled with it. But then again, it may wind up being another rule!
Rifky riding on his sister’s back in Jakarta, Indonesia, hours before the accident described in this article.

Rule #12: Go Where Your Mission Lives

As a social enterprise, we chose to manufacture overseas. Here’s why.

Rule #14: Everyone is guessing. A multiple-choice test asks what trademark applications should include, but all available answers are absurd.

Rule #14: Everyone is Guessing

We tend to assume successful founders have everything figured out. The reality is that there’s a lot more behind the scenes guessing going on.

Rear view of a motorcycle rider wearing a denim vest with an “Assumptions MC” patch featuring a laptop and crossed pencils, alongside a “90%” diamond patch, symbolizing the uncertain assumptions entrepreneurs make when building a business.

Rule #19: Assume It’s an Assumption

Assumptions get a bad rap, but no business can be started without them. So, what’s the difference between a good and a bad assumption?

A handwritten checklist on a legal pad showing absurd completed tasks while “Send email” remains unchecked, illustrating founder procrastination and productive avoidance.

Rule #20: Do the Thing Now

I desperately needed to send an email this morning, but everything in me wanted to avoid it. Enter Rule #20.

Caricature of Entensa founder Dave Lewis sitting in a Linus pose, clutching a blue blanket, the blanket representing the desire to make safe business decisions.

Rule #17: Getting Comfortable Can Kill Your Business

Many of us had blankets and teddy bears when we were children to keep us feeling safe and secure. Mine followed me all the way to a factory search in Indonesia.

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