Social entrepreneurs are a fairly new group in the sub-umbrella of entrepreneurship, entailing individuals who apply business practices to solve larger societal problems such as poverty, malnutrition, or pollution.
These entrepreneurs recognize the social problem and thus manage a venture in the attempt to make an overall social change, regardless of the effort it may take. The end performance is measured much differently than typical entrepreneurships, since profit is not a main concern; the focus instead revolves around the societal change that occurs.
Social Entrepreneurship Getting More Attention
As a result, most social entrepreneurs work through non profit or government-affiliated organizations. Recent college graduates are best fitted for this type of work since they have just left a setting in which they were more than likely exposed to many lessons about social problems, and additionally have yet to be fully engulfed into the corporate work of entrepreneurship.
It takes a certain type of person to administer this type of social change, which is why this field of business remains a growing endeavor. In this economy, many business professionals do not want to waste their time on something that does not turn a profit, thus lacking the realization that it is turning a different kind of profit through its work.
However, even through a field as obscure as social entrepreneurship, all 30,000 entrepreneurs around the globe together have generated $40 billion in revenue, while still giving much back to the community. Their overarching goal is not solely to generate a profit, but to generate enough so that they are able to donate their efforts to the community, whatever their endeavor may be.
Case Study on Social Entrepreneurship
One of the most current recognizable figures in this movement is Blake Mycoskie, a participant on CBS’s The Amazing Race, whose campaign “Tom’s Shoes” has been featured on a prominent AT&T commercial which explains his cause. For every pair of his company’s shoes that are sold, Mycoskie donates a pair to children in need around the world, basing his ideas on the poverty stricken areas of Argentina.
This has helped to give the movement itself more publicity, since the ad campaign for AT&T has been playing for months since the original air date. Mycoskie’s campaign alone has earned nearly $5 million since its inception three years ago, and has donated more than 140,000 pairs of shoes to needy children around the world. His company has helped add to the increasing pile of revenue which this field produces through contributing to those less fortunate.
Young Social Entrepreneurs Take Charge
BusinessWeek has recently published an article about the most promising social entrepreneurs, many of whom are in their 20s and 30s; most of these innovators have helped the environment in some way or helped in getting those in poverty access to things we take for granted: books, food, energy, etc.
It is important that this type of endeavor gets recognized on a larger scale so that people can recognize the effort these young entrepreneurs are putting in, and the changes they have made in the world. It is difficult to stray from an MBA-beaten path and form your own individual company with the sole intent on giving back to the community, but so far 30,000 individuals have managed to do so.
Your Thoughts on Social Entrepreneurship
Editor Note: Are you into social entrepreneurship? What are some of your experience that you have with social entrepreneurship that you would like to share with us?
Feel free to share your thoughts by commenting below. Hearing from you is priceless.
This post was contributed by Tiffany Davis, who writes about best online college classes. She welcomes your feedback at TiffanyMDavis82 [at] gmail.com
Photo Credits: (- Rafael Rente -)
