Booz Allen's Top 5 Tips for Impact-Driven Entrepreneurs

Throughout the past year, Booz Allen partnered with social impact incubator, SEED SPOT, to host programs focused on mentorship for impact-driven entrepreneurs in the DC area. To date, Booz Allen employees donated a total of 1,141 hours to mentor more than 40 Washington, DC-based entrepreneurs. In our second year of partnership with SEED SPOT, we will be mentoring 60 DC-area entrepreneurs to launch, grow, and scale their businesses.

What does it mean to be a SEED SPOT mentor? During the past year, mentors applied their business and strategy expertise to help entrepreneurs refine their business plans. Mentors meet with entrepreneurs one-on-one and support SEED SPOT entrepreneurs with expert counsel on topics such as long-term strategy development, financial modeling, customer acquisition strategies, leadership development, and marketing approaches. 

With a new wave of 2-day Launch Camps kicking off in the fall (September 12-13, October 26-27, and December 6-7), we asked our SEED SPOT mentors: What is the most important piece of advice you give to new impact-driven entrepreneurs?

Whether you are an entrepreneur yourself, or passionate about supporting new business ventures, their advice was inspiring:

Success doesn’t come from avoiding risks. We encourage entrepreneurs to be bold in their thinking—consider small, smart risks that will lead to potential big rewards. By presenting a vision for strategic risks, bold thinking, and long-term results, entrepreneurs will have an edge when winning over potential investors and partners.

Get people excited about your game-changing idea by focusing on the social impact. Develop your 30-second elevator pitch, as well as your longer business pitch, by putting the “so what?” right at the front. Know your audience and focus on the impact that would most excite a potential investor, customer, or beneficiary. Within the first few seconds, it should be clear what problem you are addressing, the impact of the solution, and what would happen if your solution didn’t exist. Find opportunities to practice your pitch with friends and colleagues and refine as you go. Frame your value proposition in a way that your grandmother would understand—and be moved to support.  

Just like any business or government agency, we often see entrepreneurs struggle to think about the big vision and how that plays out. What happens 18 months from now? In three years? In ten years? As we partner with them on their business plans, we encourage thinking about investment in the long-term sustainability of their business.

People are willing to support your idea, but they don’t know how to help unless there is a clear ask. Be specific in what you need and why, then reach for the stars. Consider whether you need mentors, developer support or funding. Don’t be afraid to ask for some smaller tactical requests tailored to your audience as well as your larger goals.  Dream big, but be concise and deliberate.

At Booz Allen, we “never go it alone” and we give the same advice to SEED SPOT participants, encouraging them to look for traditional and non-traditional partners for their business. We offer support to get involved with relevant non-profits, local organizations, and big businesses. By building a local, professional community, you can meet other individuals and groups with diverse backgrounds and different perspectives. We know in the long run that these broad relationships help make businesses sustainable.

Entrepreneurship is key to our Innovation Agenda at Booz Allen. As SEED SPOT entrepreneurs hone their pitches, we host entrepreneur pitch nights at Booz Allen’s DC Innovation Center (now The Helix, Booz Allen's Center for Innovation) where mentors and community members provide feedback on the entrepreneurs’ business models, customer acquisition strategies, and quality of delivery to help startup launch and scale.