"Ask John Anything": why did I start Social Focus Consulting?

"Ask John Anything" is an opportunity for our team members, the Social Folks, to ask our Founder/Managing Director, John Paul de Silva, pretty much anything with the goal of increasing transparency, communication, and collaboration.

"Would be interested in why you started SFC from completing your MBA. Why not get industry experience first? Would love to hear your career path." - anonymous

Fresh out of the MBA, I was looking for marketing roles and while doing so, took the opportunity to participate in a case competition involving a non-profit. Although I thought it would be a great networking opportunity and resume builder, more than anything, I felt it would be fun to finally work with non-Queen's MBA people again.

In working with this team, and eventually getting 2nd place out of 12 teams, I recognized how effective it was to apply a business approach and strategies to a non-profit problem. Solving a non-profit problem really is no different from solving a corporate problem - simply, there are revenue issues and there are resource issues. What was great about solving this case is that due to the resource constraints of this non-profit, as it is in most non-profits, we had to be very creative in the solutions that we developed. That was very exciting to me as I highly value creativity.

After the case competition, I followed up with the case competition client and approached the organization to do a full consulting project. I formed a team consisting of my Queen's MBA classmates and we developed an innovative monthly giving program that featured exclusive on-line volunteer opportunities for members.

Eager for more, I began work on a corporate sponsorship valuation and acquisition strategy project. While working on all these projects, I was still looking for full-time work and felt that it would be best to group all these projects under one banner, so I formed Social Focus Consulting in December 2011.

Why I stopped looking for work and concentrate on SFC is best saved for another time :)

I'll end off all "Ask John Anything" entries with a song that best reflects how I feel about the above:

Naughty by Nature - Everything's Gonna Be Alright

Dylan Browne: Portrait of a Community Volunteer

"I began volunteering for the Jays Care Foundation in 2008, and continued to help lead training camps for young athletes in the Greater Toronto Area. In my first year at Western University I was heavily involved in Habitat for Humanity, participating in local London builds and in a select trip to New Orleans where we rebuilt homes devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Since then, I have contributed to the United Way through numerous events sponsored by Western and Ivey. In two days, a team of four students and I raised $500 for the United Way by selling lemonade"

- Dylan Browne, Ivey 2014, and Social Focus Marketing Consultant

Failures and Learnings: #2

Finally! Another failure. Why am I so excited? Read on, ladies and gents...

Failure #2: No plan B

In transitioning from our summer 2012 market research projects into fall (school time) operations, I set very clear goals for the organization leading up to and including summer 2013. Stage 1 would be prototyping operations at Queen's with one team to see how that would play out over a semester. Check. Stage 2 would be expanding operations at Queen's (to a total of 3 teams) and starting at team at Ivey. Check.

All of this was suppose to lead into Stage 3: profitability in summer 2013 via paid projects. umm...not even close to "Check."

Like the first failure, Failure #deuce was another under-estimation. I sorely underestimated how long the sales cycle would take. As we approached May 2013, and it was becoming increasingly clear that we wouldn't secure a paid client in time (to allow for a full project cycle from May to August), I realized I didn't have a backup plan.

My MBA butt got into gear and did create a high level backup plan which took less than a day, but such last minute planning shouldn't be happening. The lack of quick decision making can make or break an organization especially as its growing.

Although the summer is far from over, we need to secure a paid client "yesterday" to ensure the project cycle completes its course before the students return to school in fall.

Learning and Changes #2: Plan for failures

While 'not becoming profitable' was a failure in terms of the outcome, I think the bigger failure here is not creating a backup plan in the event we don't secure a paid client(s) for the summer.

When setting big, mission-critical, goals for SFC as we move forward, I will be sure to plan for failure. Even if it's a high level treatment, knowing my options whenever we hit a crossroads is surely better than standing idle where days or weeks of indecision can mean everything in the land of fast-paced business.

Update on Changes #1: Facilitating a "fun" company culture and increasing engagement

While I don't have time to create a spreadsheet and crunch actual numbers, I assure you that engagement is increasing. How do I know? Well, one measure of engagement is tracking how many team members leave an organization (or churn rate). From summer 2012 to fall 2012, the vast majority of team members didn't return. From winter 2013 to fall 2013, it's expected our team will consist of approximately 80-85% of past team members.

Social Focus Founder is a finalist for Top 60 Under 60 award!

In just over a year, Social Focus has had many great small "wins" especially with respect to brand building. From being featured on TrendHunter.com list of socially-conscious consultancies, to running a workshop on innovation at DECA Queen's, to moderating the social innovation panel at the Queen's School of Business Innovation Summit, to being featured in a GetInvolved.ca video that aired on TV across Ontario, things are coming along nicely.

Things are about to get even nicer. I'm proud to announce that I'm a finalist for the "Top 60 Under 60" award in Canada. The judges, comprised of Canada's corporate elite, will be making final decisions on April 8th. 

Keep your fingers crossed and "like" Social Focus Consulting on Facebook for, hopefully, really good news soon! Thanks to everyone, especially the Social Focus Consulting team, for your continued support and general awesomeness.

Happy 1st birthday!, Social Focus Consulting

What better way to celebrate than with a tasty SFC cheesecake and an awkwardly long, grandiose letter…

One twentieth score and seven minutes ago, my inability to find a job and ever present desire to help others brought forth in the marketplace, a new company, conceived in social inequality, and dedicated to the proposition that business strategies could be used to improve nonprofit organizational effectiveness and efficiency.

With a business plan in one hand and uncertainty in the other, I started to build the SFC brand and extol my dreams to anyone who would listen. What started as monologues became conversations. 

Then summer came, and “I” became “we”. Just four months prior, everything was on paper. To see it come to life by having over 20 amazingly talented business students, the “SocialFolks”, join SFC was just as inspiring as it was overwhelming. Although we struggled in creating what I would call an “ideal culture”, we managed to get things done. By the end of the summer, we learned more about the market (and potential markets) which set clear direction for September onwards. We also managed to further build our brand, culminating in SFC’s first annual networking event.

Recognizing the benefits of managed growth, we began to prototype services with a small team at Queen’s. Within a month, we brought on our first client (pro bono), Youth Diversion, and are on track to deliver the project on time January 2013.

Although we have yet to make a single penny, we’ve managed to build a growing community of team members, partners, clients, and general supporters. Within this community, our brand building over the last year has paid off. Clients are starting to approach us for projects. 

Established organizations are sending us proposals for partnerships. Intelligent and ambitious students are continuously inquiring on how they can become involved. Competitors are talking about us in their meetings. We’ve made noise!

And in 2013, we’ll make even more noise. Multiple clients, projects, and strategic partnerships are in the pipeline and we aim to be profitable by the summer. With prototyping complete, we’re increasing the number of consulting teams at Queen’s and expanding into other markets – especially London, Ontario.

As in its first year, SFC’s journey for the coming year will be strife with turbulence. We’ll continue to experience hardships and failures mixed with celebrations and successes. Regardless of what happens, we’re going to have an epically fun time doing it.

YOU are the reason why we’ve made it this far. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone for all your continued love, well wishes, support, and most of all…for walking with me through the fire.