| Lessons in scaling from business franchise models |
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Taking a cue from business
American corporations invented the business franchise model decades ago, and social enterprises with a "double bottom-line" of profit-making and social impact have recently adopted the "social franchise" model to efficiently replicate promising blueprints. However, NGOs have thus far been slow to adopt (and adapt) the franchise model, even though in many cases it could be their most promising recipe for success. Global Gain came up with the term adaptive blueprinting to describe the strategy a handful of NGOs have used in recent years to quickly scale successful programs that seem to be conducive to wide-scale replication. It's based in large part on business franchising models, but many aspects have been tailored specifically to the needs of NGOs-- where the motivation is not to maximize profit but scale social impact. The advantages of adaptive blueprinting are very similar to those found in the private sector for businesses which have adopted franchising strategies for corporate growth. These include:
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