Social Entreprenuer Rick Aubry Provides Words of Wisdom to ZD Social Enterprises

Rick Aubry, President of Rubicon Programs, Inc. delivered an inspiring key note address to a recent gathering of all ZeroDivide community enterprises.  Rubicon is one of the most successful social enterprises in the country providing training and jobs to thousands of homeless and unemployed adult to work in competitive bakery and landscaping businesses.  Aubry, a long time successful entreprenuer provided some sage advice for ZeroDivide's budding social enterprises and challenged them to take U.S. social enterprises to the next level.

Advice:

•  Ready to be engaged in social enterprise for the long haul.  Social enterprise is not a short term proposition or a quick fix. 
• There needs to be a social enterprise champion at the highest level within your organization.
• Focus on sustainability, scale & understanding your market advantage.

Challenges for the next generation of Social Entreprenuers:

• Be more successful than past generations of non-profit social enterpries by amplifying impact -- achieving scale.   Most social enterprises have stayed local and have had limited impact.  Now is the time to figure out how social enterprises can scale and achieve more impact -- technology is a real key to achieving scale.
• Understand your competitive advantage. People will purchase your goods and service because they are the best product, not because your organization is doing good.  Figure out the true advantage of your business. Our cakes (Rubicon Bakery) sell because it is the best product -- the story of our organization (although it is a good one) doesn'tsell the cake.
• Now that Social Enteprise is more well known and understood the pressure is on to deliver!

Final words.....

• We have the chance to have a huge impact on the world in different ways and we have energy and goodness on our side.