The ESO Playbook Pt. IV — (5 Strategic Shifts to Scale Impact)

Photo by Fatemeh Rezvani on Unsplash

Last week we discussed Part 3: Building bridge partnerships, creating shared rituals, and making partners co-owners. This week, we’ll cover the difference between generic advice and data-driven support.

Generic advice is easy to deliver and hard to use. Data-driven support is harder up front — but it’s how you scale impact without burning out your team. Think of it as upgrading from “good intentions” to a repeatable system.

What this shift looks like in practice:

1. Define a small set of outcome metrics that match your mission (not just funder optics), such as:

• revenue movement (even small, consistent gains)
• customer growth or repeat sales
• jobs created / retained
• contracts won / procurement readiness milestones
• capital accessed (and attempts to access capital)

2. Segment your entrepreneurs so your support is targeted:

• stage (idea, early revenue, growth)
• industry (retail/service, food, trades, tech, etc.)
• barriers (language access, credit constraints, rural isolation)

3. Run short “test and learn” cycles: pilot → measure → refine → expand.

As we highlighted in our ISM 2025 Year in Review, real impact is measured by the long-term health of the businesses we serve.

Why it moves the needle (especially for underrepresented founders):

• It stops one-size-fits-all programming that inadvertently favors founders who already know the “rules.”
• It helps you scale what works for different founder realities — without guessing.

Quick check: If you had to improve one number in the next six months, what would it be — and what program behavior would you change to influence it?

BEFORE YOU GO We see our blogs as opportunities for dialogue. Please share your thoughts as comments.

Faris Alami is Founder and CEO of International Strategic Management, Inc. (ISM). He works internationally, presenting Exploring Entrepreneurship Workshops and other entrepreneurial ecosystem — related ventures.

At ISM, we believe facilitation is an art and that economic development is a team sport. If you want help designing peer-to-peer programs, strengthening community integration, or building data-driven pathways that work for underrepresented founders, we’re here.