When I left off last time, all the pieces seemed to be coming together for a successful new Business. We had the initial players in place and the market conditions appeared to be ripe:  (1) We have a market that is highly fragmented and disconnected; (2) as unfortunate as it is, the rate of Autism has been increasing exponentially from 1 of 250 to 1 in 91 (1 in 56 for boys); and (3) there is an acute shortage of qualified providers to meet the needs of the market that continues to grow, particularly pressing as there is a limited period of time in which children diagnosed with autism are highly receptive to intervention methods.

So, we have given birth a new business that is driven by a partnership / venture Model with multiple parties contributing critical elements of the Business Model.  On the one hand, this provides the benefit of speed to market as very few of the pieces of the business model need to be created. However, the downside is the issues related to coordination. The biggest issue that Special Learning encountered to date is the timing of the deliverables. Predictably, deadlines keep slipping as unanticipated things happen and as focus ebbs and flows, depending on the needs and demands of the partners’ core business.

Luckily, we have experienced little or no conflict. As this is a “social entrepreneurship” venture, all the parties have been relatively aligned in terms of the mission of the organization. Of course we want to make money by creating a value-add business model, but there is something to be said for the fulfillment of knowing that you have the potential of making a contribution.

So, we continue to move along at a pace that is slower than one would hope for, but hopefully the end (or the intermediate) result will lead to a stronger launch.