Growth and Opportunity

Entrepreneurship is not something that is instinctively linked with not-for-profit entities.

Usually entrepreneurs are stereotypically the type A go-getters, the ones smiling on the cover of Fast Company, BRW or some similar publication. They run good businesses and make profits.

Their success is fairly simple to measure, they make a profit by providing the right product (or service) to a market that values it enough to pay well for it. The more profit, the better they have done, simple enough.

Now how does that type of mindset fit into the non-profit club.

Does the same level of innovation, dedication to quality, and pig headed determination apply here?

I mean, it’s non-profit, can’t we just take a chill pill and be done with 70% of our best?

Can’t we afford to cut some corners, deliver most of the time, downgrade the customer (see member) experience, and make only a little bit of money each year?

How does a non-profit determine its effectiveness? Are people happy in the club? Do they achieve what they generally wanted to achieve?

Or do we put some kind of metric on it? Number of dives per year total, and try and increase that number?

I think we owe it to ourselves to be entrepreneurial, we must seek the opportunities to grow, improve, learn, try new things, take risks (not with safety) and be the best we can.

We owe it to ourselves to build something awesome. We can do it , no doubt, it is only a matter of time.

Failure is only realised when you quit.

It start with individuals though, our culture will determine who we grow up to be, combined with a certain unreasonableness to compromise.

But we need to want it, to plan, organise and have the discipline to see it through.