Last month, SocialFinance.ca turned two years old. In the time since Karim Harji and Michael Lewkowitz launched the platform, it has become one of the most active websites for discussing, learning about, and catalyzing a social finance marketplace in Canada.

Today, SocialFinance.ca is not only going strong with institutional support from MaRS Discovery District, SiG National, and others but also laying the groundwork for becoming a self-sustaining high-impact social venture of its own. Toward this end, we have decided to open up the process that has been underway since mid-June to develop a strong business plan that will help ensure SocialFinance.ca’s long term social impact and financial sustainability.

Throughout November and December 2010, the SocialFinance.ca leadership team, consisting of myself, Karim Harji, Adam Jagelewski, and Joanna Reynolds, with input from the SocialFinance.ca community, will fill out the sections contained in the SocialFinance.ca - Business Plan Google site.

We are extremely grateful to have stumbled upon Root Cause’s publication Business Planning for Enduring Social Impact, which has provided us with a framework and step-by-step process for drafting the business plan.

Our primary objectives for undertaking this process in the open with contributions from the SocialFinance.ca community are:

• To develop a more complete and viable business plan than would have been possible had we relied only on internal review and contributions;
• To model collaborative, open, and innovative leadership in Canada's growing social enterprise community; and
• To equip social entrepreneurs across Canada with a process for developing strong business plans of their own, which may in turn attract social finance.

All three objectives are completely aligned with our mission to catalyze and sustain a robust social finance marketplace in Canada. For this reason, we are happily letting go of convention, and invite you to play a role in making SocialFinance.ca a self-sustaining high-impact social venture.

Below is the schedule we’re working with to complete the business plan:

Week of Nov. 1st

• Create Google Site for SocialFinance.ca business plan with sections that mirror the Business Planning for Enduring Social Impact; and
• Post blog entry that announces the open business planning initiative, and explains our objectives in drafting the business plan in full view as a learning exercise for ourselves and our community.

Week of Nov. 15th

• Begin filling in sections based on previous discussions, input from the community, and further research;
• Recruit 3-5 external advisers who can advise on the business plan as it takes form, and meet 1-on-1 as we move to improve and implement the plan; and
• Post blog entry that announces our group of 3-5 advisers and outlines our ‘social impact model’.

Week of Dec. 1st

• Get approval from leadership team, advisory circle, and community on all drafted content; and Post blog entry featuring excerpts and link to our nearly completed business plan;

Week of Dec. 15th

• Finish drafting all sections;
• Develop action plan for implementing the various aspects of the completed business plan; Post blog entry that announces completed business plan and invites feedback on the contents of the finished product and the process that led to its creation;

Week of Jan. 1st

• Post blog entry that doubles as executive summary;

We’re looking forward to a very productive two months of open business planning.

To kick things off, here are some of the big questions we're asking ourselves: What kinds of revenue streams would be 100% consistent with our mission? Of these revenue streams, which are likely to create results within 3-6 months? How much would it cost (in time and money) to implement the most promising ones? What's the right balance between planning and doing?

Please use the comment section below to comment on these questions and/or to let us know what you think of our plan for making SocialFinance.ca sustainable. 

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/2335716785/