THE RISEof social entrepreneurship

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The Rise of Social EntrepreneurshipJune 9, 2016 by R. Kirk Huntsman (Edit)

R Kirk Huntsman on the rise of socialentrepreneurship

One of the appeals of entrepreneurship mightbe to become your own boss. But going intobusiness for yourself doesn’t mean that you’llbe the only person who benefits from yourenterprise.

Helping others is often a key part of being anentrepreneur. In fact, many entrepreneurs areturning to social entrepreneurship or using abusiness platform to give back to others.

According to a report by the GlobalEntrepreneurship Monitor (GEM),exponentially more people are interested in—and pursuing—social entrepreneurship.

Look no further than Toms, the companythat’s at the forefront of the “one for one”business model that helps a person in needwith every product purchased. Toms beganwith a simple goodwill idea that turned intoa global movement and a profitablebusiness. The company fulfills this promisewith various divisions, including TomsShoes (that matches every pair of shoespurchased with a new pair of shoes for achild in need) and Toms Eyewear(purchases in this department help restoresight and supports sustainable community-based eye care programs). Since 2006,Toms Shoes has provided over 60 millionpairs of shoes to children and TomsEyewear has restored sight to more than400,000 individuals.

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WHAT   I TM EAN S

But there are smaller ways toincorporate socialentrepreneurship into abusiness model, says a recentForbes article about the GEMstudy. For many people, socialentrepreneurship is about whatSiri Terjesen calls “peoplestarting any initiative that has asocial, environmental orcommunity objective. Terjesenis one of the GEM study’s co-authors and a professor atAmerican University.

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That said, true socialentrepreneurship in a business-model sense is not for everyone—and should not be foreveryone.

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In a 2012 Harvard Business Reviewpost, “Not Everyone Should Be aSocial Entrepreneur,” Lara Galinskysays:

“Most members of this generationwill not be social entrepreneurs, andthey shouldn’t be. But if we canchannel their altruism and givethem the tools, methodologies, andframeworks from the mostsuccessful social entrepreneurs, theywill be change-makers, champions,and supporters of the work. Theywill make meaningful contributionsto the world not by foundingorganizations but by bringing theirbest selves — their heart and head— to their work.”

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If you’re thinking about creating anew social enterprise—orincorporating a social enterpriseinto your existing business model—do your research. For starters, Naomi Enevoldson’s website is agreat place to begin with helpfularticles that help you answerquestions, like “Is SocialEntrepreneurship For You?” and“What Is a Social Entrepreneur?”

Whenever, and however, you decideto fulfill your desire to do good andgive back, never underestimate thepower of one to help many.

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A PRESENTATIONby

R. Kirk Huntsman