Bruce appeared recently on Fox Business.com Live. You can watch the interview here:
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Does Your Business Have Good Karma?
Bruce was interviewed recently by Business News Daily about Looptail and karma in business.
“Social enterprise to me is about finding social solutions to business problems. Traditionally, social innovation and social entrepreneurship have been left for nonprofits, but with the transparency that has been created by social media, it has expanded the definition of what we now call social enterprise. This is an area that we feel we have defined in our space.”
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Good Things Cooking at Karma Kitchen
(video via Global Oneness Project)
Ariel Schwartz of Co.Exist reports on Karma Kitchen, a Berkley, CA based restaurant with quite literally a “pay-it-forward” business model. The success of the Berkley location has resulted in the opening of four other US locations as well as two in Japan.
From the article:
Karma Kitchen opened in 2007–and not only does it ask for donations, it also is completely volunteer-run. The model is working well so far, so well that, despite charging nothing, the company is able to donate extra money. -
Good News Auto – Paying it Forward With JumpStart Program
Linda Hoang of CTV Edmonton reports on Good News Auto, an Edmonton, AB based auto shop. Owner Chris Ferland has created a unique business model with a pay-it-forward program for its customers called JumpStart.
From the article:
“Sometimes a lot of people are just one repair away from not being able to pay their rent or mortgage, so that’s the people we’re focusing on,” Ferland said.
The JumpStart program is described as offering a boost, a helping hand, or ‘jumpstart’ to customers based on income and circumstance.
Ferland says a little more than half of his sales are through regular, competitive market business.
He then uses those profits to subsidize repairs for people identified as being in need – through the JumpStart program.
Click here to read the rest of the article on CTV News Edmonton.
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Karma in Business
I was once a skeptic of the idea of karma in business. It seemed like “paying it forward” was a buzz phrase and most businesses were just out to raise stock values and make as much money as possible.
This was before I experienced a series of life and business altering events that changed my opinion on karma in business, which I write about extensively in Looptail.
Karma and the notion of paying it forward is central to what we are doing at G Adventures. One huge step in getting to this point was creating our NGO arm, Planeterra that helps local people develop their communities, conserve their environments, and provide social solutions to local business challenges in communities that our trips and travellers visit. We’re paying it forward to communities that our business touches.
Through initiatives like our Women’s Weaving Co-op in Peru, we are now helping to solve social problems and find business solutions in local communities that our travellers visit.
In addition to helping to build these sustainable community projects, we have found a differentiator for our business through Planeterra – with the help of our travellers, we have created something that makes us stand out amongst our competitors. Please visit planeterra.org to learn more about our social enterprise at work.
In fact, the title of my book Looptail: How One Company Changed the World by Reinventing Business was originally Looptail: Why Community, Culture and Karma Matter in Business . I now believe that nothing is an accident and everything happens for a reason. It’s all part of the Looptail.
This week, on Looptail.com, we are going to highlight some interesting articles around karma and the notion of “paying it forward” in business and society. We’d love to know what you think about some of these articles so feel free to comment and have your voice heard.
Peace,
Bruce
