Giving and taking. Taking and giving. These are sustainable cycles. Taking and taking and giving and giving are guaranteed failures over time.

Although this principle is immediately visable in social entrepreneurship, it is as vital of a component in general entrepreneurship, where fiscal profit alone may be the objective. To start any venture for a beginning entrepreneur requires borrowed human capital. Networks, expertise, advice, trust… It often feels like I’m in deeper debt of human capital than I could possibly give back in a life time. While I try to give back where I can, and as much as I show gratitude it’s probably not enough–still I’ve got a lot more to take if I want to have a lot more to give.

Fun novelty aside, (thanks naymz.com) it does help to illustrate the how segmented the industry is for social entrepreneurship in Utah. Social entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of all backgrounds for that matter would benefit from a more consolidated social entrepreneurship community in Utah or their respective states. The challenge of developing a lasting venture that has positive social impact is incredible. It is an exciting prospect to think of how various social entrepreneurs could work together to share networks and resources to responsibly and profitably improve their local and global communities.

I have a close friend who took me to see a number of the best movie-star hot spots. It was my first time acting as a paparazzi, and although we didn’t really see many stars, it was still a fun experience.

While eating a burger at a popular L.A. pub, I had a chance to talk with some of the local residents. The gentleman I spoke with told me about his experience living in a city that was so big with so many options and cultures that he felt he lost himself for the first 5 years of living there. “Ironically,” he said, “after going through all of the motions and learning and developing, I found myself right back where I was before. The same person, only more developed, stronger–wiser.”

Although I’ve never spent enough time in the City of Angels to have my own L.A. Walk-About, there’s something to what he said that seems to apply to a lot of different parts of life. In business, in relationships–especially in entrepreneurship. We work hard to grow and ultimately sell the business. We end up in a similar position to where we started, but our experiences and understanding is so much more developed than when we first started.

I’ve grown up in Salt Lake. But this area of town is unfamiliar. The building and stretch of faces on Rio Grande road almost ask to be forgotten.

We step out of our cars and into the Road Home Homeless Shelter Docking area. It is a small area with a single wide ramp leading to the back of shelter. No pictures are allowed inside. No tours. We look awkward in our business casual dress shoes.

In only a few minutes we unloaded our supplies and we were done.

No fan fare. No smothering thank yous. The books, towels and blankets were delivered.

We walked around the shelter to take some final mental pictures before leaving. The people lined up outside the door looked suspiciously at the passing dockers and collard shirts.

A few moments of introspection. We get back in our cars and drive off to eat and “talk business.”

Not the normal day of work, but certainly a worthwhile one.

The fact is, we were delivering materials as part of a challenge for young entrepreneurs to give back to the community.

Getting the materials was easy. Who’s going to say “no” to sharing their extra substance with the homeless? Some of us went door to door. Some of us asked our friends and neighbors.

We were all able to contribute.

Few people will say no. But how many remember?

How often have I remembered?

The Road Home is Non-Profit based in Salt Lake City, dedicated to providing materials and support for the homeless. Visit their website to learn more about you can help utah’s homeless.

Although this is a relatively new movement, all around us we see the growing momentum of companies identifying and implementing aspects of social responsibility into their models. This is as much a financial decision as anything else! Dollars spent on social programs can often make more marketing or operational sense than traditional advertising or waste management methods. In these circumstances everybody wins. As society continues to demand more responsibility it continues to pay for companies to develop and demonstrate a competent social strategy.

There is a wealth of knowledge on the subject, best summarized and directed, (In my personal opinion) on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_entrepreneurship and the internal and external links provide a very good summary. Applying these principles in a business certainly does not have to be a gigantic overhaul, or a substantial change in the business model. Sometimes it’s as simple as a personal change in perspective. Implementing these principles into a business model however, can create lasting strategic partnerships and goodwill that provide a legacy and public image much bigger and better than money alone can provide.

The panelists, Alan Hall, Brad Walters and Brad Angus were all successful entrepreneurs and investors in the Weber Davis Morgan region of Utah. I have had the paradigm that Northern Utah Entreprenuership was fertile grounds, but I was grateful and impressed by what I saw today. Although my current business exploit is a social venture and not directly applicable to much of the material covered in the conference, I did gain a lot of useful knowledge and also made some good contacts.

To anyone in Utah County, Salt Lake or Northern Utah who might be considering attending a Grow Utah Ventures event, I would highly recommend it. Thanks guys!

While thinking about his contributions to society and the members of the LDS religion, I reflected upon the magnitude of his legacy. I am truly humbled by his dedication and faith. Not only faith in his religion, but also his faith in humanity. Gordon B. Hinckley never recieved financial compensation for his more than 70 years of service. Gordon B. Hinckly acted out of duty, compassion and love for his Creator and fellow human beings. Gordon B. Hinckley will be greatly remembered for his poverty relief, educational reform for people seeking skills-training in developing countries.

For a full account of his funeral and links about his life and biography, feel free to run a search on youtube or checkout The LDS Church’s official statements regarding his passing.

A fun little service to check out while researching his impact is found at Blog Pulse. This service tracks a persons popularity or coverage by the number of blogs that refer to the individual. On January 28, Gordon B. Hinckley reached third in the world. Pretty impressive for a person who never sought personal attention or publicity.

The reflections of this past week have encouraged me to stand a little taller and work a little harder as I work to contribute to society and my personal development. Regardless of religious affiliation, President Gordon B. Hinkley’s wit and dedication deserve great respect. I hope to carry even a fraction of his awesome legacy as I work to develop my personal talents and use them to benefit mankind.

In a recent conversation I had with Jaron Brown, the Regional Manager for Worldwide Book Drive, he said something that struck me as a key factor to Worldwide Book Drive’s growing success. He related a recent experience in which a retiring professor donated his entire collection of used books and curriculum before heading back to Norway. He said the retiring professor identified Worldwide Book Drive as the best place to donate books used books, because it was by far the most believable organization. It was very reassuring to hear that from an outside source. The hours of labor it takes to sort through the books and truly try to maximize the value can be a thankless task… (although the last time I helped to sort and put together a load of 5,000 books for Books for Utah Kids, my back was certain to thank me

Donations have been recieved from Nevada, Idaho and Utah. Their biggest source of donations come from school districts and libraries. So if your looking for a reliable place to donate used books or find used books to benefit a great cause be sure to check out the Worldwide Book Drive website, www.worldwidebooks.org

I’m proud to say that Kellerblog is a very search engine friendly blog. Complete with disabled no follow tags and an open invitation to comment on anything that you can add value to.

Enjoy!

The concept makes me smile when I think about the little online dating company that my friend has recently purchased and is working to build it up. The website is LDS Friends… Which as you might imagine specifically targets the LDS Dating niche. It includes a craigs listing type sales page. as well as a number of other member services that lds match seekers could enjoy.

Niche dating websites are popping up all over the web. Although large corporations are trimming their fat, eventually the market will stabilize and new companies will work to the top. While now is not the best time to enter the market, it seems like a great time to be a player while things remain so mobile.