Introduction to the Sirolli Business Model

“Right now in your community, at this very moment, there is someone who is dreaming about doing something to improve his/her lot. If we could learn how to help that person to transform the dream into meaningful work, we would be halfway to changing the economic fortunes of the entire community”.

Background

Many of you may have heard of The Sirolli Concept, an enterprise facilitation initiative that has recently been successfully launched throughout Merseyside. For those unaware of Sirolli, you can visit www.sirolli.com for more information. The Sirolli Institute is a global, not-forprofit, education and training organisation of experienced professionals with the mission of introducing Enterprise Facilitation to communities who are seeking to grow their economies from within. Ernesto Sirolli, founder of the institute, firmly believes “The future of every community lies in capturing the passion, imagination, and resources of its people”. As a project is being established the institute provides a 30-month mentoring programme consisting of training, regular assessments and site visits from the project implementation team, this is sometimes funded via a governing body.

Concept

It is a grass roots up, community led initiative, to help promote entrepreneurship, using a person-centred approach to economic development. Creating a "panel" of like-minded people from the local community is the first step to moving the initiative forward. Volunteers bring their individual resources such as networks, experience, knowledge and skills together to form a panel of intelligence that supports anyone in the community wanting to start or expand a business. As a panel member, you would be asked to give approximately two hours of your time each month to the project. The panel forms a Fundraising Committee for the sustainability of the project including the funding for the salary of the Enterprise Facilitator. The panel hires and supports the training of a full-time Enterprise Facilitator. With the engagement of a "Facilitator" (the only paid member of the project), the panel seeks to assist people from the local community with entrepreneurial ideas.

How it works

An ideal project consists of approximately 40-60 panel members, each giving a commitment to providing the Facilitator with 10 personal introductions within their first 90 days. These introductions are a primary marketing effort to get the word out quickly into the community and to create a client flow to the Facilitator. The aim of the introductions is not to identify possible clients, but rather to get the Facilitator known to the community in a friendly and relaxed way. Through this process the facilitator also learns about the skills and resources of each panel member, which becomes important later on when the Facilitator may need to call on individual members for information or help. The introduction exercise normally produces around 30 clients and the Facilitator provides intensive, one-on-one management coaching, linking clients to programs and resources offered by development organisations, professionals, and sources shared by the panel of intelligence members.

The facilitator tests the personal motivation, passion and skill of the client by developing in a client the capacity to assess their own management strengths and weaknesses. This is carried out by applying what is known as “The Trinity of management” No matter how big or small, every successful business has to satisfy the requirements of three different areas –

  • The production of the actual goods or services of the business.
  • The marketing and selling of those products or services.
  • The financial management of the business operation.

Ernesto says he has yet to discover an entrepreneur who is actually passionate and can deliver equally all three aspects of a business. The Facilitator asks the client to identify where they fit in the overall picture of their company, which they love most, they are encouraged to acknowledge and use their passion. The facilitator will make it clear that, without a management team, they will have a near impossible task ahead. The death of the Entrepreneur is Solitude. They will then proceed to help the client identify and enlist possible management team members. After the Facilitator has exhausted all avenues for building the support around the client, the Facilitator will bring the case of the client, confidentially to the monthly panel members meetings to assist with resolving specific problems faced by the client. During these meetings the members will brainstorm new, innovative, and traditional ways to help clients remove barriers to achieving their dreams.