The view from within

I have a month left here at Drishtee, and the supply chain project is around 2 weeks behind schedule. A number of technical challenges and capacity issues that I won't get into. I know it will get done (after I've left), and in the end we will end up in a much better strategic position and I think they should probably patent this delivery model before it is released. But this post is not just about my project.

It's been a mixed experience, and I'm leaving with a taste of disappointment. I think my biggest issue is the lack of any metrics to measure the social impact of the work we're doing. What is the impact on wages for students who go through our education kiosks? Have the health entrepreneurs measurably changed the health environment in their villages? So many well intentioned efforts lead to minimal impact. It's really hard for me to just take things at face value.

The impressive thing Drishtee has achieved is a real on-the-ground rural network of micro entrepreneurs. But this network is so incredibly stressed and almost every other week I hear of a new scheme to be implemented on this network. Really - people are working 14 hr days, 7 days a week and you want them to run a new project on this network?! The district offices are struggling. We don't have enough people and it is always a challenge to recruit good talent. on the other hand, if we partner with a firm (say Honeywell) to pilot a new project on our rural network, it brings in fresh capital. So the attraction of new business development is real. But at what costs? Again - a lack of metrics makes this post just a gut evaluation.

But shouldn't an enterprise that has been around for 7 years have a good cash flow*? Do we really need to be pursuing new business development ideas? What should the equilibrium be? In this regard, I am disappointed with the brand name investors that Drishtee has brought into the family. How come Acumen is not asking these hard questions? Would Drishtee be unsustainable without the "donor" investment capital? Unless investors don't force good management practices, there will never be any meaningful change.

So I am leaving with more questions that answers on social entrepreneurship. I thought of it as a powerful new idea to tackle pervasive problems through a genuine marriage of private sector innovation and social benefit organizations. But I realize now that you need more than just a powerful idea to succeed. Rebuilding communities in rural India is an inspiring mission. We won't supply tobacco products on our supply chain because of the harmful social impact even though it is the most profitable and fastest moving product in rural India. But at the same time I don't really know if the tools we provide our franchisee's actually contribute towards "rebuilding rural communities" either. The education entrepreneur could just be making an honest living, but the students he services could be no better off after taking the Drishtee English courses or computer courses. If we are not measuring our impact relative to our mission, is it really our mission anymore?

There is one thing that I definitively know - social entrepreneurship is an immature field that needs to grow up quickly.


*I've never perused the financials so can't speak to the sustainability question.