To narrate the experiences of this clinic, I couldn't help but relate to the way a story is told. Let us get a quick flash of what it looks like. The ordinary world, call to adventure, refusal to call, meeting the mentor, crossing the threshold (x with key holders), test, allies and enemies, approach, ordeal, reward—-resurrection, and the ultimate return home with the elixir. The stories and the storytelling are powerful, so are the experiences. They are rich and I am gifted with so many lessons, knowledge, and experience to take home from the Social Enterprise Clinic.
When we first set out, each one of us was asked why we took this course. The first response—I read a business book by Russell Brunson and I am thrilled by the knowledge and ideas I got from the books I am so convinced that I’d do well if not great in this clinic program. But now, as I reflect, it was not the sole reason it interested me to take the course.
Throughout the whole of the clinic, we were trying to understand the complexities involved in setting up an enterprise through workshops, collaboration among the students and real-time meetings with the actual clients. It turns out we were at all the time trying to find clarity in the chaos or obscurity even though we are doing this for the first time. Here, my personalized definition of chaos will be a process that is not necessarily comprehensive but dynamic and evolving with the aim to find clarity or provide a solution to go from point “A” to point “B”. At the end of the day, we not only had tons of experiences on our side but also helped the entrepreneurs in finding solutions to some of their business problems. To share my experiences, I have divided this article into two parts—-classroom learning and out-of-classroom learning.
A. Classroom Learning
Monopoly
We started off with learning about “Accounting” in business environments. After a series of “Monopoly” games, we understood the importance and complexities involved in accounting. Accounting is important for small business owners (non-owners as well) as it helps them evaluate the financial performance of the business. Accounting provides vital information regarding cost and earnings, profit and loss, liabilities, and assets for decision-making, planning, and controlling processes within a business. We were given opportunities to invest in companies, trade property with other companies, and sell properties. And every time we prepared the financial accounting, it posed a new challenge as to how we should calculate the sale of properties, mortgage, and so on and work on the Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Cash flow Statement.
Listening Habits
One most important qualities for everyone which I find more imperative for a lawyer is the ability to listen actively. Professor elaborated on four levels of listening. We listen not to understand and empathize but to respond. I feel I am more agreeable with other people too because I always feel there are myriad ways to understand or do things. The world is filled with perspectives, and every perspective can be challenged. That is why I become more receptive to what people say and ask the same from other people. The discussion of worldviews with people with polar perspectives can be challenging. There can be situations where one rejects an idea outright and fails to listen actively to understand the situation. To build relationships, I think more than ever people must shift from just downloading information to paying more attention, being less judgmental and practicing empathetic listening.
Picturing Corporate Practices
This session was one of the most important learning curves for me because, through this exercise, I could fully understand the anatomy of how business functions starting from its internal dimensions like legal structure, governance, and external dimensions like the relationship with key stakeholders. It also gave me a good understanding of how and in what ways I can intervene and help start-ups organise better. For example, I was assigned to meet with the founder of Druksell, Mr. Sonam Chophel. From him, I learned that the business was established way back in 2013, and in order to scale; he needs to move away from bootstrapping to incorporating because in every business there are stages of the business life cycle starting from entry to growth, consolidation to exit. Incorporating the business would be a consolidation to scale the business with other perks like centralized management, limited liability for owners (shareholders), free transferability of shares, perpetual existence, and so on.
I understood the importance of graphics and creative thinking in picturing those business practices. It gave me handy tools to have a closer/macro look at how the business functions internally and how a legal relationship is maintained externally.
The Film and the Storytelling sessions
I loved the documentary “This Little Light” portraying 4 young front-line activists, aged between 11 and 14 years from Indonesia, Senegal, India and Australia who actively advocated against pollution and other environmental issues in their country. It is inspiring that one person can start and mobilise a change and the only thing it takes is the clear understanding of the problem and willingness to take action. From the documentary it became apparent to me that the world has gone so far in creating environmental anomalies at a point of no return (if we ignore these a little further), the future looks grimmer if we don’t take immediate responsibility for our actions.
One thing that fascinated me that day was when Professor explained to us about the “Theory U”. After the session I looked at the concept and within this theory, there is a concept called ‘presencing’; an amalgamation of the words ‘presence’ (past and future) and ‘sensing’ (feeling). In short, ‘presencing’ means that the realization of future potential completely depends on all individuals together. The Theory U is represented as a U shape that moves from the left-hand side of the U to the right-hand side of the U, from sensing to prototyping and finding solutions to the problems.
In addition, we learned how to tell stories. Storytelling is one of the most important tools for businesses. It connects people and builds relationships and helps us understand the world from better perspectives.
B. Experiential Learning and Field Trip
The best and most exciting part of this course was the opportunity to work with actual clients. Even though it was hard for me as we were doing this for the first time, I learned a lot.
Incorporating Kingdom Essences
A year or so back, in the Corporate Law class, we were learning about the Companies Act of Bhutan and drawing up Articles of Incorporation for some start-ups. But now, Jigme and I saw in real how incorporation is done. For that, we checked the Companies Act of Bhutan, went to an online registration portal, and understood the steps and requirements for incorporating a company. Even though we could not incorporate it yet and the online registration was equally frustrating, we understood the steps involved very well.
Brainstorming the Structure of Greener Lyfe Farm
We brainstormed the structure of Greener Lyfe Farm and got the opportunity to visit the farm too. My impression of the farm is—-as reflected in the reflection paper—-was the complexities of his business. I found it intriguing because he is trying to start an Apple Cider Vinegar plant, Greener Lyfe farm, and Greener Basket at the same time. That was a lot of work and a lot of attractions for the consumers, but would it be viable? Or for the beginning, the valid question is whether he should focus on everything at once without proper governance and structure or do one thing at a time and gradually expand. I firmly believe that there are multiple ways to do things but I believe in a proper organization as a hallmark of success and for Ugyen, better organization and a great team may make the work easier. These are notwithstanding the other issues like legal structures, license renewal, and accounting problems we discussed during our last meeting. It would be great to see the farm take good shape and be the first-ever successful community-supported farming in the country.
Working with Bhutan Blossoms
Working with Bhutan Blossoms was yet another challenge and excitement for us. The initial visit was to build a consensus among the farmers about what they wanted to do with the money donated by Bhutan Blossoms. Despite expecting an impasse, the outcome was excellent. It also pacified the power dynamics between the few vocal persons who looked at Bhutan Blossoms from a grimmer perspective. The donation became the most important tactic for both parties and turned out to be a gesture of “reciprocity” because, at the end of the day, the community understood the motives of Bhutan Blossoms and how it can help them.
For the second visit, Jigme and I were involved in drafting a by-law for the road maintenance of Drachukha. This was challenging because we drafted the full bylaws for the first time. We were repeatedly moving from one act to another, from one dictionary to another to come up with a law that portrays the interest of the people. Overall, I felt that there was good team play in coming up with the outcomes. We also worked on writing grant proposals, setting up/establishing a cooperative, and later a more flexible farmer’s group.
C. Recommendations and Conclusions
Now, I feel convinced that we are going to understand everything related to business. This semester provided us with formidable groundwork if we ever venture into this field in the future. We were flexible with the datelines and worked hard to take realistic steps to help the entrepreneurs. We understood the importance of Social Enterprises and the learning and experiences of this semester will be a helpful tool for us to be better organized and better plan for the next semester.
Throughout the semester, Professor Adrian has been with us, providing guidance wherever necessary. He was considerate, helpful, and inspiring. I’d like to thank him for his dedication and efforts and for being the most wonderful mentor for us. For the next semester, it would be great if we could collaborate with fewer entrepreneurs and complete the work within the time frame without halting the work for the next semester. On the ending note, I have no doubt we have found a lil’ clarity and understanding in this seemingly vast and complex setup of businesses—- in the chaos and in the attempt to find solutions to business problems.