Symbol: International Order of Odd Fellows

The other day I was driving through the countryside and saw this sign in the “middle of nowhere”… It said “Odd Fellows Hall Church of Christ”.  A church had, at one time, started in an “Odd Fellows Hall” in what once was a thriving community.

I’m not going to talk about churches, I’m interested in “Odd Fellows”.

As a college student, the now university I attended was situated in a town dating back to before the Civil War. In the second story of one of the buildings was an “Odd Fellows Hall” . I never knew what that was then but it’s strategic position above the main street in town produced images in my mind of self-proclaimed weird people spying out on passersby from behind a curtain!

The sign yesterday caused me to ask… just who were these “Odd Fellows”?

Long before there was a “Welfare State” with unemployment insurance, medical insurance, life insurance, survivor’ s benefits, credit unions, etc. there were “guilds”. These professional associations of craftsmen formed when there was a critical mass of tradesmen in a particular field. They protected the “arts” or “secrets” associated with their trade craft.  They committed to support one another in hard times and promote their mutual prosperity as much as possible. They demanded that members maintain professional and moral standards so that their class of worker maintained a good reputation. If one had more work than he could manage, he helped others in the guild stay busy earning a living. When one passed away or was going hungry, the others would help out – it was their sworn duty.

Everyone saw the benefit of joining such an association. Who wouldn’t want other honest, hard working people “watching their back” as the case may be? Before widely available insurance, there were few other options for protecting oneself and his family from the financial devastation of illness, injury and premature death.

And as you’ll recall, many in that early era were either farmers or self-employed. There were few employees per se or other unions.

There was just one hitch. In many smaller towns or outlying areas, there may be only one craftsman in a particular field.  You can’t have a “guild” by yourself!

So in these areas an “Odd” assortment of trades were represented by the society.  ”Odd” meant that there was not a single trade reflected in the society. It wasn’t a commentary on the relative “strangeness” of the participants’ personalities! In fact, the truth of the matter was much different.  ”Odd Fellows” were required to prove their morality and uprightness before joining… and maintain it.

While there’s much more to their history, the point I want to draw is about how people from different occupations came together to provide support that we today consider to be something that only the “government” can provide.

But even the “government” employment offices tell people to seek work through their connections and network.  One of the first pieces of business in such societies was to ask if any present needed work or knew of work!

My point in this history lesson is to ask entrepreneurs (or even employees) what human relationships they are building to truly support others in business and life.

What strikes me about fraternal groups like this is that they were not just “networking groups” like one sees at the Chamber of Commerce. These were people who actually carried out commitments to each other that go far beyond “networking” and backed it up with dues and other contributions.

It would be great if groups that served these same purposes re-emerged in our society so that entrepreneurs could actually support one another in practice, instead of just through empty handshaking!

If entrepreneurs are concerned about “too much government” … the way forward is to encourage people to band together to produce the private safety nets and social networks the government claims won’t exist without them!

Let me know if you have such a support group!

The concept behind Seniors Helping Seniors is quite simple. The seniors that receive help are also benefiting from the companionship they receive from someone near their own age. The seniors that offer their help are not only assisting someone in need but giving support to a senior that needs a little friendship from someone that knows what they’re going through. It’s an important connection, one that has helped this business become the helping hand it is today.

We recently spoke with Lynn Svindland of Seniors Helping Seniors about their service and their franchise opportunity.

Tell us a little about Seniors Helping Seniors.
Seniors Helping Seniors in-home services matches seniors who want to provide help with seniors who are looking for help. We started in 1998 with a simple concept that seniors can help each other age better and that those who give and those who receive benefit equally. As an innovative, intra-generational companion service that functions exclusively with and for seniors, we provide:

An experienced and credible resource for older adults who want to stay in their own homes

Full-range of home care, companion and home maintenance support services from seniors who enjoy helping

Reasonable hourly rates for seniors who want services and reasonable hourly wages to seniors who provide them

Our senior helpers can assist with all the things you need – light housekeeping, cooking, shopping, mowing the lawn, getting you to the doctor, or even just changing a light bulb — and they do it with love. That’s why we say it’s just like getting a little help from your friends.

We personally match you with companions who will fit your personality and needs. And, we work the way it works best for you. Our seniors are available for you every day, any hour of the week and even overnight.

What we have discovered is that the people who use our in-home senior services come to love the people who provide our services.  It’s about getting the help and so much more – it’s about adding joy and companionship back into life. We hear over and over again from those who receive our services that: we change people’s lives.

What inspired it?

Seniors Helping Seniors in-home services was co-founded by Kiran and Philip Yocom created from Kiran Yocom’s personal mission to care for those who are unable to care for themselves. Before coming to the United States from India, Kiran worked with Mother Teresa for 14 years. Currently, Kiran serves as our organization’s Chairwoman, and Philip as the President/CEO of our organization.

How much does your service cost?

Our services are affordable ranging from hourly to 24/7 care. We also provide hourly service for Doctor appointments. We have a low 2 hour minimum. Rates vary with location and type of service.

How does someone become a helper?

We know that for the right people being a senior helping other seniors is really a very rewarding position… a way to give and to receive.

Work as much or as little as you want.

We are always looking for loving, giving, caring, compassionate people to work with our seniors.  Each of our helpers works as many hours a week as he or she wants.

Supplement your income.

Most of the people who work with us were looking for volunteer jobs, seeking activities that would add meaning to their lives. Working as a senior helping other seniors means you will be making an important contribution.  It also provides you with an hourly wage that can help cover the extras.

No experience necessary.  But lots of heart required.

We’d like to talk to you if you can offer companionship or a particular service. Many of our seniors who help out are recently retired or on a reduced work schedule and have never done anything like this before. But they all come to the work full of heart and caring. Find out more about whether you can qualify to be a senior provider or if you’d like to start a center in your town. Email us info@seniorshelpingseniors.com or fill in the contact form.

Tell us a little about your business opportunity.

“The joy of bringing people together… of providing services that are truly needed and adding support and love to the lives of others…all really fulfills the definition of a rewarding life. It is truly…a way to give and to receive.”

Seniors Helping Seniors non-medical home services are given by loving, caring, compassionate seniors who truly understand what it means to be aging. These older adults provide both the physical and emotional help seniors need to live independently in their own homes with dignity and respect.

People 85+ are the fastest growing age group in the US and over half of them need some level of personal care. The number of people who need help continues to expand rapidly; and as the population continues to age, the growing demand for the Seniors Helping Seniors business becomes even more evident.

The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that very soon, 54 percent of our work force will be involved in caring for an older person.  You can probably list the people you know personally, right now, who are faced with the challenges and concerns of caring for an aging parent.

Not only does Seniors Helping Seniors services provide valuable support for seniors, we also relieve the day-to-day stress on overwhelmed family members. To meet this growing demand we continue to recruit more senior helpers who benefit personally from receiving additional income as well as from the rewards of helping. Seniors Helping Seniors in-home services is in the right place at the right time. There is no doubt we are positioned for exciting growth. All the members of our management team have many years of experience providing exactly the kind of service seniors and their families need. We know how to manage the operations of the Seniors Helping Seniors business effectively and how to successfully build a strong franchise community.

For you, this means easy entry into your market and a high-level of ongoing support. You will get the know-how you need to get started and to create a dynamic business.

If you are looking for financial growth and personal satisfaction, join our Seniors Helping Seniors franchise network. Become part of one of the fastest growing service opportunities in the Boomer market. You will receive substantial rewards for your bottom line and for your heart.

Find out more about whether you can qualify to be a franchise partner and start a center in your town. Email us opportunities@seniorshelpingseniors.com

What are your requirements?

This depends on what you have in place. Our partners need an office at home. The cost of starting will vary based on what you need. We feel that the first year range should be $40,000 – $60,000 to get your business started including, startup, marketing and franchise Investment.

How many locations do you currently have?

We currently have 100 territories throughout the country and are in 30 states.

In what ways has it grown/evolved since you first launched?

Starting as one single woman’s vision in 1998 and now a reality for so many, Seniors Helping Seniors in-home services vividly demonstrates we truly can do well by doing good. As one of the original Partners, I have watched this incredible community grow. We have people that have come together to do something they feel good about at this stage in their lives. Our Partners come from all background and the experience of all has grown us to where we are and where we are going. We all have a special reason we want to help Seniors.

What are some of the lessons your business has taught you?

I have learned how difficult it is for a loved who is starting to need help. All of the seniors we help have cared for everyone else all their lives(spouses, parents children), it is very difficult for them to ask for help. When someone who understands what it is like to get older comes to help , it really can be a loving relationship. I have also realized how much we help the working children of our Seniors. It is peace of mind to know someone is caring for your parent while you are at work or taking care of your own family. It relieves the guilt that you can’t always be there.

Any tips you’d like to offer anyone that might be considering the
opportunity with Seniors Helping Seniors?

Understand your reasons for wanting to do something different than you have been doing. Get all the information you can about the industry of Home Care. Ask questions. Be sure that you are the loving, caring compassionate person we are looking for. You need to really know that this business is something you and put your heart and soul into. We are changing people lives. The whole family sees how we help their loved ones. Look deep inside yourself and find out what you are looking for in an opportunity. If you choose to find out more about SHS, our process will allow us to find out is this is the right thing for to do together. Your success is our success. Our support is incredible. We all help each other.

If you are looking for financial growth and personal satisfaction, join our Seniors Helping Seniors franchise network. Become part of one of the fastest growing service opportunities in the Boomer market. You will receive substantial rewards for your bottom line and for your heart.

So check this out at Tech Crunch: Special YouTube Ads Earn Nonprofit $10,000 In A Single Day

Earlier this week YouTube launched a new feature for non-profit organizations called “Call to Action”, allowing these organizations to place special overlay ads on their videos free of charge. These overlays can direct viewers to the non-profits’ homepage, where users can elect to donate money, sign up for mailing lists, and interact with other members in the community. And unlike typical ads on YouTube (which video uploaders don’t generally have control over), non-profits can specifiy exactly which page they’d like to redirect to.

Could you help a local non profit by helping them do a video about their work and put it on YouTube?

Usually for small non profits, ANY extra revenue helps. How can you make a difference?

Yesterday, someone lead me to check out this entry at Wikipedia on the Mondragon Corporation. It’s like no “corporation” you’re used to hearing about. Started in 1956 with 5 employee owners, in under 50 years, quite a transformation had taken place:

At the end of 2008 it was providing employment for 92,773 people working in 256 companies in four areas of activity: Finance, Industry, Retail and Knowledge. The MONDRAGON Co-operatives operate in accordance with a business model based on People and the Sovereignty of Labour, which has made it possible to develop highly participative companies rooted in solidarity, with a strong social dimension but without neglecting business excellence. The Co-operatives are owned by their worker-members and power is based on the principle of one person, one vote.

Mondragon is a network of employee owned and operated cooperatives who network together to achieve economies of scale and help each other reach their economic goals. That way, people’s labor isn’t simply another “commodity”:

In general, wages at Mondragon, as compared to similar jobs in local industries, are 30% or less at the management levels and equivalent at the middle management, technical and professional levels. As a result, Mondragon worker-owners at the lower wage levels earn an average of 13% higher wages than workers in similar businesses. In addition, the ratios are further diminished because Spain uses a progressive tax rate, so those with higher wages pay higher taxes.

Of course, this is talking about factory settings but could some application be made to work at home businesses so people in a given area could help each other improve their business and income?

How could a network of home based businesses do this? It’s worth thinking about. If you know of working examples, I’d like to hear about them… please leave a comment.

You can read more about Mondragon here…

(Warning: the people at this magazine who tout “Mondragon” don’t seem to realize that this model is the exact opposite of the state sponsored socialism they seem to support in the US!)

Whether you’re building a work at home business or a factory, this is a worthwhile video to watch. It reminds us that by creating an ethical business, we are creating social capital by virtue of operating a business. After all, business is about providing value and efficiency to others.

Help the world, start a business committed to ethics and service!

Here is a blurb from the book’s self description:

Business can be discouraging. According to US Department of Labor figures, only 44 percent of newly-opened firms will last four years. Amish firms, on the other hand, have registered a 95% survival rate over a five-year period. And in many cases, those businesses do remarkably well-as Donald Kraybill writes: “the phrase ‘Amish millionaire’ is no longer an oxymoron.” Success Made Simple is the first practical book of Amish business success principles for the non-Amish reader. The work provides a platform of transferable principles–simple and universal enough to be applied in the non-Amish world, in a wide variety of business and management settings.

• Learn how to develop profitable and fulfilling enterprises as Amish explain how to build fruitful relationships with customers and employees, prosper by playing to strengths, and create an effective marketing story.
• Includes interviews with over 50 Amish business owners outline the role of relationships in business and the importance of the big picture-taking in long-term goals, the welfare of others, and personal integrity.
• Offers ideas on practical application of Amish business practices to non-Amish businesses, with bullet summaries at the end of each chapter reviewing the most important take-away points

With a focus on relationship-building and the big picture, Success Made Simple offers business owners everywhere the tools for better, smarter, more successful enterprises.

I’m looking forward to getting into the book more…

The drawbacks I see for many of my visitors who are interested in “making money online” is that there’s a sense in which they wish to make money without all the hassle of building these relationships or even caring about a product. As an affiliate marketer, for instance, one can’t control the quality of a particular product batch. One is focused solely on marketing. The closest thing to “relationship building” online is social media… but the basic strategy for online marketing still is “get a name, bombard with email”. It alienates more customers than attracts them.

Can these lessons be applied online? I hope so…. But I think the book is going to prove VERY interesting.

Note: The above links are Amazon Associate links.

Businesses use a variety of approaches to spread the word, such as online directories of locally owned businesses, street fairs, neighborhood guides that list and map the businesses, local coupon books, and radio shows about local restaurants and farmers.

In its holiday marketing campaign, Seacoast Local, a New England-based nonprofit, ran a series of print ads in which each featured a photo of a local business owner with a list of the community groups that business supports. The Seacoast Local campaign encouraged residents to shift 10 percent of their purchases to local businesses (the common rallying cry of the buy local movement).

“The word spread like wildfire,” says Jody Breneman, co-owner of G. Willikers, a toy store that has served Portsmouth, N.H., for three decades. “I had people come in the store who said, ‘I saw this product online but I want to buy it here and support local.’”

As entrepreneurs we often become preoccupied with today’s issues of survival. Networking with others to promote local buying and selling may be TOMORROW’s issue for survival for your business so it bears watching.

As I understand it, social entrepreneurship means using the entrepreneurial creativity one would use for personal profit in a venture designed to benefit others or fund a particular venture that has social good as the primary aim while maintaining it’s ability to sustain itself based on market dynamics instead of donations and subsidies.

This author describes the difference as whether the social good is active or passive. Any legal business has the potential to provide passive good. A social entrepreneurial venture actively seeks a good beyond the ability of its staff to provide for families or make the occasional donation.

I think it’s important to define terms. Some people think they’re social entrepreneurs because they can dream up new ways to steal money from existing businesses. I once received a newsletter about “Community Wealth”… it was about how local governments could steal the profits of business by new and creative socialism. They considered that “entrepreneurial”.

In my definition also, entrepreneurs create through creative service. At best, socialists only steal through coercive means.

Entrepreneurship, at its base, is the willingness, for profit, to serve a customer in a voluntary transaction. Socialism on the other hand is coercive. It presumes the ability to leech the profits of others and assumes their profitability is automatic, perpetual, and inexhaustible – free for the pickings.

Profits are not automatic though. Profits only come through intelligent and effective service that produces a positive net return on investment after expenses. Anything else is charity to some extent. Charity is fine in it’s place… simply don’t disguise it as “entrepreneurship”.

If a venture can accomplish a particular positive social aim while funding itself through a moral entrepreneurial model, then, to me it’s “social entrepreneurship”.

It’s a good time to read “When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty without Hurting the Poor” by 2 experts in the field.

But much well intended giving – by private charity and government dole – only produces indolence and dependency, not independence and freedom.

Organizations like Kiva.org and Gospel for Asia allow you to help people help themselves and essentially “give the gift of entrepreneurship”. The former allows you to loan to individuals and groups to expand their businesses. The latter allows direct gifts that often are entrepreneurial… a gift of chickens, goats, water buffalo or a sewing machine allows people in those cultures to support themselves.

Either can be good.

But what about our own society? How can we give the gift of entrepreneurship?

1) By understanding that our helping can hurt

2) But encouraging people a new generation of entrepreneurs will be essential to provide for our families and our futures.

3) Transmitting this entrepreneurial spirit comes through relationships and mentoring, not government mandates and prescribed courses.

Will you give the gift of entrepreneurship this year?

I was reminded of this fact from the Kiva email below. But I wonder – how do home business people in the United States ever work together to help pull themselves up? How could that happen?

Thomas Gold writes:

As a Kiva Fellow, I have spent the last three months working with Kiva’s Field Partner Esperanza International, visiting borrowers and writing updates about their businesses.

As you may know, all borrowers’ profiles are posted on Kiva’s website with the help of microfinance institutions (MFIs) such as
Esperanza. With several branch offices located in the rural areas of these two countries, Esperanza reaches entrepreneurs in the most remote and undeserved communities. This makes possible the connection between Kiva lenders and borrowers in some of the neediest areas of the Dominican Republic.

Most of the loans Esperanza International disburses are group loans, inspired by the Grameen method, which consists of making a loan to a group of people living in the same community, after providing them with a short training program that includes basic business advice and training about the Esperanza program. All the borrowers from the group are bound to pay together, and the repayment meetings that are led in the communities help strengthen the links between local entrepreneurs. It is not uncommon for neighbors to attend these meetings and decide to join the groups to start a new project, or strengthen an existing one through a loan.

Esperanza is a strong supporter of the idea of mutual support and local initiatives to lift whole communities out of poverty. For instance, the institution recently started to run literacy programs in many of the communities they work with. These programs are led by the most educated among its borrowers. Esperanza has also been supporting local projects, such as a school that was created by one of its long term borrowers, named Milàn.

I had the unique chance to meet Milan and visit her school. She was just back from a trip across the United States (her first time out of the Dominican Republic) to tell her story. Milàn took out a loan from Esperanza in 1998 that allowed her to increase the income from her clothing business. Like many Esperanza borrowers, she was selling clothes on the street. Milan felt that she wanted to do something for the children of her neighborhood who didn’t have the opportunity to go to school, so she started a little school inside her house, providing children with basic literacy lessons, and a meal at lunch. Milan continued her clothing business and from the income generated, she could expand her school, until she reached 100 students (divided in two classes of 50 students on morning and afternoon). As her project was taking shape, she received further financial support from Esperanza and
other non-profit organizations. The school I visited is a 2 story building, with eight classrooms, a library and computer room. Almost 500 students are attending the school, and follow an education program acknowledged by the Dominican ministry of Education, provided by 17 teachers (working part-time). Meanwhile, Milan has been able to complete her own education that she had left shortly before reaching high school. She is now about to get an advanced education degree that will certify her as a principal.

Recently, I was visiting a group of borrowers, who took their first loan funded by Kiva lenders. Maria, and one of the women of the group had a very similar story to Milan’s. Besides her clothing and home accessories business, she runs a local school, in her house, where she is the teacher of a class of 15 preschool children aged from 3 to 5. She is a well respected woman in her community. Her neighbors call her “la profesora” (the teacher). Although her activity as a teacher is not a source of income, it definitely is a great motivation for her to succeed in her business. Maria has recently added new products to her home accessories such as aromatic candles that she hopes will increase her sales during Christmas time.

Thanks to their commitment to reach the most isolated communities, and the indispensable financial support they receive from Kiva lenders, Esperanza may be fostering, through Maria, a new local project that will bring great benefits to the community.

Let’s wish Maria and all of Esperanza’s borrowers great success in their attempt to improve their life condition and access to education in the Dominican Republic. For this reason I entreat all of you who have lent to Esperanza International in the past to continue doing so, and continue to support this worthy project!

You can check similar lending opportunities here! Esperanza