Attention to social entrepreneurship

Days are gone when a garbage collector was referred to a mad man; when a shop owner in the village was regarded as crook. During those days people could queue for just a kilo of sugar from a sole village shop in one of ujamaa villages. Today things have changed; a garbage collector is actually an entrepreneur and so does a shop owner.

The rise of entrepreneurship and its inception in our society has brought us some sorts of confusion. Probably some of us have been either misusing or missing the whole picture. The history of entrepreneurship and its evolution shows that the common meaning for entrepreneurship is far to be reached. For instance, if it is all about innovation, risk taking and profit maximization; how about a crook business man who maximize profit by evading tax? Should he also be regarded as an entrepreneur?

Both academicians and practicing entrepreneurs have started to stress out the social aspect of entrepreneurship. Perhaps, they are right. Perhaps, it entrepreneurs have failed our society due to their lack of social consideration. After the demise of serious local and international business scandals such us Enron and World com, maybe it is time now we turn our attention to social entrepreneurship – business enterprises which values the society in which they operate.

In my article about whether entrepreneurship is failing us, I questioned the failure of entrepreneurship to create job. It is time now to change the way our society perceive entrepreneurship. There is no point for instance for a business to underpay its workers so as to maximize profit; or pollute environment in order lower production cost. There is no point either for businesses to evade tax in order to maximize their return.

There is ecological relationship between business enterprises and society. Practically most businesses enterprises exist because of the very society surrounding them. That is why a business cannot operate in the forest where there are no people, unless it has some sorts of channels linking it to people. Experience shows that, it always starts with people then business enterprise.

As world is moving from traditional entrepreneurship to social entrepreneurship, we must change the way in which we perceive entrepreneurship. Days are coming when people will prefer services or products not because of low cost but because their manufacturer or producers are socially responsible. At this point only those businesses which recognize their social impact will have higher chances of survival.

Businesses should now stop pretending to operate in isolation.  They should understand that they exist because of societies in which they operate. The relationship between business enterprise and society should be mutual. While the society benefits by getting services or products and employment, the business can benefit by enjoying its market share and get efficient labor force.

In unstable societies with features such us poor healthy, poverty and lack of education; business enterprises can hardly be sustainable. To whom will they sell if they are surrounded by poor individuals? Who will they employ if they are surrounded by uneducated and unhealthy population? The business enterprises should now start thinking of their social impact in order to ensure their sustainability