Social entrepreneurship is where a business aims to achieve a certain social goal other than that of making a profit. Social entrepreneurs are usually concerned about making a positive impact on the society other than their objective of making a profit. For instance in the video entitled “Tom’s shoes”, Blake Mycoskie focuses on improving the lives of the children in Argentina. He observed that most of the children in Argentina were walking bare footed and made it his priority to change this situation.He was keen on making a profit on his sale of Tom’s shoes but also wanted to make a contribution in the lives of the children in Argentina (Bornstein & Davis, 2010).
Tom then decided that for every three pairs of shoes sold he would give a pair away. The shoes were called Tom’s shoes because Tom was meant to symbolize a better tomorrow. He indeed brought a better tomorrow for everyone. Many celebrities were buying his shoes because they were comfortable and stylish. When people saw celebrities putting on the shoes, they too came to purchase the shoes and this led to an increase in sales considerably. Within a period of 9 months, Mycoskie had made 400,000 dollars in sales. He was able to give out even more shoes to the kids in Argentina.
The benefits of converting an entrepreneurial opportunity into a social venture
Offers more freedom for one to respond to community needs. Social entrepreneurship enables one to be able to change a given situation in the community. Social entrepreneurship enabled Blake Mycoskie to change the lives of children in Argentina by making his business a social venture.
Broadens the support offered to the organization. The community at large will be happy with a social entrepreneur and they will tend to offer him support in any way they can. In the case of Tom’s shoes people showed their support by buying the shoes.
Allows for proper management of financial resources. Finances need to be managed in order for them to be enough in ensuring that the business is sustained and even grows as well as ensuring that the needs of the community are addressed.Mycoskie had to ensure that his business grew besides the support he was offering the needy children (Gunn & Durkin, 2010).
Improves research , planning and even marketing services. Research and even marketing tend to be improved because of the interaction with the society. Interacting with members of the community can enable an entrepreneur meet the needs of the people. He/she can easily carry the required research by talking to people.Mycoskie was able to make Tom’s shoes with a rubber sole because he had interacted with people and he understood thatthey needed cool and comfortable shoes.
The problems that are associated with creating or converting your entrepreneurial opportunity into a social venture.
The likelihood of making a loss: Social entrepreneurship can pose a threat to a business’ profitability status. If funds are not managed properly it could lead to the business closing down due to persistent losses.
Low chances of a rapid growth: A social entrepreneurship usually has a low likelihood for rapid growth which is the goal of most entrepreneurial businesses. The profits which would have usually been channeled towards growth are channeled for the betterment of the community and this leads to the suffering of a business.
Limited resources: It can lead to a limitation of resources. Some of the resources are usually channeled towards the betterment of the society. This can lead to a limitation in the resources that could have otherwise been used to hire new staff. This is especially so when the company is not doing too well.
References
Bornstein, D. & Davis, S. (2010). Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone needs to know, New York: Oxford University Press.
Gunn, R. & Durkin, C. (2010). Social Entrepreneurship, Bristol: The Policy Press.
Hanson, E. (2008).Intellectual property rights, innovation ans software technologies: The economics of monopoly rights and knowledge disclosure, London: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Jelinek, S. (2010). The Impact of Management Practices and organizational structure on performance: A Cross country empirical Analysis, Santa Cruz, CA: GRIN Verlag.
Kapoor, J. (2011). Business, London: Cengage Learning.
Kuratiko, D. (2008). Entrepreneurship: Theory,process and practice, New York: South Western College.
Moore, C. (2008). Managing small Business, London: Cengage Learning.
Spadaccini, M. (2007).Business structures: Forming a corporation, LLC, Partnership or sole proprietorship, Irvine: Entrepreneur press.
