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Compelling Storytelling

Why authentic voices and narratives of social impact matter

The “founding myth” of how and why an Inclusive Business was founded is a compelling tale that can illustrate its purpose and emphasize its social impact.

A persuasive and powerful story can form the basis of an investment pitch.

Storytelling can also help entrepreneurs find like-minded partners to expand their reach and visibility.

Capturing a range of voices forms a critical element of monitoring social impact, which can lead to new approaches or changes in decision-making.

Content creation can help attract a new generation to fields like farming and in turn help them connect with their audience.

Aspirational stories can bring new opportunities to marginalized groups

African woman talking

Storytelling helps humans make sense of the world.

Growing your business from a founding myth

Storytelling can help entrepreneurs find a wider audience, scale their business and develop their brand. “Don’t forget that your organization has its own story – its founding myth. An effective way to communicate transcendent purpose is by sharing that tale,” Paul J Zak reminds us in the Harvard Business Review. The “founding myth” of how and why an Inclusive Business was founded is a compelling tale that can illustrate its purpose and emphasize its social impact. For example, Farmer on Fire founder Wangari Kuria became passionate about introducing youth to farming in Kenya after losing her job in law; she now shows young farmers how to develop their brand through digital media.

Amru Rice, a Cambodian rice company, tells the stories of the smallholder farmers they work with in order to illustrate their purpose. “We learned that the story behind the brand and the company is important. It clarifies the pathways that led to where we are. Oftentimes, the person behind the business provides the initial human interest before the product.” Amru’s CEO has also used impact stories to inform buyers and business networks how their business model works and how it benefits farmers.

group photo

Amru Rice tells stories of the people they work with.

Impact stories attract investors and partners

A persuasive and powerful story can form the basis of an investment pitch. Honing these stories is critical in order to quickly grasp the attention of investors, particularly in the impact investment field, when an entrepreneur may only have a few minutes to catch the attention of an investor. 

“Effective and impactful storytelling helps the rest of the world understand and engage with your mission. It not only opens new investment opportunities, but it also attracts new partnerships and alliances as well as recruiting new employees,” Maria Correa of B-Lab Europe tells us in this issue of CLUED-iN.

Storytelling can also help entrepreneurs find like-minded partners to expand their reach and visibility. Findjobs was developed as a multilingual job search app in Singapore targeted towards low income workers. Storytelling has helped Findjobs identify new institutions to partner with, thereby expanding their reach and providing more opportunities to marginalized groups. “We have managed to secure more partnerships with institutions focused on inclusive employment. Concurrently, we also run a co-working space for persons in recovery (PIR) where we developed a sustainable job placement programme with partners such as Institute of Mental Health (IMH). We also work with grassroots and voluntary groups to build mobile applications for their beneficiaries such as persons with incarceration experience (PIE) and low-income caregivers,” says co-founder Stanley Lim.

African writer

Entrepreneurs need to tell their stories.

Capturing voices to monitor social impact

Capturing a range of stories and voices is also a critical element of monitoring the social impact of a business, which can lead to new approaches or changes in decision-making. For example, while working with farmer associations in Africa, Voices That Count developed “narrative impact monitoring,” which allows farmers to raise their own concerns rather than answering predefined questions. “The collection process itself is equally as important as the results and insights generated,” founders Nele Claeys and Steff Deprez write in their blog, explaining how starting with farmers’ stories allows patterns to be found without leading the narrative in a particular direction. 

diversity masks

Storytelling can make voices heard.

Content creation for marketing and visibility

How do you attract the attention of the youth, or help marginalized groups find their way to new careers? In these instances, leveraging new types of media and different approaches is particularly valuable. In Kenya, Wangari Kuria began introducing young people to farming techniques while also teaching them digital marketing concepts, relying on YouTube to tell eye-catching stories that change the perception of farming.  “We encourage farmers to leverage digital media to share their progress and to showcase their brand. This in turn helps them to be identified with it, leading to a ready market.” Content creation can help attract a new generation of farmers and in turn help them connect with their audience. In the long run, this addresses larger issues: “Our goal is to have a movement of young farmers, changing communities, policy and increasing food security in the country and beyond.”

African woman holding vegetables

Wangari Kuria seeks to inspire young farmers.

Aspirational stories bring new opportunities to marginalized groups

The right story can also help inclusive businesses attract new customers and connect them to new professional opportunities. For example, Empower Pragati uses stories to inspire women to join training classes to start second careers as beauty salon owners. Many women in rural India have been discouraged from working and may have been unable to work when their children were small. Hearing the stories of women they can identify with can prove inspirational. “Women who are learning about these stories come from similar economic and social backgrounds, and have similar aspirations to the one whose journey we have captured, and so these stories act as a much needed nudge in their lives,” writes Mrinal Kant of Empower Pragati in his blog. Additionally, for businesses without a large advertising budget, stories and videos can help reach a wider audience while being cost effective.  

Stories can inspire, teach and change perceptions. By sharing the voices of marginalized groups, Inclusive Businesses can expand their visibility and social impact while providing new opportunities and finding like-minded investors and partners. A common vision and compelling story can form the guiding narrative of an Inclusive Business.

African boy writing

Incluisve Businesses can increase the visibility of their stories.

Resources

Photo credits

Alexandra Harris

Alexandra Harris is a writer, editor and communications specialist with a focus on sustainable private sector development. She previously worked for the International Finance Corporation and the Asia Foundation.

Blog post

#FarmVoices: Capturing farmers’ voices for improved monitoring and better decision-making

In their article, Nele Claeys and Steff Deprez explain how narrative impact monitoring captures a range of farmers’ voices to help farmer associations and other stakeholders make better informed decisions.
Nele Claeys and Steff Deprez
Table of contents

graphic summary

GRAPHIC SUMMARY

Learn more about storytelling in Inclusive Business by reading this twenty-fourth edition of the online magazine on Inclusive Business! The illustration was developed by Christopher Malapitan, a visual practitioner and trainer based in Brussels.…

Christopher Malapitan

editorial

Your Story Matters

In her editorial, Susann Tischendorf urges individuals and organizations to tell their authentic stories, because readers respond to authenticity rather than perfection. She provides tips on how to weave creativity and innovation into storytelling.

Susann Tischendorf

feature story

Compelling Storytelling: Why authentic voices and narratives of social impact matter

As human beings, stories help us make sense of the world. Stories are also important in conveying the meaning behind a business. “We know that people are substantially more motivated by their organization’s transcendent purpose (how it improves lives) than by its transactional purpose (how it sells goods and services). Transcendent purpose is effectively communicated through stories,” writes Paul J Zak in the Harvard Business Review. In this issue of CLUED-iN we examine how storytelling can help entrepreneurs grow their businesses, attract investment and partners, monitor their progress and increase visibility of their brand.

Alexandra Harris

#FarmVoices: Capturing farmers’ voices for improved monitoring and better decision-making

In their article, Nele Claeys and Steff Deprez explain how narrative impact monitoring captures a range of farmers’ voices to help farmer associations and other stakeholders make better informed decisions.

Farmer on Fire: Using digital storytelling to help a new generation embrace farming

Wangari Kuria describes how her business utilizes digital media and storytelling to help young Kenyans learn how to farm, create a brand and market their products.

How storytelling strives to make skilling aspirational in India

In his blog, Mrinal Kant elucidates the power of storytelling to help women choose skilling opportunities and aspire to entrepreneurial careers that were traditionally out of reach.

Amru Rice: Telling a story of inclusion of Cambodian rice farmers

CEO Saran Song tells us why the story behind the company is important and how the inclusion of smallholder farmers in Cambodia is a key part of Amru’s narrative.

Impactful storytelling is rooted in meaningful action taken by companies

Maria Correa explains why inclusive storytelling should be incorporated into a company’s messaging, and why the most effective communications are rooted in specific impact and personal stories.

How to get your story across to investors

Telling their impact story is a powerful tool companies can use to make their case to investors. Tiffany Moore, Engagement Manager at Impact Capital Africa, shares some practical advice and resources on how to make a successful pitch.

Findjobs Singapore: Storytelling expands visibility and partnerships for social impact

In his interview, Stanley Lim relates how the impact story of his inclusive business has expanded the visibility of Findjobs and has helped identify like-minded partners.

Notes from the field: Filming an inclusive business story in Zambia

In September 2022, iBAN travelled to Zambia to shoot a documentary clip on Inclusive Business. Katharina Münster shares first-hand experiences from the field.