What is a Social Entrepreneur?

What is a Social Entrepreneur?

Social entrepreneurs are people who have creative solutions to some of the world’s most bothersome social problems. These are people who identify problems that ail the society and then develop solutions for them. They simply disseminate ideas, allowing the whole society to work towards a similar goal. A social entrepreneur has to be ambitious, full of ideas, self-driven and have the will to get results.

Social entrepreneurship, therefore, refers to the process of starting and running a socially responsible business that, besides generating profit for the entrepreneur, solves social and environmental problems. Such a business is said to have a triple bottom line, TBL. TBL refers to people, profits, and planet. Businesses running on this model are able to run a financial, social and environmental oriented and responsible business.

CorpWatch notes that 49 countries are among the top 100 economies, meaning that 51 are individual businesses. Granted, businesses with a triple bottom line can really change the world, even as they make money.

Social Enterprise vs. Nonprofit

It is easy to confuse a social enterprise with a non-profit. Non-profit organizations rely on donations and grants to fund their activities. If, for any reason, the funds do not come through, the non-profit might shut down. Most non-profits do not bring any tangible income to its proprietors, though most people are starting to earn from them.

On the other hand, social enterprises are run the same way a for-profit business is run. They rely on earner income to fund their social; development activities and to expand their business. While a non-profit’s main aim is to help the society, a social enterprise has two or three aims – to earn money, help the society, and benefit the environment.

Resources for Social Entrepreneurs

Social entrepreneurs are gaining favor with a high number of organizations. These organizations offer social entrepreneurs grants and loans or fund their social innovations. They also offer them professional networking, information, business incubation services and much more. Some of the most common social enterprise organizations include:

• Ashoka helps social entrepreneurs come up with projects aimed at transforming the society. The organization offers microfinance loans and also facilitate networking of social entrepreneurs.
• ClearlySo operates as an online marketplace where social entrepreneurs meet. Through the website, social entrepreneurs meet and connect with investors, community members, governmental and non-governmental organizations.
• Echoing Green offers support to starting social entrepreneurs as long as they are able to launch high-impact solutions. The organization offers between 12 and 15 fellowships each year, providing businesses with up to 90K over a period of 2 years.
• Finca supports social entrepreneurship by offering them small loans and other financial services through a simple village banking model. In this banking model, neighbors in a community come together and form a ‘bank village’. The individuals within a group borrow loans with the group being the guarantors of these loans.
• i-Genius operates as a social network where social entrepreneurs meet and share ideas with each other. This enhances communication between social entrepreneurs.
• INSE, which is an acronym for International Network of Social Entrepreneurs, is a communication platform running on Web 2.0. It offers a simple way for social entrepreneurs to link up and promote their different social ventures.
• Grameen Bank offers microfinance loans at low interests to social entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. Usually, the loans are collateral free. This bank was founded by Prof. Mohammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize winner for his generous efforts to reduce poverty in the world. The bank uses a village banking model.
• Kiva is another micro-lending platform that acts as a bridge between social entrepreneurs and investors. It operates as a peer-to-peer lending platform in a bid to end the poverty cycle. Kiva has partnered with microfinance institutions to allow hard-working individuals to access interest-free loans to change the society and change their lives.
• Root Cause operates as a nonprofit organization offering financial help to social entrepreneurs. They also educate social investors. The organization also conducts research to help social investors make the right choices and achieve their social impact goals.
• Skoll Foundation is a platform where social entrepreneurs and innovators meet and combine their efforts to achieve their social impact goals. The organization also gives awards to social entrepreneurs each year, recognizing them for the good work they have done.
• Social Entrepreneur Corps deals with university students and recent graduates, and young professionals a chance to participate in volunteer work, internships and insight travel program in developing countries.
• Stanford Social Innovation and Entrepreneurs Program gives students a chance to become social entrepreneurs. It brings together undergraduates and graduates in Stanford University helping them develop innovative and tech-based solutions with social impact.

A Social Entrepreneur’s Profile

Social entrepreneurs have made a huge impact in societies around the world. These entrepreneurs can act as individuals or as groups. Renata Arantes Villella is one of the successful social entrepreneurs in her business, Flor Amarela. The business works with Ashoka to test for developmental disorders on newborns in Brazil to ensure they get early treatment.

Another great social entrepreneurship is in Guatemala, where Centro Explorativo fixes the computers of locals and teaches them basic English allowing them to contribute towards the community. Another organization, Christmas Future, has partnered with HiMaT Grassroots Development Foundation has been able to raise funds to empower women. The organization offers microfinance loans to women and further teaches them how to do organic farming.

Becoming a Social Entrepreneur

You can be a social entrepreneur if you have the passion for helping change the society. You need to be resourceful enough to come up with ideas on how to beat inequalities, enhance sustainability and justice. You will need to work with social entrepreneurship organizations to grab opportunities that others have not been able to grasp.

You can start immediately if your mind is already overflowing with ideas on sustainable and actionable solutions for common problems ailing the society. There are challenges in the society every day in developing as well as developed countries. Poverty, diseases, drugs, educational deficits, and much more challenges need a social entrepreneur.