Maria Ilcheva, Program Director for Counterpart International-Bulgaria and Executive Director of the Association of Social Enterprises in Bulgaria recently spoke with SER about Counterpart International-Bulgaria and the state of social enterprise in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe. Q: What type of work does Counterpart International-Bulgaria do in the arena of social enterprise? A: Counterpart International is an international non-governmental organisation dedicated to helping people and communities to help themselves, and it operates in more than 60 countries around the world.

In the shadow of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta’s historic Sweet Auburn district, the Georgia Justice Project (GJP) represents the indigent accused. The GJP New Horizon Landscaping (NHL) social enterprise serves as an integral part of GJP’s holistic approach to helping people change and rebuild their lives in—and out—of prison. NHL employs GJP clients, who are eligible for pre-disposition and post-release employment at NHL, and up to 40 clients staff enterprise positions.

There’s nothing magical about business planning. At its core, it involves thinking through and documenting who your target customers are, how your proposed venture will profitably address their needs better than the competition, how you will communicate with these customers, and how resources will be obtained to pay for startup costs.

Writing these things down, and asking outsiders to review them, often leads to finding and fixing flaws in your assumptions and logic. The result is that you’re better prepared for launching your venture.