I’m hoping small business owners and entrepreneurs at heart will weigh in here. If you’re like me, you have half a dozen ideas at any given time for great new start-up businesses (well, some of them great). My passions are local government, web technology & communication, and public speaking. I’m always dreaming up ways to create a start-up that combines the fields I love and helps communities at the same time….. well that, and make a profit too.
Hence my dilemma. If I truly wanted to assist local governments across the country, I should just start a non-profit right? Can there be an acceptable place in between public service and a bottom-line oriented, profit-making enterprise?
Many new vendors out there are harnessing the power of the Gov2.0 movement and offering services for governments such as open data platforms, crowdsourcing tools, mobile apps, mashup products and the like. Many of these products don’t come cheap in a cash-strapped economy. And let’s not forget that the recent Gov2.0 Expo in Washington DC wasn’t exactly a non-profit venture.
So businesses are profiting from Gov2.0. But wait, small businesses are the backbone of America, right? Aren’t start-ups (and the profits & taxes that follow) the thing that’s going to give our economy and government the boost it needs? Or, should motives be different when you’re talking about services for the public good?
Somebody talk me into it, because I’m still hoping to write that business plan…
Kristy,
Plenty of businesses provide social value and are profitable.
I hope yours will also.
Luke
Nice post @Kristy. Infact at an uber-level no successful Government programme ever has been Not-For-Profit.
Even the best of examples of providing free education to kids is “for-profit” where the money earned by the nation is on a longer time-line when citizens grow up and contribute to the economy with the skills developed.
Very nice point raised here.
- Arvind
Gov2.0 #smallbusiness start-ups: It's okay to profit, right? http://bit.ly/aUyqhX #localgov #gov20
Kristy,
Being for-profit in the Gov 2.0 world isn’t a bad thing because like you said, “small businesses are the backbone of America”. You can still be motivated to help the government become more open and up-to-date while at the same time, wanting to make a profit because of it. In fact if you have a passion for open government and find a job that allows you the opportunity to further the cause, it’s a win-win situation.
Justin
RT @kristyfifelski: Gov2.0 #smallbusiness start-ups: It's okay to profit, right? http://bit.ly/aUyqhX #localgov #gov20
Yes. RT @kristyfifelski: Gov2.0 #smallbusiness start-ups: It's okay to profit, right? http://bit.ly/aUyqhX #localgov #gov20
Kristy,
There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a business thats in it for profit even when concentrating on government. I’m working on my own business plan now. As a current gov’t employee, I know ultimately that web app development belongs outside the walls of gov’t. Local governments will get a better product and it will cost them less in the long run and hopefully my economic situation will be greatly improved.
Kristy,
Thought of this after my other comment… it’s along the lines that people who work in government aren’t (all) volunteers. They make money, even though their motive could be to help citizens.
Justin
Hi Kristy,
Profits are the backbone of all businesses … if they want to stay in business. Government agencies are tax-exempt, not necessarily profit-exempt.
In my niche market of teaching grant writing, there are both for-profit and non-profits … most working hand in hand with each other. For example, freelance consultants, the Grantsmanship Center, GrantStation, Blackbaud (for fundraising), The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and other for-profit businesses have provided tremendous value and practical solutions for a $300+ billion dollar “grant” industry. On the other hand, non-profits have picked up the slack, like The Foundation Center, Grants.gov, Grant Professionals Association (formerly AAGP), Charity Channel.
In my mind, it’s not an either/or choice, but a both/and … both small businesses and non-profits working together to make a living and make living better.
Phil
RT @govfresh: Yes. RT @kristyfifelski: Gov2.0 #smallbusiness start-ups: It's okay to profit, right? http://bit.ly/aUyqhX #localgov #gov20
Feeling energized by the comments… Gov2.0 #smallbusiness start-ups: It's okay to profit, right? http://bit.ly/aUyqhX #gov20
RT @kristyfifelski: Gov2.0 small business start-ups: It's okay to profit, right? http://bit.ly/aUyqhX
I’m energized by the comments I’m hearing. Thanks, everyone!
RT @kristyfifelski: Gov2.0 small business start-ups: It's okay to profit, right? http://bit.ly/aUyqhX #gov20 #smbiz
Okay, working on some business research…. I’m going to try to use a model that involves no cost to cities – actually generates revenue for them. Win-win for everyone, right?
I believe that the profit motive is not an unethical marriage with government, nor a marriage of convenience. I believe that for-profit businesses have a necessary role to play in the efficiency, and the recovery, of government today.
State and local governments have missions that, even in the best of times, prevent large expenditures of effort to develop new technologies. Not-for-profits may focus on providing new solutions but have limited resources. For profits may focus 100% on solutions. They will be able to raise as much capital as required with one caveat; they must provide enough value that both customer and company profit.
Take the development of large scale cloud computing. The largest companies in the world have spent huge amounts of money, the equation being that there is so much value creation that both vendor and customer win.
I am passionate because we have spent significant time and money creating a solution that allows government to create their own mobile applications. An example: a state agency that has budgeted $350k for a custom solution. The alternative is to spend less than $10k annually.
So go for it. The hard part is finding something of great value to government. Sharing in that value is fair.