Notes from a Sustainopreneur | on Sustainability Entrepreneurship

UPDATE: Sustainopreneurship, October, 15, 2007. Blog Action Day!

Today is Blog Action Day, where thousands of people have signed up to blog about the "environment". Since I have been idle some months writing, I thought it was the best day to get back on track! Here is my take on the "environment", or "ecosystem" at large, including the embedded systems "humanity", the social system, and in turn the "economy" system embedded in that. Focus on the whole, and you will get great results in the small part you influence! Go look up a place where the light disturbance is at lowest level to see the stars in a clear night covering the sky, and conclude that you, yeah - you! - is a part of universe, and everything you do comes back to you. Karma-verse, right?

So - with that note as a connection to the Blog Action Day theme, let's limit my influence to the part of the biosphere to what has happened lately during 2007.

Sustainopreneurship - above, beyond, next level - the sky, as always, the limit

The update covers education, events, publications, a new organization, a virtual community, a new research-focused blog and a change in "blogging policy and frequency" as consequence, and immediate future, with resources needed for further advancement.

• Education - Master of Science, Business Administration, Växjö University. Thesis Hand-In April 27, approved May 3, degree June 25.

I have completed, finally, the tailor-made little Master's program, which I spread over the years, to mix with the sustainopreneurial practitioner route of On a Mission / Ignition. What made the final point of the empirical journey was the first concluded externally recruited client collected beyond already established network March 22, 2007, which made a natural point to close the very wide circle that began in January, 2000 - the original "Ignition". Ten thousand stories later, and a few crucial, critical and main course of events defining both concept and venture in its well-research business model covered in the Thesis, made the bulk in the empirical testing of the concept first tested theoretically and analytically dry and academically from the conference 2005 and published in September 2006.

The structure of the definition almost magically made it possible to structure the story-telling as well in the auto-ethnographic/enactive research approach towards the writing and final delivery of the product. The thesis got graded 8 out of 9 (with very, very few getting 9/9 in general) - meaning close to the top grade :). I am very happy and contempt with this sense-making, where my mind now getting clear to tell the world what "sustainopreneurship" is about. Now well anchored in the academic community, close to one of the epicentres of world leading research on entrepreneurship done at Växjö University. Presto! I wish to thank all that contributed, full acknowledgement is found in the preface.

The thesis is findable both at "regular" Google, as well as the "academic", Google Scholar.
Google - general search "sustainopreneurship" - on top 3, today
Google Scholar

Direct link for download full text PDF is found at the abstract page here;
http://www.diva-portal.org/vxu/undergraduate/abstract.xsql?dbid=1254 - the scientific swedish digital archive.

• Event - International Sustainable Development Research Society, 13th Conference, Västerås, Sweden - paper contribution, "Researching Sustainopreneurship"

As a direct sequel, I got a short-term employment of three weeks from the University, funded by Swedish Foundation for Small Business Research through my professor Bengt Johannisson who is co-chairing one of the research programs there.

The full title;

"Researching Sustainopreneurship – conditions, concepts, approaches, arenas and questions"

Download ResearchingSustainopreneurship-Abrahamsson.pdf

• Publications - beyond - Two book chapters, One special report

Both the Thesis and the paper will be edited and published in new formats and contexts.

The Thesis, integrated and syntetisized with the conference article outlining future research and its agenda, will be published as a special report through FSF/Växjö University. The paper will be edited and adapted to fit in a book about entrepreneurship and small business contribution to local and regional development co-edited by the chairs of the mentioned research program that funded my paper in the first place, besides Bengt, also Åsa Dahlström-Lindstrand.

At the ISDRS conference, I also got invited to contribute with my works in relation to the "Base of the Pyramid" paradigm (where e. g. this blog has been featured in this context at a reference site earlier, see www.design4billions.com > BoP Library). The book will be published May 2008 - see outline and idea of the book here at publisher Greenleaf Publishing site.

The working name of my contribution is

 

"Sphering the Pyramid – empowering the world through sustainopreneurial events"

It will be an attempt to contrast and tie the sustainopreneurship conceptual ideas with the Base of the Pyramid idea-sphere, and thus enlarge the discource created with the BoP idea development. This is partly done by more closely examine some considered-to-be sustainopreneurial events emerging from the specific needs found in the BoP context, and also tries to more deeply coin the SEEDS acronym. SEEDS has been concluded as good areas for sustainopreneurial applications and ventures to grow from, where SEEDS stands for Strengthening of Health, Education, Entrepreneurship, Digital Unification and Sustainable Distributed Energy.

The SEEDS is also partly covered in the Thesis (especially the process which this model was researched and deeply evolved, especially through synchronicities and serendipities). The SEEDS concept is a cornerstone to guide the investments in sustainability innovations which will be made with parts of the annual results generated from the sustainable trade business Ignition.

• iÆREAS initiated - Organizing Sustainopreneurship Research

Since the publication list now have reached a critical mass, and needs for advancement and further organizing the knowledge development surrounding this discovered phenomenon, I was branding a new organization as a suggestion of further actions from my research paper at the ISDRS conference. The future name of this will be Association for Enactive Research, Education and Application of Sustainopreneurship. As a first step, an interim association will be created. It is intended to be a multi-stakeholder, bridging organization in between researchers, educators and practitioners - where optimally all are one in one person. The Enactive Researcher and Learner (not Teacher ;). Or at least, as an influence maybe from the organization, you can become it! A website and blog was finished last week, and a closed, private invitation round commences from today, October 15!

iÆREAS Website / iÆREAS Blog

If you feel that you are interested in contributing to the research, you are welcome to contact me, done with convenience and simplicity through the website.

• Sustainopreneur's Café - a Community for Sustainopreneurs launched!

Since much of the work the past years has rendered a far-stretched network of interested stakeholders, and the need for conversation around the sustainopreneurship concept has been identified, especially at the conference seminar this summer, a virtual community has been created, open for anyone interested. It was claimed March 21 when the community ICT platform used was launched (Ning), but will be activated now with the above created - Sustainopreneur's Café: http://sustainopreneurship.ning.com.

• Changing the publishing flow - separating the streams, changing the frequency

As a consequence, the more research/academia/publishing oriented work will be published through the iÆREAS blog, whereas the more everydayness of sustainopreneurship, with interesting case studies, related notes and events to come in an experienced frequency increase lately, will be published here on the blog - finally living up to its name: "Notes". Thus, the more applied stream will occur here with more frequent posting than before. Time to get leverage for the concept in action, now when inception of the "next level" has been - concluded with this posting!

That, said: Now I especially welcome you to the community, taking place in the central as a key cornerstone and platform to continue the conversation and sharing/caring amongst the most proximate stakeholders, i. e. my 1st degrees from all contexts in the first round - Sustainopreneur's Café!

Free coffee on the house from yours sincerely, the Café Host, for all that joins during October :). Fair traded and organically grown, of course ;).

In a final note, I would like to make this posting a tribute to one of the original sustainopreneurs in retrospect - Dame Anita Roddick, that tragically and fast passed away in September. We will always remember that you convincingly and with endurance made the face of business as an activity in life change, for the true betterment created through Body Shop. I dedicate this posting to you, Anita! I feel very sad about the fact that I never had the chance to experience her live, whereas she had a public appearance in Stockholm at Sustainability Day earlier this spring.

Let's continue the journey that you started, to proliferate and spread the idea, applied - to create Businesses with a Cause. In the end, being the mainstream way to do business globally!

Dear reader - you're welcome to join this journey!

Peace,
Anders

 

Under the radar?

Hi,

Long time no hear. Here in my blog, that is. I haven't been blogging for ages.

But now I prepare small steps in order to fully make my "comeback" to the ever-so increasing blog-o-sphere, to start with something like an "article-not-ready" in this posting. Of length to compensate for the long silence, since end of June in Stealth Mode - and includes updates on three levels.

1. Insight breakthroughs in the first part - essay (sometimes thoughts just don't fit short)
2. Update re: practicalities here and now (what is going on)
3. What beyond, next step (what is intended, next step)

I will keep my posts at <500 words here in the main blog from now on, and ~80 words in median. Still no increasing intensity in posting frequence until November, if at all before end of October, of reasons stated in the end. I let this posting rest on top, I guess. Ok, here we go :).

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O - Text?

And yes, before anything else grabs your attention - text as medium is on its way to get out-dated. I vote 2006 to be the personal tivocasting year beyond podcasting [?] - VideosOnDemand, fed into Your World. Making millions of media consumers turning into media producers in the end). I guess I have to set up an IntroVideo. Sometime. At the same time saying that text is not out as a medium. Especially in the days of Harry Potter. If you fancy deep thought for action in text format still (I am not so skilled on Cartoons [ understatement :) ] and PowerPoints are quite shallow for this context), read on. And have my standing reservation for my no-native-English-tongue, of some called Swenglish, improvement suggestions welcomed :).
 
/opportunities enclosed, unfolded by dialogue and your thought/

 
1 - Essay

So, talking about reading and books - remember, the Amazon sales is mostly generated from those titles that your local bookstore has not even heard about. A term coined The Long Tail. In the Amazon case, 57 percent, in an often cited figure. The same goes with bloggers - Slashdot, BoingBoing, Andrew Sullivan et al among the millions-of-hits, where millions-of-bloggers along the Long Tail of Bloggers do create small but many and powerful dozens of mutual blog rollers in the micro-worlds - some might call them obscure - contexts. Remembering at the same time it is only "we" in the end - The one and only family of humanity.
 
If you want to get there and hear what they buzz about? Often you get recommended and finding it sliding down along the Tail, where recommendation engines still needs to be improved getting to static, according to coniner of term Chris Anderson in a speech session lately. But this does not exclude you from experimenting at random, to find unusual tags potentially entering the folksonomy "somewhere else", from e. g. Wordcount Long Tail, and pushing it into technorati. If the hit rate is below 20 in number you might find those odd and off contexts where the anomaly and the true under the radar stuff is going on long before the paradigm shift. With this method, during the writing of this article, I found "spreadbase" at number 83224 of 86 800 (key)words. Interesting! 2 hits in Technorati as of today, entering the current Web 2.0 frenzy with a new application - tracking your life! Interesting, huh?
 
So I almost say - forget what Yahoo is doing on top of Technorati and the Echo Chambers surrounding what goes on there, and stop looking for those on the top ranks - and especially forget getting that High Rank yourself! That's boooring. If you look for inspiring ranking, push in Bob Marley with Top Rankin' instead - or maybe the excellent Rank 1 remix of "Push - Journey of Life", while you Surf the Far End of the Long Tail and seeking inspiration for new ideas.

To end this "general buzz" on the Long Tail (that is beta-written in the book-to-come format in Chris Anderson's before-Book-blog with the same title), reminding you of another player making the lion part from that context of small worlds, Google through AdSense/AdWords revenue. "Obscure Tags" are cheap but much more rewarding. And on ads targeting the Small Worlds along the Long Tail - BlogAds is a new niched player in the field - still focusing the Short Tail of Million-Hits of "opinion makers", and targeting the Blogger Hall-Of-Fame. Will search engine guru John Battelle and some people in the team of Federated Media have something else going? And has Yahoo picked up something after lagging behind Google?
 
The Big Opportunities in the Small Worlds at the Far End of the Longest Tail

I love those small contexts, and the stream that is not main-stream is often more fun. And in the times of "overground" decreasing, everything will get "underground" leaving no "overground" left. Or everyone getting to the ground - to Get Real. Down To Earth. In the small contexts, small worlds. And it only takes the number of three to start something new to shake the "Big World". 37Signals.com, anyone? It is a great time to be an entrepreneur - and especially, yeah! Sustainopreneur! Look at the serial entrepreneur of the now forgotten, but still kinda running alive with Casino Popups etc - Excite, now back with JotSpot!, great article from June 2005. And what he learnt from Excite, especially, too! Go here and download the .ppt - One of many clues to avoid Bubble 2.0, ok?
 
And start something, in the Big World - where the Longest Tail is the 4 and a half billion people living below $3 a day - the greatest market opportunity to date - Bottom of the Pyramid as the Longest Tail.

Beyond Bubble 2.0 - Web 3.0?

If you care to forget about Bubble 2.0 for a while (now emerging), the opportunities is luring post-Ebay/Skype - AOL/Weblogs Inc. - Sun/Google et al megadeals lately. What survived Web 1.0 is now getting transformed into a Perpetual Beta to keep the edge, alongside with start-ups in Web 2.0. I was in the Bubble 1.0 days focusing on what was Real and Beyond (early predicting Boo.com bankruptcy in Jan 2000, with a small sign but big in meaning with the first lay-off of people in the London office as a note in my newsletter from that time), so also this time. And what was Beyond back in spring 2000, is still Beyond in 2005 - but coming closer!
 
Among others, the opportunity I now coin Web 3.0. (Domain currently pointing to something different if searched through a smartphone - check it out ;) ).
 
Connected Everywhere. Everyone. In a HotWorld - getting heated by creative creators interacting and collaborating to focus on the greatest challenges in the world, and turn them into businesses. And a world Not getting Hot by Greenhouse Gas Emissions. CO2, Methane, etc in the end following Great Transformations in Energy and Transport systems.
 
Put your greatest amount of dollars spread among and into millions of ideas from local contexts that intend to solve problems related to health, education, entrepreneurship "micro way", backed by micro financing, digital unification with micro-site gadgets, and sustainable distributed energy. And let 10 percent of the ventures truly succeed, but probably more since the failure rate is faaar lower in these contexts! 90 to 98 payback on micro loans/credits reported from all over the world. Which bank in the Top of the Pyramid or along the Small Tail with annual income per capita in the X-axis can compete with that?
 
Listen, listen, and then again - listen!

But who will succeed? We don't know. In the end, those 10 percent not-failure-rated, will truly make this world a sustainable one. And it's the User that Rules. Hire field anthropologists that has been in deep rural contexts knowing stuff that we can offer from here, but not letting herself be blind by stuff we have. This is not working with whatever kind of colonization, pre- or post- type. Listen, listen, listen to the locals, firstly with them trying to innovate practical solutions to genuine needs making lives better for the billions-of-people from their own definition. They define their world, to begin with - and work with genuine partnership and dialogue, where honesty is the only currency that pays off in the development process - bottom up. Money cannot compensate for stupidity, since the Cocky Idiot and his megabucks are easily separated, right? Our friends in the 90 percent of the rural hard-workers in the Survival and Emerging economies along this Longest Tail of global citizens are very smart and creative. But what they lack is education, information on what's going on in the "Top of the Pyramid", being disconnected - and thus lacking first and foremost opportunities.

To get a fast snapshot of the bigger picture - see among others, the article from Stuart L. Hart, "Innovation, Creative Destruction and Sustainability" in "Research Technology Management", latest issue, Sep-Oct 2005. Sadly only accessible through paid subscription, but anyways. It's a great summary there.

There lies the Web 3.0 opportunities. Embedded in that context. Millions of them. And a fewer degree but strong leveraging meta-initiatives serving the rest - enabling scope, scale, speed and strength: multiplication, acceleration and amplification. Think "the Victorian Internet Revolution" during the 19th Century of Telegraphs during Go West Times in the US, but with wireless gadgets for the many in the 21st, communicated with 3G/WiMAX and running small apps running with Ajax (before known as “Asynchronous JavaScript+CSS+DOM+XMLHttpRequest” hoopla! ...thanks making us tech-half-illiterates a little bit easier...), or whatever tech buzzword of the day.
 
Because, tech buzzwords are fresh of the zeitgeists, and dies when they dies in the Perpetual Beta of World Improvement. Wap was yesterday, www.mtldinfo.com - www.web3blog.mobi 2006 tomorrow - and maybe www.mob5.com a good guide and hint for what to truly come, where small services with Mobile WebApps serving the genuine needs of the 4 and a half billion living below the mentioned $3 a day? With services that they need. I can easily come up with 500 both expected/mainstream less fantasy/straight forward, and some more obscure and unorthodox, but still doable fulfilling needs at both ends - maybe even to compensate for the spiritual poverty experienced in the consumption-fatigue struck Top of the Pyramid?
 
Even if the tech-of-the-day is changing ever faster, the needs-of-the-day of a human being are rather constant, aren't they?
 
Listen to the ones disconnected and suffering from material poverty. Today.
 
Deeeeeeeep.

[link to my Summer Reading #1 - with future postings [RSS FEED LINK HERE] called for!]

And then - live life and prosper. It makes sense for life, universe and everything, creating links and hubs with the nodes caring for the People and Planet in Innovative and Creative Businesses with a Cause.

That Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy does not seem to be so far away as it seemed in the first place.

Do you want to join me in that quest to explore the Web 3.0 opportunity?
 
Then, you are welcome to drop me a note :).

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2 - Ok, then - That Thesis Update...
 
I began before the article by talking about text. That leads me formal academic text-production then.
 
Intense BackBlog activity from my side, creating less BackLog in my Blog. This BackBlog activity intense especially insight- and action wise. Where majority will be placed in that *manuscript* (see summer posting June 25). Those of you who knows me, also knows that my hands-on action has postponed that academic piece of work to almost reach next decade. Hope and faith kept, an update.
 
The thesis work in its final stages - the manuscript needed some extra method-backing and taking the analytical part to its intended stellar mode towards the results, creating the sharpest of edges, since it is quite radical in "academic" terms (not for an action-and-results oriented entrepreneur, though). My professor, Bengt Johannisson, presenting it in his latest book from a 6+ year senior rank research project [found here in Swedish - translated intentionally provocative "The Essence of Entrepreneurship" - explanation to come in a footnote in my Thesis], calls it "Enactive research".
 
From the abstract of one of his latest conference papers in his, what can I call it? "Missionary work" - or shall I say "revolutionary"?

"‘Enactive research’ as an interactive research approach is radical from both an epistemological and a moral perspective.  It means that the researcher takes on the role of the initiator of a change process and then adopts auto-ethnographic research to reflect upon the experiences being made."

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3 - The Thesis Done - then, Above and Beyond
 
...S*E*N*S*A Everything.
 
Let the screen-shot talk for itself. Website up. When Thesis ready. Thesis realistically to be October 31, but the publishing of both website and thesis the month after. [Jan 2, 2006: Rescheduling, again - awaiting final writing of business plan of Ignition™ as Appendix, together with my left-over exams now taken before Thesis finalizing and publishing]. Anyways, ASAP, that is - where "Possible" is set by the final writing, and tough love coming from "uncle Bengt", mentoring a stubborn Servant of Business-with-a-Cause Administration senior student SBA[?], patient, enduring and understanding guidance of "chaordic me". With mostly lessons leading to an MLA* in the end - always created alongside, and integrated.

To be delivered in a Thesis (or whatever) form, just by the time making myself ready for next life, the on after After Life. [*MLA = Master of Life Administration]. Not intended to be earlier than 2050, ok ;) ?

Now diving BackBlog again, hiding from the Radar Sweep, and letting this blog slide up with the ranking maybe beyond 6 Technorati hits :). At least, it keeps me not buzy to respond replies from the Blog-o-sphere and concentrate on the offline writing of that Thesis :). But with a slight better result in A9 Images search with that vision of the sky showing up, and until lately sliding down to third page triggered by the Sustainability Entrepreneurship keywords in A9/Google, interestingly enough kept with better ranking in All The Web. I'll get back to that when I have gotten my hands on Battelles "The Search".

Yes, at top, hmmm! - you get there if you do not strive there, that's the lesson - just follow your commitment and cause, and do things with love and meaning that you believe in, along the trail of your intention made explicit for yourself first and foremost - and those with the same tag circles as you sooner or later meet there - in real life. See you around!

Ok, 'nuff talk. I'll be back, here. In time. And ITMT - take care!

Peace,
Anders

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EDIT [Oct 10, later night]: Some small notes emerged into an article...still not ready, in the blogging spirit "ideas not ready". I feel a manifesto emerging, though...ChangeWhat?

EDIT 2 [Oct 11, noon time]: I took the opportunity to rewrite and edit it a second round, using www.writely.com as some kind of Personal Wiki. Works cool to have new apps sandbox playaround :). Another toy is www.writeboard.com. Yes :). And all will be used in the S*E*N*S*A setup as it seems at first and second glances and testing, together with www.jot.com, www.jotlive.com, www.backpackit.com and www.basecamphq.com, with www.sitedirect.info placing the base for the main website. So far identified. And having a little personal note on http://mob5.com/sustainopreneurship as well :). Walking the Talk, to have Web 3.0 future-secured already now. And the last two are Swedish startups, as well!

EDIT 3 [Oct 11, afternoon]: Included intro with overview. Now, I am pleased with this post :). Enjoy.

[Sustainability] Bootstrapping Interpretative Model

All things started and happening, to my experience, begins with Intention and Committment. And to have something started, you need resources. Common sense, isn't it? Well, coming to the point where you want to start something, but do not have any more resources than your mind, body, spirit, a very strong idea, vision, motivation and creativity? Then you are bootstrapping!

Because, when you talk resources, people often just take it down to financial resources immediately. A good sustainability idea and innovation with the potential to turn into a great sustainable business, a good reliable network and the capacity to keep and maintain that relationship capital, knowledge, social capital, and the ability to learn from mistakes, and learn/adapt quickly.

From the four year experience of the research- and development process of OAM Venture, we have condensed our experience to the following model. For us the Committment was certainly to be focused on Sustainability, and making a Sustainable Bootstrapping model for us to make sense and being extracted as a reflection of what happened, then this concept has to be added in the beginning, even if it is maybe transferrable to other kinds of commitments as well.

Our special case
What was making our condition a little special was the institutional challenge we had, where the sustainability in itself, and a strong committment also to maintain our values with integrity and honesty to ourselves and our stakeholders, which excluded much of the (then) existing financial institutions - and also where we were only to be in the pre-stages to the explorative in the beginning of the whole process. The specifics also in the aim and direction we wanted to take also stumbled upon problems in the traditional process of creating a regular business plan from one defined idea, and taking this out in a very linear model. Adding to this, that our belief of taking up external financing for the early stage ideas before market testing them was very weak, or I would say something close to nothing. Along the process, though, we got more and more creative fuel, and alot of ideas and insights in a strong loop with fast feedback of having belief in the ideas we created and discussed. It takes the presenting of the key courses of events in this whole process, where a model of our sustainopreneurial process as we percieved it, to illustrate it with some "representative" stories. This "Sustainopreneurial Process Model" will be presented in a separate article to come.

Committment - time times energy
It all begins with some people (yes it has to be some - there is basically something wrong with the "entrepreneur as lone hero" fairytale to our experience), gathering around one idea, even if the basic idea as such of course has to begin with one individual, or maybe just a half of an idea... The team surrounding the idea decide to act upon it. But the committment level can vary within the team of individuals. Some dedicate the whole existance to the idea, some others are just supportive at the side of it. One can come in at the beginning sharing enthusiasm, and having a strong energy during a short time, and then doing something else. Others have a little less energy, but are supportive with strong endurance and just being there taking care of stuff that the rest of the team maybe just tends to forget some time. And others can join in the end of the process of establishement - especially of course on the way from the "institutionalization" to the "consolidation" - and even more after this. When your operations are running and there is a hope for kicking in the "auto-pilot" of the revenue stream and the value you produce works seamlessly (even if this latter never has to be believed will happen - that is another fairy tale of "security" with the storm "being over" - it never will be fully over).

Take care of the Committment; Respectfully - Intuitiuitive - Smart - Creative
This is illustrated by this initial graph. Energy levels varying over time among different team members. What is very important during this process is - when you rely on the human capital, energy, time spent among the team members, it has to be clear and with honesty communicated the committment level, so expectations of each other's efforts not being something other than the real one is not breaking the team flow and spirit down. You have to be equally honest with yourself as with others, both within and nearby standing members of the team. Besides this - based on and summarized in respect (respect for yourself and others) - there are some other factors of importance. The energy used and the collective efforts made, has to be done with a strong to almost omnipresent and ongoing presence of intuition. Yes, being there all the time - this is going hand in hand to use the (narrow but strong) resources smart. When you do not have abundance of financial capital, this is straining you to be very attentive to the silent signals where you cannot make things explicit verbally - even not being able to explain it for yourself in the team in words. You just act because it feels right. And, equally important, if it is not working with this feeling sometimes - where extreme pressure and stress levels can drag down both respect, empathy and following with this a bad listening ear both to your fellow man and your inner voice of intuition, then you have to let new intuition and improvisation with this compensate for the things going wrong. And quickly learn from it, where the fourth factor here is represented by the term creativity. These conditions in order to maintain committment level (there are more of course, but in our experience and perception to be of emphazised imporance), is summarized in the notion of [r - i - s - c].

Results with quality as the thing that can keep it alive even without financial capital
When you get the rewarding, whatever form - that you had a concept getting approval even not followed some financial follow up immediately, just with a smile and a Yes what a great Idea! And acting upon it with this important recognition experienced, the committment just being maintained and kept up. Or just getting that first breakthrough order, or that you achieve some kind of result, where the quality is percieved - needs fulfilled, equally experienced by the team itself, and getting it proven that important stakeholders are confirming this result really achieved. This in itself is creating a feedback loop that even increases committment, that goes beyond just maintaining it.

Money finds its way to the process...
From this moment - with some kind of first breakthrough result - money finds its way much easier, especially if you have achieved something, using intangible resources (especially creativity in itself!) within or associated to the core team as above, that stood the test and proved itself to fulfil a genuine need with and among the people you wanted to produce value for. With quality being in the center percieved by them as the absolute factor. The ones in the end and in fact paying you for what you have achieved in and by the teamwork.

In conclusion - it is better to have the cash coming from the one's buying your product, rather than your business plan.

Then you truly have the financial means saying yes - if someone outside the team, that appreciates what you do and produce - separate his private means (or organizational being an NGO, company or public entity) from his or her wallet and happily enjoy it afterwards.

Then you should party and celebrate. Because the next morning, you have woken up with the sun shining, even if it is raining.

You can now continue to do your thing. But be sure to have fun on the way to the next customer, too - now with committment enhanced and strengthened.

And really, be really glad if you had obstacles, resistance and things really, really hard to overcome - including internal strong mutually learning conflicts and dialogues within the team - because this kind of resistance is making your whole process sharpen up.

Sustainability entrepreneurship - ahead of its time? Not anymore!
This last thing mentioned, was something we especially experienced as being a "sustainopreneurial venture" - where our aim was to find real solution to real problems, and combining the best of both worlds, the "not-for-profit" NGO spirit for the Cause, with combined effort in the Business Manner of trying to find something of value for a Consumer.

In the writing moment, an idea now seemingly to have become in pace with the time with an increased frequency of Sustainable Business Cases to be out there. And where in itself there is something blocking them from the Speculation Wave - that you actually take the aim and intention with the Sustainability Committment to solve a real problem, that you have to demonstrate before you even get your first money whatever kind. With this last point really taken to its consequence and far end, there is even an antidote to having the "dot com(e) - dot gone" failure of the 99/00 millennium up and down to be repeated in what is believed to be the next great business opportunity and a genuine strengthening of your competitive edge - to be ecologically, economically and socially sustainable in whatever you do.

For real.

The Sustainability Committment and Purchasing Influence Model

When we talked about how to formulate the strategy and meeting/defining our target groups of various kinds and key relations of different nature in the OAM venture, a model was developed that is of generic use for all sustainopreneurial ventures. This model is presented here, and it is coming with two dimensions, Sustainability Committment and Purchasing Influence. Comments and discussion around this model is welcomed, since it is suggested to be a departure for further research in Sustainable Business Strategy Development and Sustainopreneurial Action Orientation.

Sustainability Committment
Sustainability Committment is defined as how strong committment of having a development of the society being sustainable. The hundred percent committed has almost to make a total exit, with the uncompromised attitude as the society looks today, and have to isolate from the rest of the society creating a totally sustainable sub-sphere in the now existing socio-economic system. There is a big risk of an introvert secterism occuring, and loosing communication to the rest of the society, why we are having the line drawn there - for the greater good we believe that we have to reach the broader audience, and bridge in between "the alternativists" and "the mainstream", in order to create an increase in Sustainability Committment. It also takes the shape of being somewhat self-sacrifying when it comes to business practices, where e. g. working with fair trade, there could be too much of a volunteering spirit, to work for free, while serving the coffee farmer down in the South with this indirect aid help turning to direct, the "charity" attitude.

Self sacrifice and sacrificing others - neither one is sustainable. It is believed that those working in the North with marketing of the traded products also have to lead a sustainable life, and it is a fact that you have to place food on the table for yourself as well. So - consistently, if you do not think of yourself at the same time as your global neighbour thousands mile away who should think of you? Self-respect and respect for your fellow wo/man is mutual prerequisites. In this spirit, having a good pay for making a good work we define as important, where the sustainability at all levels - ecologically, economically and socially - is important. And if you make your living out of the sustainable business work, then you can focus hundred percent on this, and do not have to find other ways to make a living in order to keep this "volunteer" work. This is a problem coming from all volunteer working, by the way, where idealistic NGO's suffer problem of "recruitment" working for the "cause".

On the other hand, those on the other extreme is not aimed for either, whatever being the case both in "NGO" of the dark value kind (racist and nazist organizations as an example), or those retailing chains that explicitly avoids sustanable products and practices with short-term profit maximising with all possible means available as the main attitude. The "raw capitalism" attitude, where profit goes before people and planet.

Different categories of relations. With the balance kept, and if the intention is in the right direction, then we define the most broad category found - the OAM customer base, as seen in the example, and with the most narrow definition of the one's having strongest influence of the OAM venture, meaning members, board and management, with a spectrum in between, e. g. organizational clients for services, sponsors and partners.

Purchasing Influence
Coming to the other important dimension - level of influence of the demand, purchase and consuming decisions. Aiming those having a strong influence of these purchasing processes in order to turn consumption to be more sustainable is also important. These are found both in private households and professional businesses and organizations. These could be manifested informally with a value based purchasing in the private household, or even formally found in the environmental and social accounting management systems certified according to international standards in companies and corporations.

With these two dimensions the model is as presented.

Further research needed - and demand for sustainability as well
One important question to research futher is to find actual indicators on how intense the Sustainable Committment level is distributed along the population, thus the question mark found at around the 60 percent, the "mainstream" point. This is just an assumption that it is having this look, with a slightly biased normal distribution. The trend is believed to be increasing, though, where opinion polls is both indicating an increasing awareness of fair trade labelling here in Sweden, and more people turning to this label when purchasing products, as just having one indicator.

Without demand for sustainability, there will be no sustainable society. And operating as a sustainable business with these sustainability considerations in your relationship strategy is in itself influencing the sustainability committment in society to bring these questions to a surface and making it explicit in your relationship buildup and maintenance work. This making the interaction with society as equally important as the action in your sustainable business, thus creating a positive feedback loop.

As a sustainable business you also inform and spread knowledge by being and acting around end-consumers, and with this knowledge spread, an awareness is increasing, which in its turn is assumed to increase this Sustainability Committment and intensifying the numbers having Sustainability Intentions. This means that with increasing number of Sustainable Businesses established, there is increased demand for Sustainable Products and Services - and all Sustainable Businesses helps each other, besides the planet and people.

If you want to improve the world - educate your customer of the importance of making sustainable choices with respect for people and planet.

If you want to improve your profitability - motivate your customer of the importance of making the choice of your sustainable offering; using the respect for people and planet as added value to the quality of the traditional dimensions, and then making her/him return to you the next time as well :).