It is very important to understand who is a social entrepreneur before moving forward with this topic. A social entrepreneur is a person who follows bookish theory to resolve various issues of the social world. These people take a lot of risks and put a lot of effort in bringing a positive change in the social world through their various enterprises.
Social entrepreneurship can be witnessed in various microcredit organizations and educational institutions. Social entrepreneurship is best served in providing the underdeveloped and backward places with banking facilities. The social entrepreneurs aim at helping those people who hail from such places which are underdeveloped and have not got any access to the essential amenities of the developed world.
A social entrepreneur identifies all the social issues of a place and strives at resolving them by applying various theories of entrepreneurship. He does thorough research of a particular social problem and then plans the management strategies by which he can address the issue. He may have to work out for a prolonged period of time to achieve his goals.
A social entrepreneur can also be an inhabitant of such a place which is lagging behind in the race of development. He may raise his voice against the inequality that his community is facing and try to bring a balance in the community. A social entrepreneur does not work to earn any profit but aims at doing something good for his community. But he must be financially steady to achieve his goals.
History
The term ‘social entrepreneurship’ is comparatively a newer term that came into use for the past few years. But the principle of social entrepreneurship existed since ages. Time and again there have been many social entrepreneurs who have taken many initiatives to address the various issues of different communities.
Florence Nightingale, the lady who was the founder of a nursing school and nursed the war survivors can surely be called a leader in this form of entrepreneurship. There are many more bright names in this category. All of them have found some form of organizations to address the various social issues and help people overcome them.
There have been many entrepreneurs who have worked for child rights, women empowerment, the health of people, animals’ protection, and also for various causes that have affected the environment. There have been many who have worked really hard to eliminate various evil practices of society. They have worked towards establishing a better financial condition of any underdeveloped place. All these have been happening since history.
In today’s modern world all these activities are getting recognition and they are termed as social entrepreneurship. All the big companies are practicing this concept as a part of their policy. Every established company today has a separate department dedicated to doing some social wellness for society. They term this as CSR. CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility.
Even today social entrepreneurship is included in management studies. It is treated as a separate branch in management courses. You can take up this course and help towards the betterment of society.
Difference between business entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship
Business entrepreneurship is very much different from social entrepreneurship. A business entrepreneur applies various strategies to start up a new business or to modify the existing one. On the other hand, a social entrepreneur aims at gathering finance to address the various social issues.
A business entrepreneur judges everything in terms of profit or loss, but a social entrepreneur does not measure any performance in terms of profit or gain of any money. He is connected with the various non-profit organizations. But he surely needs to make profits as he needs money to resolve the various social issues.
A social entrepreneur addresses various issues like child rights, women empowerment, various environmental problems, etc. A social entrepreneur is a part of those non-government organizations (NGO) that raise capital through various fund-raising events.
Who can be termed as a Social Entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur is a person who explores new projects with the aim of earning profits from it. They also have to look after the wellness of society in this process. They too are bound to contribute towards the betterment of the society and environment but this is not their foremost focus. Their primary aim is to do business and earn a good amount of profit from it.
But a social entrepreneur has a complete different motto altogether. His primary focus is to contribute towards the wellness of society. He employs various strategies to address and eliminate the various issues of the social world. He is not at all concerned about making any kind of profit from the whole venture. It comes much later in the scene.
A social entrepreneur takes up a challenging social issue and tries to solve it with some innovative strategies born in his head. As they are not at all concerned about making any kind of profit in the first place, therefore they are more focused on doing some good for society. They have a different level of dedication towards their work which cannot be seen in others as they work without making any kind of profit for their own.
These entrepreneurs visualize the solutions to the ongoing problems of any community and plan some innovative way outs. Then they present this innovative idea of theirs in front of people who are facing those issues or who want to help the people facing those issues. They gather a good strength of people who can help them in bringing those remarkable changes in society. The task of convincing people to do something out of the way is not at all easy though.
These people address various issues like health and hygiene of any place, education of children, employment of the extremely needy, and many other problems. They work very hard for improving the various practices of society, paving ways for new innovations and maintaining fairness in society.
Social entrepreneurship has seen a sudden upraise in recent years and more and more people are getting associated with it. Many youths today are showing their interest in this field and they are working wholeheartedly towards the well being of the deprived bunch of people.
What is the advantage of a social enterprise?
A social enterprise works towards the betterment of society and aims at generating funds for carrying out these welfare projects. But for them to attract people’s attention and raise funds they have to make sure that their ideas are unique, creative, sustainable, and will go down well with society and the environment. They will also have to see that their solutions are cost effective and affordable.
All of these are really challenging for a social entrepreneur. The future of these enterprises entirely lies in their positive process of thinking and how nicely they can execute their plans. The organizations who can maintain all of these in their plans and actions are sure to do some serious good for the society. They will surely achieve a milestone in bringing about a positive change in society.
Social enterprises deal with the people who are below the line of privilege. These people are far from access to the developments of society. Therefore if these enterprises can work sincerely then they can leave a huge impact on the lives of these people. They can get a better life and benefit a lot.
These enterprises do not work following the terms and conditions of business enterprises. They have the working conditions that will suit the likes and dislikes of the people working. This employment can be for a short span of time or for a longer span of time. There can be employment targeting a specific group of people or the inhabitants of the place that is facing any sort of problems.
Social enterprises find it much easier to raise funds for their organizations. The government also allocates a good amount of money for these organizations. As these enterprises work to address the various social issues, therefore, they get funds easily and that too at a low interest.
These enterprises also can easily promote their cause. They work for the society so different media houses are always keen on knowing what they are doing and they always have their eyes set on these organizations. This, in turn, helps these organizations to reach far beyond the horizon and eases their fundraising tasks as bigger companies willingly donate towards these noble causes.
They also find it easier to strike a chord in the minds of several like-minded people who willingly want to join these enterprises and render their service towards doing some good to the society. People are ready to work for lower wages in comparison to other business enterprises.
The course of action of social entrepreneurs
These entrepreneurs take several measures to solve the various issues of the society. They construct new wells and other mediums to bring fresh drinking water to the places where getting clean water was far from possible. They construct schools for children so that they get a proper education. They create various scopes of employment in places where people have no means of earning.
They provide the basic needs of living like food, and clothing to the deprived. They provide medical assistance by holding free medical camps in places where health has been seriously neglected. They also look after the various social issues faced by women. They rescue women from various harsh tortures and help them to lead a better life.
In today’s modern world, social entrepreneurs are also aiming at bringing electricity to remote villages. They are also looking into the fact that those people get access to various facilities of the modern world like the internet so that the people are more aware of the wide world and students can get access to more information.
These organizations are also developing mobile apps so that more and more people can be aware of these social issues and they can come forward to help in solving these severe issues.
How technology plays an important role in social entrepreneurship?
In the modern world, everything is under the control of technology. Everybody should have access to the world of technology to lead a better life. Similarly, all the people residing in underdeveloped places should also have access to technology so that they can make some profit and can avoid any major loss in their business.
For example, a farmer needs the prior information of the weather conditions to carry on with sowing seeds. If there is a bad weather condition coming up, then he will hold his action and wait for the weather condition to get better. He also needs to know the sowing schedule to plan his harvests.
A fisherman going for fishing in the sea should be aware of the weather forecast to avoid any major storm that is advancing towards the coastal area. All these can be achieved if these people have seen the light of technology. Therefore the internet is very much important for these people so that they can plan their course of action.
The social entrepreneurs are working really hard to make these facilities reach those who really need it. They are setting up various projects along with different companies to bring a change in rural places.
Therefore the job of a social entrepreneur is not at all easy. He has to be aware of all the issues round the clock. He will also have to master the various techniques so that he can be able to chalk out the most innovative ideas for his enterprise. But at the end of the day, the job is satisfying as he will be able to bring happiness in the lives of many.
Author Bio:
The author Nancie L Beckett is a fantastic tutor who is always available to assist anybody who has a problem in any subject. She has completed her MBA from a reputed college in New York. She has six years of working experience at New York University. You can surely seek her help for any study-related issue.