Author’s note:  This post will be longer than usual, as it details a deeply personal journey and the real-world experience of creating a social enterprise startup – warts and all!

As many of you know, RoundPeg is a co-founder of a social enterprise startup, Unit of Impact.

Unit of Impact is a SaaS platform that provides tools designed specifically for small businesses to measure, improve, and report their environmental and social impact.

Last year, my partners in Unit of Impact, Oliver Russell and Unity Web Agency, both stepped away from this business, so RoundPeg is now 100% owner of this startup.  It’s prompted me to reflect on this startup journey and share it with you, as well as to announce new changes to the Unit of Impact platform.

The Pandemic’s Early Days

In the early days of the pandemic, I spent a lot of time daydreaming about all kinds of other business ventures I could start. Client work had dried up. The government stepped in and provided assistance and loans to small businesses, like mine, to keep the machinery of the economy moving. I was able to get off the hamster wheel, take a step back, and dream big. 

So, I reached out to friends and mentors, one of whom was Russ Stoddard of Oliver Russell, a fellow Certified B Corp. Russ is a great listener, and starts every conversation with the same question: How can I be of help to you? At the time, Russ still had some highly skilled staff on payroll with time on their hands. It took us only a few conversations to jump at the opportunity to collaborate. But on what?

Oliver Russell and RoundPeg are both Benefit Corps, and we are required by our respective states (Idaho and Maryland) to produce annual impact reports. The pandemic hit us in the spring, just when our annual impact reports were due. As we commiserated on how labor-intensive it is to create a good report for a small business, an idea was born. If our agencies were struggling with producing the reports, (and we as social impact marketing agencies, do it for a living), then how does a small retailer or service company manage to do it? 

A Gap in the Marketplace

We went straight to the source and asked small businesses. The results of the survey were clear; we were not alone. This problem was universal. We embarked on a discovery journey with hundreds of calls and conversations which made it clear that: 

1. Many small businesses were doing a lot of good, and wanted to have an impact report, but didn’t have the expertise or resources to do one. 
2. Others were using in-house staff who were multi-tasking to create their impact reports, and consequently, these reports were far from excellent and didn’t achieve the desired results.

Russ and I decided there was an opportunity here to create a business to address this gap in the marketplace.  It was also clear to us that we were missing one leg of the stool for our potential startup – technical expertise. So, I called Alisa Herr (formerly Unity Web Agency) because I was so impressed with her moxie and can-do attitude. Alisa and I met at the first WeTheChange retreat for B Corp women CEOs. There was a lot of talking, planning, and dreaming that day. There was discussion of organizing as a nonprofit, and of course, needing a website. Well, that night, Alisa went to her room, ordered a pizza, and built a website. The next morning, the event organizers were shocked to find that the organization had a beautiful working website. Alisa didn’t ask permission, nor did she wait to be asked, she simply did it. I knew I wanted someone with that kind of attitude on our team. 

A Star(tup) is Born

So, Unit of Impact was born.  With our team in place, we were off to the races. I will spare you all the details, the missteps, the mistakes, the lessons learned. That’s a separate post. I’m actually kind of shocked at how much went right, especially given our lack of funds, the pandemic era, and our lack of experience at building a tech start-up. 

Building the platform, learning about the world of start-ups and fundraising, and working closely with my two partners meant that those two years were some of the most fruitful, creative, productive, and exciting in my career. There wasn’t a week where I didn’t do something new, so I pinned this quote from Pippi Longstocking on my wall as encouragement. 

“I have never tried that before, so I think I should definitely be able to do that.”
– Astrid Lindgren, Pippi Longstocking
Unit of Impact platform launched, and then came all the work involved in building and scaling a start-up. At the same time, the pandemic ended, the world returned to normal life, and we three got very busy with our primary companies. So that year, the 3 of us worked two jobs. Burnout followed.

Looking back, I’m incredibly proud that we were able to achieve core aspects of our mission: 

1. 98% of companies on the platform created their impact report for the very first time. A few of them really caught the bug and decided to expand their impact report the following year to a much bigger publication. 
2. 25% of companies are in their second or third year of publishing their impact report on the platform. With support and education, they are on the roll. 
3. 32% are solopreneurs who might be small but mighty, challenging the notion that only large companies can make a big difference in the world of impact.
4. 59% of companies on the platform are women-owned, proving once again that women start small businesses at a greater rate, are more naturally included toward impact, and with the right resources are unstoppable.

I Become a Solopreneur Once More

After Unity Web Agency and Oliver Russell stepped away last July, I found myself adjusting to the reality of doing the same work without my trusted partners. It hasn’t been easy nor fun. I missed our weekly meetings and brainstorming. Left to just my own devices, the fog of indecision rolled in. Luckily, the systems we built were set up to be resilient and the platform runs well with minimal management.

Impact Reporting for All

At this crossroads, I’ve returned to our original goals, guided by our values, and I want to continue bootstrapping this MVP platform to become even more accessible for all and remain a social enterprise.  With the right team and investment, this platform can become a truly powerful tool for the $16.2 trillion small business community.

As RoundPeg continues to manage and invest in Unit of Impact, I’m making changes that align with these goals. This starts by significantly lowering pricing to make it even more accessible for all social enterprises, no matter their size.

1. We’re offering a NEW entry-level ESSENTIAL tier, with access to one starter template, that will cost just $19 per month, or only $190 per year.
2. The PLUS tier will have access to all 3 impact report templates, at a reduced cost of just $49 per month, or only $590 per year. 
3. We’ve added up to four hours of consulting to our PREMIUM tier while reducing its price by 50% to just $149 per month, or only $1,790 per year.

• ALL customers have access to the measurement portal and dashboard. 
• ALL customers have access to our support library with many useful help docs.
• ALL customers have access to partner discounts and special offers. 

You can review these new tiers, along with all their benefits, here.

And PLEASE tell other businesses and organizations that will benefit from our impact reporting platform at these more accessible prices.

One of my absolute favorite parts of my job is working with a company on its annual reports, be it their first report or the latest in a long line of reports. Helping you think strategically about your report and how to best communicate your impact is when I feel like I’m actually making a difference. This will not change. I invite you to get in touch, and let’s talk about your company’s impact report this year. Now, more than ever, the world needs to hear the story of your positive change.