Getting to Scale (eBook)

Renowned academic and businesswoman Jill Bamburg shows how mission-driven entrepreneurs can preserve the values of their company while maintaining their growth and competitiveness in the marketplace. Through lessons and stories readers learn how to build growth businesses that can be successful and economically significant in the competitive marketplace. They will learn how their businesses can be strong global competitors without becoming bad local citizens.

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Ben & Jerry's. Stonyfield Farm. The Body Shop. Tom's of Maine. All leaders in the socially responsible business movementand all eventually sold to mega-corporations. Do values-driven businesses have to choose between staying small, selling off, or selling out? Jill Bamburg says no. Based on intensive interviews with more than thirty growth-oriented, mission-driven entrepreneursincluding American Apparel, Give Something Back, Wild Planet Toys, Organic Valley Family of Farms, and Village Real Estateher book explodes the myths of scale from both ends of the spectrum. She debunks both the limiting ';small is beautiful' approach as well as the ';you have to sell out to grow' mandate. Focusing on the unique challenges that socially conscious companies face, Getting to Scale addresses the issues that affect all businesses: Production and personnelAccess to capital and marketsChanges in organizational structureOwnership and controlCorporate cultureFilled with practical and tested advice, Getting to Scale provides a blueprint for socially responsible entrepreneurs in any industry who want to benefit larger groups of customers, have a greater positive impact on their communities, and maintain their independence by scaling up their enterprises.