There is a number of factors contributing to businesses long-term success. More than 80% of the International ReSource Award programme finalists are still enthusiastically driving their solutions and have achieved great impact. One important success factor characterises many approaches on all continents, namely context-specific application of the “Payment for Environmental Services” principles. And there is a range of other factors that our finalists are known for.
Entrepreneurial Spirit
Entrepreneurial Spirit is characterized by creativity (the use of imagination or original ideas to create something), innovative thinking (converting a creative idea into a practical application) and the ability to conceptualize (the ability to form an idea or picture in one's mind).
Leadership Skills
Important leadership skills are: Decisiveness (the ability to make decisions quickly and effectively), integrity (the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles), the ability to build relationships and to solve problems, dependability (the quality of being trustworthy and reliable) as well as the ability to teach and mentor (help others to learn or understand something by example or experience and give them advice over a period of time).
Managerial skills
Managerial skills are key to start a business and to sustain it in the long run. Leading a business to success requires planning and review expertise, as well as expertise in Financial Management (planning, organizing, directing and controlling the financial activities), Human Resource Management (managing the employees' life cycle including recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training and firing) as well as Risk Management (identify potential risks in advance, analyze them and take precautionary steps to reduce the risks).
Professional and Technical Know-How
If you are running a water- or sanitation business, your team should be able to plan, coordinate and execute all technical components of a project. Access to know-how (practical knowledge on how to accomplish something) as well as Innovation Management skills (the ability to respond to external or internal opportunities, and use of creativity to introduce new ideas, processes or products) are further important to increase the impact, competitiveness and sustainability of your business.
Stakeholder Management Competences
To ensure long-term success of your business, it is crucial to continuously engage with the relevant stakeholders in your sector. This requires a range of skills, including Communication Skills (the ability to convey or share ideas and feelings effectively), Marketing Expertise (the ability to create, and correctly interpret, information around market research, past trends in sales, and likely competitive reactions), Networking Competences (the ability of exchanging ideas and information with groups as well as individuals that have shared interests, such that long-term relationships are developed for mutual benefit), Local Embeddedness of the business (“embeddedness” refers to the ways in which relational, institutional and cultural contexts shape economic and social life).
Access to Finance
Access to finance includes access to public loans or government subsidized loans for firms. Such loans are intended to support and stimulate economic growth by providing financing to firms where the market is failing to do so.
Access to Markets
The market access generally denotes the ability of someone in terms of the extent to which they can reach out so as to sell their products or services to the consumers. Now the term market access can be used both in terms of the domestic trade as well as foreign trade