“We have a responsibility to help create opportunities for those with the potential to excel but lacking the resources, and to use the fruits of our success to help build a better world for future generations.” Stacy Francis

At my financial planning boutique, Francis Financial, I have aligned charitable giving activities with long-term corporate objectives. I strive to create the best service and experience possible for my clients of Francis Financial, Inc. with the ultimate goal of increasing revenue and giving back. This laser-like focus on quality products and services breeds success and an annual net income increase of over 300% in 2006. I believe that the more financially successful an individual or business, the greater the opportunity and obligation that they have to change society for the better.

I donate over 20% of our net income to financial education causes and the community. To make sure my donations are effectively fostering social change, I decided to take matters into my own hands and start the non-profit Savvy Ladies. Savvy Ladies empowers women to take control of their finances and over 2,000 Savvy Ladies have gone through our financial educational programs in the short four years of our existence. Giving back just makes good business sense because those same people someday will hopefully be our customers, our partners, our employees.

Creating an environmentally safe business that has a social purpose can ultimately be extremely satisfying and bring up many important issues to the public. The first step in this process is to choose something you are passionate about in which this business of yours can be based around. Maybe you have a passion for animals or fashion; whatever it may be-deciding on what that is specifically for you, is where to begin.

Once you decide what you are most avid about, your business is on its way. Now, what is the mission of your business going to be? You need to describe your social purpose business idea. What product or service do you plan on offering to your future clients?

Next, what types of people will you target? This is an important question in starting this business. You need to figure out what kinds of people will be interested in your business and will benefit from it the most. What services will this business have that will serve clients’ needs?

You will also have to figure out the more technical aspects of your business. When I say “technical”, I mean the things such as building, property, equipment, and intellectual property. Also though this is a business working towards a social purpose and for good causes, you still need to figure out what your financial goals are for your business. Do you want to break-even or do you want to generate profits to be used for additional training or spin off revenues for other programs of the organizations? These are some really important question you’ll need to answer.

Creating your business can also be easier with the help of other people. What partnerships would be obliging in the development of your business? How do you create these relationships?

Developing a business that has important social values and really works towards benefiting certain people is very hard work; however it is ultimately extremely satisfying-knowing you and your expertise are benefiting the lives of people out there. It is a process and you have to be patient, but with passion, motivation and lots of energy you will get there!