“How to Start a Business”: The Basics of Social Entrepreneurship, Nonprofits, and Startups

    Girls for Business hosted our second virtual event, “How to Start a Business” on Sunday, September 27. The event focused on social entrepreneurship, nonprofit, and business startups, and featured two highly esteemed panelists: Ms. Alivia Kaplan and Ms. Sarah Zhang. “How to Start a Business” included three parts: introductions to the organization and panelists, specialized breakout rooms, and lastly, a general Q+A.

   Sarah Zhang, the event panelist for Business Startups and Nonprofits, is a senior at UC Berkeley majoring in Business Administration at the Haas School of Business. As a hardworking individual, she has obtained experience from several valuable internships with the Warner Brothers, NBC, and at KPMG. Zhang’s non-profit, Glasses For Our Youth LLC, was established in her freshman year of high school and aims to help low-income communities gain access to glasses. Over the past years, she has collected roughly 5,000 glasses and has set up pop-up clinics in Mexico. 

   In addition to her non-profit, Zhang started another social impact startup with a group of students from UC Berkeley called WeLumin8. Her team engineered a baseball hat in which a headlamp (in the form of a small thermoelectric generator) was attached to the top of the hat. Her goal in starting this project was to provide children in 3rd-world countries access to light while in the dark. 

    In the breakout rooms, Zhang went into more detail about the logistics of starting a non-profit, presented in a five step process.

1. Apply for the name of the company: Sarah Zhnag mentions that this could be done by writing a letter to your state secretary. It took a long time for her non-profit to be approved, and by the time she was in her senior year of high school, she could officially start going on clinical trips to distribute glasses. 
2. The next step is to formulate the mission statement. You must gather content and highlight the focal points of your organization on your website. Zhang advised that when examining this material, you should look at hobbies, challenges, or any problems within the global community that you are passionate about. Since Zhang is legally blind, glasses have played a big role in her life, but she acknowledges the fact that not everyone has access to glasses. Hence, she started her own non-profit which addressed that global issue.
3.  After completing the second step, you must file the Articles of Corporation to the state secretary. Zhang stressed that the paperwork takes a lot of time because you have to tackle all of the “nitty and gritty stuff,” such as handling board members and specific addresses. 
4. An important aspect of starting a non-profit is that it takes money to start / fund. This leads us to the fourth step that Zhang mentioned: planning a budget and managing finances. She recommended that saving a minimum of $500 dollars would be sufficient for a non-profit.
5.  In order for a non-profit to truly be recognized, the fifth and final step that Zhang covered was to apply for a recognition of tax-exempt public-charity status. In addition, she highlights the importance of hiring a private CPA accountant for the application process, as they are experienced in this line of work. 

   Alivia Kaplan was the panelist for the social enterprise topic. She is currently a junior studying at Washington University in St. Louis Olin Business School majoring in Economics and Strategy, with a minor in Chinese! Some of her accomplishments include being the founder of Kuleana Consulting and Executive Coordinator at Dgit Solutions Inc (a cleantech startup). In her words, she defines social enterprise as “organizations that address a basic unmet need or solve a social or environmental problem through a market-driven approach.”

   In the breakout room, she explained the philosophy of social enterprise, such as the triple bottom line, which includes profit, people, and the planet. She then went on to explain the impact-focused entrepreneurship framework. The first step is to identify a prevalent social problem. A good way to do this is to find problems in your community that you feel can be fixed. The second step is to brainstorm answers to the problem that you identified in a way that can generate revenue for your team. Lastly, determine a strategy to validate your idea. She recommends using AngelList to find startup opportunities in high school, college, and even beyond college because they are a gateway to the real world. When starting your startup, Kaplan emphasizes the importance of reading all the papers that you are signing! She mentions that although a lot of startups don’t succeed, all of the succeeding ones have one similar trait. They solve a prevalent problem that many people in the world can identify. 

   In the final portion of this event, all of the participants gathered to ask the panelists questions. The questions ranged from fears of starting a business to how to balance personal life with work. Here are some of the questions asked by the participants: 

Question: How do you diminish the stress and worry of your business possibly failing?

“99 percent of startups fail,” Zhang stated. She went on to address that in order for a business to have a slim chance of failing, the idea that they are trying to accomplish or facilitate must be unique. The 1% that doesn’t fail has specific business problems that they are tackling. Sarah mentioned two ways that businesses can fail: 1) the team doesn’t get along and 2) people lose excitement and hope for their project and eventually burn out. Kaplan, the other panelist, recommends doing a lot of internal work to see where the issue stems from. For example, she recommends journaling. Through journaling, she gains a general reflection “framework” which helps her overcome those internal barriers of failure. 

Question: How do you get over the block or fear of starting a business?

Ms. Alivia Kaplan mentions that startups can be difficult to handle, and that it is okay to make mistakes. From the mistakes, experience is gained, which can be utilized to help the business grow. Zhang adds that when starting a business, it is also important to allow “yourself to see everything as a learning opportunity.”

Question: How do you balance time between business, school, and workplace?

When it comes to time management, Zhang suggests using Google calendars to plan, schedule, and find time for relaxation. Zhang mentions that finding hobbies and doing enjoyable activities help to keep your mental health in check. Implementing a time to unwind is also helpful when the workload becomes strenuous or overwhelming. 

Question: What type of prior experiences are helpful for starting a business?

It can be difficult to understand what methods are effective in starting a business; Kaplan explains that reaching out and working for other people’s businesses can garner general work experience. She indicates that by working for others, the individual can witness firsthand what people are doing and use it as a model. Zhang also states that shadowing people and asking for mentorship or advice can help one understand the industry and to create a successful startup. 

    Overall, “How to Start a Business” was a success; participants were able to receive advice on social entrepreneurship, business startups, and nonprofits while also being able to ask questions and converse with experienced panelists. The knowledge gained through this Girls for Business event allows individuals to learn more about the ever-growing business industry that is seen today. 

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