Page 47 - Sustainability and entrepreneurship for CSO's and CSO networks Cambodia 1 November 2018

Start a commercial business
You can decide to just start a new business, you may call it social, but there is nothing against starting a commercial business - as long as you don’t destroy the environment, misuse staff, cheat your customers and a few other things to take care of.
Eric Ries in his book The Lean Start Up (Ries, 2011) encourages entrepreneurs to just start, with figuring out which problem is to be solved and to develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), while, at the same time start up, measure and learn.
Entrepreneurship according to Ries (Ries 2011) is taking (manageable) risks, being flexible, daring, being creative and to learn, to measure, and to innovate (http://theleanstartup.com). There might be gap between the year-long training as CSO manager and an entrepreneur. However, the CSO industry possesses valuable and precious knowledge that can be used in the commercial sector. For example a CSO with a long standing record on land use, or protection of biodiversity could become a consultancy agency and earn money serving international agencies, government institutions or private companies.
(Ries, 2011)
Phase out
Maybe you are tired, maybe your CSO runs out of business, maybe you try to change too little, too late. It does not matter. Remember: ‘when there is a beginning, there is an end’ Everything has to stop sooner or later. With 2/3 of the registered CSOs in Cambodia already obsolete, it is just a matter of time before others will follow. New initiatives, new ideas, new young organisations with talented, young people will continue where others stopped.
For example have a look at:
https://phnompenh.impacthub.net and http://socialenterprisecambodia.org.
Two entrepreneurial initiatives with young people, trying to develop themselves and finding a balance between social/commercial, funding/earning income. You may decide to stop, to hand over your CSO to others, to sell your CSO or to transform into a business. When still having funding for some time (which is an asset), you can develop an MVP (minimum viable product), a simple business plan (chapter 13) and discuss a phase out period with your donors. In most cases your donors will be happy when you take the initiative for a ‘turn around’. Your initiative helps the donor to arrange a proper exit. Your business plan will give the donor an insight in your plans for the next three years and the need for investments.
An interesting paper on phasing out was published by INTRAC, an initiative of British Red Cross, EveryChild, Oxfam GB, Sightsavers and WWF-UK and can be found at: https://www.intrac.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Exit-strategies-and-sustainability.- Lessons-for-practitioners.-November-2016.pdf
(Hayman eo, 2016)
!47