There is, however, a culture of entrepreneurs who not only seek to become self-sufficient in the business ventures, but they also seek to be agents of societal change.
The Schwab Foundation awards 30 international entrepreneurs with a Social Capitalist Award for not only succeeding in their profession, but also providing a sense of positive societal change.
The 2006 American Social Entrepreneur of the year winner was Kyle Zimmer and a company called First Book. This company has a desire to see low income children have every opportunity to read and own books of their own.
Statistics indicate?
61% of low-income families have no age-appropriate books in the home
80 percent of preschool and after-school programs that serve this group have no books at all for these children
There are 181,500 such programs in US cities with populations exceeding 50,000 alone
The children's book market is a $27 billion industry with over 460 million books sold annually
In 2002, just 34.5 % of US households purchased at least one children's book
The entrepreneurs at First Book have worked to provide new children's books for less than $2.00 per copy to programs dealing with low-income children.
Because First Book is able to sell in mass quantities to grateful literacy programs they have a significant budget that allows them to provide books to severely disadvantaged children at no cost.
Reports indicate First Book has given away more than 43 million books since it's inception in 1992.
First Book has shown it is possible to develop a business that allows you to do what you love and be paid to do so. They have also shown that they can take the passion of an entrepreneur and combine it with a desire to affect future generations in a positive way.
Finding the right business is discovering an underserved market and developing a solution to needs that haven't been addressed elsewhere.
There are thousands of global social entrepreneurs who are giving back to their local, national and global communities.
In an era of governmental cutbacks and reduced budgets many of these social entrepreneurs are finding great satisfaction in contributing in a meaningful way to the things they are most interested in. The prospects are limitless and often provide a greater sense of satisfaction to those who include ?others? as part of their business plan.
School For Social Entrepreneurs
While a business entrepreneur might create entirely new industries, a social entrepreneur comes up with new solutions to social problems and then implements them on a large scale. Social entrepreneurs act as the change agents for society, seizing opportunities others miss and improving systems, inventing new approaches, and creating solutions to change society for the better.
Social Entrepreneurship
The essence of entrepreneurship is the burning desire to create an organization that focuses in helping humanity by solving societal problems, providing needs, and in the process, the entrepreneur can make money. Social entrepreneurship is about applying practical, innovative and sustainable approaches to benefit society in general, with an emphasis on those who are marginalized and poor.
Characteristics of Social Entrepreneurs
1.Social entrepreneurs don't do well in bureaucracies. They cannot sit back and wait for change to happen - they are the drivers of change.
2.A social entrepreneur is a pragmatic visionary who achieves large scale, systemic and sustainable social change through a new invention, a different approach, a more rigorous application of known technologies or strategies, or a combination of these.
3.A social entrepreneur has a practical but innovative stance to a social problem, often using market principles and forces, coupled with dogged determination, that allows them to break away from constraints imposed by ideology or field of discipline, and pushes them to take risks that others wouldn't dare.
4.Social entrepreneurs are innovative, resourceful, and results oriented. They draw upon the best thinking in both the business and nonprofit worlds to develop strategies that maximize their social impact. These entrepreneurial leaders operate in all kinds of organizations: large and small; new and old; religious and secular; nonprofit, for-profit, and hybrid.
5.What business entrepreneurs are to the economy, social entrepreneurs are to social change. They are the driven, creative individuals who question the status quo, exploit new opportunities, refuse to give up, and remake the world for the better.
Key To Success
For every entrepreneur or hopefuls, the key to success is to first think of the social benefits of your venture, even if yours in for profit, then go ahead to satisfy those needs, and the money will sure come. If the goal is money, one may sure make the money, but may lack in fulfillment. Entrepreneurs must have eyes that are more than profits to be fulfilled and retire happily.
Social Objective
Earned income ventures are socially entrepreneurial only when they have a social purpose beyond simply making money. If social entrepreneurship is to be distinctive in any way, it must be because social objectives matter in how the venture is organized and managed. If the only way a venture serves your mission is by generating funds, it may be business entrepreneurship, but it is not social entrepreneurship.
Benefits
Running a socially responsible business can be good for the bottom line.Businesses cannot exist in isolation with the community, hence every business, whether non-profits or for profits must be socially conscious of its environment.
In the developed worlds, citizens start or increase their business with a company that is dedicated to the social good. According to a survey by Golin/Harris International, researchers found that about 70% of Americans would start or increase their business with a company that is dedicated to the social good. There's some value one can place on good will and the relationship with the community.
Improving Society
Any form of social entrepreneurship that is worth promoting broadly must be about establishing new and better ways to improve a society. Social entrepreneurs implement innovative programs, organizational structures, or resource strategies that increase their chances of achieving deep, broad, lasting, and cost-effective social impact.
New Social Enterprises
A new breed of social enterprises which crosses all boundaries and cultural divide has now emerged. Young and innovative Internet companies such as Early Planet, Trade Planets, Paul Hata and World Christian Pages which has banded together to provide online jobs for anyone on the planet with a broadband access.Job opportunities available includes affiliate marketers,article writers,editors, designers and programmers.
Both Scott Lindsay & are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Scott Lindsay has sinced written about articles on various topics from Payday Loans, Computers and The Internet and Mens Health. Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites at: http://www.highpowersites.com. Start your own ebook business with Boo. Scott Lindsay's top article generates over 1830000 views. to your Favourites.
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