NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Social entrepreneurship has been a much discussed topic recently. Despite the vagueness of the term, it is an appealing construct because of the promise it holds – of being an entrepreneur and helping the society along the way. But what becomes a great difficulty on this way is when one aspect is given more importance than the other; or completely forgotten.

The term ‘Social Entrepreneur’ comprises of two words. Social focuses on the upliftment of society through bringing a radical change; and entrepreneur is to act on an opportunity or idea and bring something new in the society. Entrepreneurs spur on by money and social entrepreneurs are driven by altruism. Together, social entrepreneurship signals the imperative to drive social change, and it is that potential payoff, with its lasting, transformational benefit to society, that sets the field and its practitioners apart.

Where an entrepreneur will anticipate to produce product that will serve the market’s need while making a financial profit, social entrepreneurs neither anticipates nor organizes to create substantial financial profit for his or her investors or even themselves. Instead they focus on a large scale transformational benefit of the society. Unlike entrepreneurs, their focus is not a market that can pay for their product; rather it is the neglected and underprivileged sections of society who find it hard to make their voice heard.