The Successful Social Entrepreneur's Micro Guide
A short cheat sheet for social entrepreneurs, from the Imaginate method. It splits the path from first idea to scaling into 4 phases. For each phase it lists what to do and what to read. It is for founders of nonprofits and social ventures at an early stage. Readers use it to check where they are and pick their next steps and reading.
Keywords
How to cite
Daniele D'Esposito (2026). The Successful Social Entrepreneur's Micro Guide. Imaginate. https://imaginatemethod.com/microguide.html
Related in the library
- 15.1C220
The Lean Startup
Eric Ries's book on building new ventures through fast, cheap experiments. It's organised in 3 parts: vision, steer and accelerate. Readers learn to name their riskiest assumptions, test them with a minimum viable product, measure progress through validated learning and decide whether to pivot or persevere. Social entrepreneurs and nonprofit teams use it to test new programmes and earned income ideas before scaling them.
ClassicKey manual or guideBook - 15.1C221
Lean Impact
Ann Mei Chang, former chief innovation officer at USAID and Mercy Corps, adapts lean startup methods to the social sector. The book shows how to test value, growth and impact with small experiments, how to find a model that can reach many more people, and how funders can back this kind of learning. It's full of examples from nonprofits, social enterprises and aid agencies.
ClassicKey manual or guideBook - 15.1C222
Social Entrepreneurship 101
A free 5-week online course from Acumen Academy for people new to social entrepreneurship. It covers 5 areas: what social entrepreneurship is, finding your problem and mission, theory of change and impact measurement, building a financially sustainable model, and scaling. It uses videos with founders such as Charles Best of DonorsChoose.org, reading and workshop guides and a case study. Acumen Academy also has a free course on business models for social enterprise.
Start hereCurrentKey online resourceFree - 15.1C224
Systems Change Crash Course
A free, self-paced course from Ashoka Changemakers and Ashoka Globalizer. Through short videos and worksheets it walks you through how to spot the system behind a social problem and design a strategy to shift it. It draws on Ashoka's decades of work with social entrepreneurs who tackle root causes. Founders and teams use it to plan how their work can change policies, markets or norms.
CurrentKey online resourceFree - 15.1C225
Navigating The Make-Or-Break Years As You Create Hockey Stick Growth
A short Forbes article based on Bobby Martin's book The Hockey Stick Principles. It sets out 4 stages new ventures go through: tinkering, the blade years, the growth inflection point and surging growth. It focuses on the blade years, which often last 3 to 4 years, and gives 3 lessons: bootstrap longer than you expect, keep adjusting the model, and look after your first users. Useful for founders who need patience in the early years.
ClassicShort readFree - 2.1C018
Agile Strategy Canvas
A one-page canvas that holds an organisation's whole strategy in 3 layers. Strategic Direction covers vision, mission, core strategic insight, a big hairy audacious goal, economic drivers and values. Strategic Signals records internal insights and external opportunities and threats. Strategic Sprints lists an ideas backlog, active time-boxed sprints and completed sprints with what was learned. Teams update it every quarter as conditions change.
EmergingTool or templateFreeNonprofit Builder tool - 2.1C019
Agile Strategy
A guide to running strategy as a living system for nonprofits and social enterprises. It sets out 3 layers: Strategic Direction, which fixes long-term vision and values; Strategic Signals, which capture new insights and changes in the environment; and Strategic Sprints, focused projects of 2 to 3 months that move the strategy forward. Teams use it with the one-page Agile Strategy Canvas and review the strategy on a regular cycle.
EmergingKey manual or guideFreeNonprofit Builder tool - 2.1C020
The Strategy Habit
A playbook of 12 monthly exercises, called recipes, that make strategy a regular team habit. Each recipe poses a strategic question and gives a practical exercise for a team session, on topics such as setting a big hairy audacious goal, turning constraints into opportunities and business model change. The playbook gives guidance for running monthly discussions with a wide group of staff and building a strategy that keeps up with events.
EmergingTool or templateFreeNonprofit Builder tool
Related project ideas
Get expert help with social entrepreneurship and earned income
Consulting and coaching projects built from 600+ real projects. Pick one, add your needs and hear from vetted consultants.
Run an innovation lab for new ideas
“Your brainstorming sessions always generate the same tired ideas and you feel stuck.”See project
Write a business plan for a new initiative or organization overall
“You have a game-changing idea for a new venture, but you can't get it on paper in a way that funders will take seriously.”See project
All 15 Fundraising & resource mobilisation project ideas All 11 Strategy & strategic planning project ideas
Work with a consultant or coach
Nonprofit Builder members can browse vetted consultants and coaches who work on social entrepreneurship and earned income, and invite them to a project.
Suggestion box
Something to fix or add here?
Know a better resource on this subject, found a broken link, or spotted a mistake in this record? Tell us.
About C186 The Successful Social Entrepreneur's Micro Guide
A person reads every message. A title, a link or a few words is enough.