Risky Business is the product of more than seven years of NESsT on-the-ground work with non-profit organisations in social enterprise development in emerging market economies (primarily Latin America and Central Europe). This book examines the social enterprise (i.e., “self-financing”) activities of 45 civil society organisations (CSOs) working in various fields and distinct regions of the world. More than simply examining these activities, the book has analysed how they have affected the institutions that are operating them in three different areas: social, financial, and organisational. Social impacts For the majority of the CSOs, self-financing activities strengthen mission impact, both directly and indirectly. CSOs operating social-purpose businesses have been able to create training and employment opportunities for marginalised groups. Others have developed mission-related activities in order to provide new products and services to their existing constituents. Others still have extended their mission-related products and services to new constituents through self-financing. Charging fees for services has enabled some to continue offering mission programs when donor funding was insufficient or unavailable. Finally, in a less direct but equally significant way, self-financing activities can generate net income that has allowed many CSOs to fund their other mission programs or to cover administrative costs that are essential for organisational survival and development. Yet despite the various mission benefits that CSO self-financing activities have produced, they have also precipitated significant challenges to the organisations’ abilities to fulfil their social objectives.  Most CSOs in the study, whether they identify this as a problem or not, have confronted some challenges to their organisational missions. While the challenges that arise from self-financing do not simply disappear over time, CSOs learn to address them and balance the various demands on their time, expertise, and values in order not only to prevent the mission drift that might arise from their self-financing activities, but more often to advance their missions directly through these very self-financing activities. Financial impacts CSOs engaging in self-financing activities have achieved greater financial independence by diversifying their sources of income, generating new revenues, and, in some cases, building their investments and assets. Overall, approximately two-thirds of the organisations in the study are meeting their income goals, while almost half are generating net profits. These financial successes have had immediate effects on the CSOs’ abilities to carry out their mission programs and maintain operational stability and have had longer-term impacts on financial sustainability and overall organisational autonomy for many CSOs. It is interesting to note that several CSOs report having greater financial independence even when their self-financing activities are not generating net income. This is a complicated issue, particularly in the area of mission-related activities, as there are no standardised accounting systems that enable organisations to assess the full range of costs and benefits of their self-financing activities. Some organisations started charging fees for mission programs after external funding was reduced or withdrawn. In many cases, these fees cover only part of the program costs and foundation or government grants cover the rest. In this sense, the programs are not “profitable,” since a portion of the costs is still being subsidised. On the other hand, organisations that fall into this category are generating income that they were not previously receiving, while also continuing to offer their mission programs. The evaluation for non-mission-related self-financing activities is simpler. These activities can be justified only if the financial profits they generate supersede the time and costs required to operate them. A few of the CSOs studied perceive themselves as having greater financial independence even though they are operating non-mission-related self-financing activities that are not generating a profit. These organisations feel more in control of their situations generally and, specifically, have greater confidence in managing their finances. However, it is necessary to differentiate between these important areas of institutional growth and actual financial independence. Financial independence is brought about by generating new revenues that enable organisations to fund their social missions more autonomously, irrespective of external conditions. According to this definition, approximately two-thirds of the organisations have increased their financial independence through self-financing. Organisational impacts The social and financial impacts discussed in the sections above undoubtedly have far-reaching effects that reverberate at various organisational levels. In addition, most CSOs have experienced equally profound, though often less tangible, changes in their organisational culture, operations, and management. These changes establish new dynamics among staff, new patterns of work, and new processes of management that, subtly and not, shift the ways in which organisations perceive themselves, project themselves, and, ultimately, how they pursue their social missions. The vast majority of organisations also report feeling more in control of their management, both overall and specifically in relation to their finances. On the other hand, self-financing has also brought about some negative changes at the organisational level for many CSOs. Overall, the findings indicate that there is a learning curve for CSOs that adopt self-financing strategies and that often organisations must pass through difficult stages in order to develop the internal processes and mechanisms to balance their various social, financial, and organisational needs over the long term. Sometimes this means taking a step backward in one area in order to move forward in another, but over time most organisations learn to strike a balance and begin to move forward on all fronts. Conclusion In conclusion, the findings presented above on social, financial, and organisational impacts show that, despite some drawbacks and trade-offs, the process of operating self-financing activities has been a positive experience for almost all of the CSOs. However, the findings from Risky Business also clearly point to the need to develop better tools for measuring and managing performance that can allow CSOs to more accurately assess and, in turn, respond to and improve upon the various costs and benefits associated with self-financing. For further information about this book or NESsT’s work, please visit: http://www.nesst.org/