Social entrepreneur

“Social entrepreneurs identify resources where people only see problems. They view the villagers as the solution, not the passive beneficiary. They begin with the assumption of competence and unleash resources in the communities they’re serving.”

David Bornstein, author of How to change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas

According to the encyclopaedia Wikipedia, a social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change.

Muhammad Yunus, Victoria Hale, Jeff Skoll are considered as the new heroes. They are entrepreneurs with a social mission.

Today, there is nearly 50% of the world’s population living on less than $1 a day. In fact, in every corner of the planet, these people are struggling to make a living, for themselves, for their family.

These new heroes try to find new ideas in order to change societies for the better, in a non-profit perspective.

Muhammad Yunus is the founder and manager of the Grameen Bank, who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

The Grameen Bank’s mission is “to empower the world’s poorest people to lift themselves out of poverty with dignity through access to financial services and to information”.

This bank do not work as the other banks, it gives small loans to people in need to launch a new business idea for example, without any guaranty and charges only 20% interest yearly, of which 10% is reinvested in operations.

For Yunus, “poor people are far more likely to pay back their loans than rich people, and poor women are the lowest risk of all”.

The bank’s revenues are donations and the global network of microfinance partners, from private capital.

Since its foundation in 1983, the Grameen Bank has lent more than $5.7 billion to over 6.1 million borrowers.

In my opinion, this new generation of entrepreneur is not a trend, but really an awareness of doing good to others who are in need. A good example is Jeff Skoll, first President of eBay, he created the Skoll Foundation, which uses business ideas to affect social change.

These new heroes have brought electricity, water, medicine, telephone to the poor in many rural areas. I think that such good actions bring a personal satisfaction.

Somehow, to start such a business with a social mission must be difficult. The entrepreneur must be able to attract investors, and even since he must be able to convince them to give funds.

The business is very risky, as there is no guarantee of returns, and though of continuity of the business itself.

Another drawback is that some companies with no scruples like the Banco Compartamos, a Mexican Bank, lends money to people in need in Mexico, and charges them interest rates that can exceed 100% yearly , and thus became the most profitable bank of the country. This bank only benefits investors and makes profit on the poor.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_entrepreneurship
http://www.grameenfoundation.org/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/trust/developmentcommunications/story/2006/06/060524_skoll_world_forum.shtml
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/jun2005/bs20050616_5577_bs001.htm?chan=search
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_72/s0712038774148.htm?chan=search
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_52/b3965024.htm?chan=search