Developing a unique research approach

What makes this project complicated is that each of the social enterprises has its own unique set of strengths and challenges when it comes to revenue generation, which prompts us to develop tailored research questions to probe into different aspects of the businesses. For example, one social enterprise may enjoy a consistently high level of demand but faces challenges in improving the profitability of existing revenue streams, while another social enterprise needs more consistency and predictability in its current revenue streams. For the former, what we need to focus on is gauging the room for price increases and the scalability of internal processes to realize existing revenue opportunities more efficiently. And for the latter, the key is to identify the customer segment that is the most likely to bring predictable and consistent revenue, and the gaps between business goals and the needs of these customers.

What also sets this project apart is the nature of the business models. In contrast to traditional businesses or non-profits, a social enterprise has two value propositions — the impact value proposition and the commercial value proposition. So, in order to have an accurate understanding of how each social enterprise is doing and why, we need to evaluate its strengths and challenges in, both the individual and symbiotic, contexts of the two value propositions. This assessment will help us prioritize identified leverage points later on, and strategize a path to increase revenue.

Delving into the human experience

An accurate understanding of the problem is the foundation upon which great solutions are built. It’s how we pinpoint opportunities and carve a path forward. And we do so by grounding ourselves in human truths. We conducted 28 interviews with staff members, management, the board, and customers to uncover the human pain points and aspirations that can help us identify actionable leverage points required for surfacing truly resonant solutions.

With this goal in mind, we synthesized our interviews and conversations by creating journey maps that inform us on the various points of friction and delight at different stages of the customer experience; we organized interview quotes into affinity maps to uncover common themes and the connections between them; we also developed customer archetypes to help us understand common drivers, circumstances, and needs that can inspire opportunities for design.

Developing a sequential strategy to improving sales

By examining these human experiences from the lens of each business’s social and commercial value propositions, we were able to not only accurately assess the strengths of each value proposition, but also pinpoint the exact leverage points we need to consider in maintaining the balance between the two and improve each business’s overall offering.

This deep understanding of the relative desirability and relevance of each business’s value propositions, as well as where the opportunities lie, provides us with a framework to evaluate the urgency and strategic value of the insights we uncovered from research. As a result, we were able to organize and prioritize our research learnings into three focus areas, each representing an insight. Together, these focus areas form a stepped-approach to growing revenue.

Translating opportunities into pragmatic solutions

01 Reframing insights to inspire creativity

We then follow up with quotes from leaders at prominent peer organizations that echo the statement to make it relatable and model the vulnerability required in acknowledging the previously unconscious.

02 Fostering collective insight through liberation

With the opportunity areas in hand, we hosted 4 co-creation workshops with both the staff and management from the three social enterprises. In the hope of cultivating bold creativity and a flow of ideas, we sought to create a zero-gravity environment where everything feels possible. We not only kicked off the workshops with an ice-breaker to set an open and welcoming tone, but also asked the participants to liberate themselves from all constraints at this stage of the workshop to push for more innovative and an abundance of ideas.

Extending beyond the goal of tapping into the individual knowledge that different stakeholders possess, we also sought to discover their collective insights on the systems in which they operate by encouraging the participants to build on top of each other’s ideas with “yes, and…” statements.

03 Grounding solutions in practicality and feasibility

To ensure the solutions take into consideration not only the constraints of each business’s unique context, but also organizational barriers, we need to filter them by the operational and cultural realities of JustWork and its social enterprises. We encouraged the workshop participants to think about the resources and steps needed for implementing a solution, and assess the difficulty in attaining or achieving them.

Layering our understanding of the social enterprises’ business goals and the needs of its customers with the team’s concerns around capacity, we now have the tools to evaluate each solution’s value against its feasibility. The result is a filtered list of transformative and yet pragmatic solutions that address the opportunity areas head-on, while matching our partners’ realities.

Putting it all together

Following months of interviews, sense-making, and collaborative workshops, we created Work & Dignity, an actionable report that identifies and prioritizes the realities that impede sustainable revenue growth, surfaces actionable leverage points that carve new inroads into these realities, and presents multiple possibilities to unlock the said opportunities.

We believe JustWork Economic Initiative, along with its three social enterprises, faces an incredible opportunity to grow. Far too often, we see social enterprises struggle to generate the income they need to be, not only sustainable, but also profitable. However, that doesn’t mean a viable business model cannot be developed. It just means we need to design for commercial and impact value realization, as well as operational efficiency. As outlined in the report, there are rich opportunities to enhance the social enterprises’ relevancy to their customers, sales potential, and operational excellence.