By Maya Pillai

Hans Reitz, who co-founded the Grameen Creative Lab with microfinance guru Muhammad Yunus, defines a social business as a “non-loss, non-dividend company with the purpose of solving a social problem.” The Lab officially launched in India earlier this year and brought the concept to an audience already well-versed in the social enterprise space.

But is this model the best way to solve social problems?

At the launch event, Reitz explained that the company has a social goal but offers products and services at prices that are self-sustaining. The company’s investors get back only what they invested. » Continue reading “Challenging Muhammad Yunus’ “Social Business””

It’s been nearly seven years since the late C.K. Prahalad wrote The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, a book that has become essential reading for anyone interested in that segment of the economy.  In that time, the term bottom of the pyramid (BoP) has also become common vernacular.

However, despite the increase in awareness of the BoP space, a lot of the focus has been on the wrong questions, says Ted London, the Director of the Base of the Pyramid Research Initiative at the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan,

At an event in Mumbai last week for his new book, Next Generation Business Strategies for the Base of the Pyramid, London said there has been much discussion about whether businesses that target the BoP are good or bad for the poor. That, he argues, is no longer important. » Continue reading “Reframing the BoP Business Strategy”

By Inji El Abd, Development Consultant

On February 11th, I was singing in Tahrir Square at the top of my lungs: Horreya, Horreya! — Freedom, Freedom! I was ecstatic: I could not fall asleep until 6am the next morning. I checked Wikipedia articles about the Revolution of 2011 to make sure it was real and the page on Hosni Mubarak, now former president of Egypt. I checked other articles, played songs and emailed friends all over the globe. » Continue reading “The Egyptian Revolution & Social Entrepreneurship”

By Dipika Prasad

Early on in the first day of UnLtd India’s Social Mashup, opening speaker Sachin Malhan of Inclusive Planet set the tone for the day by saying, “Always remember why you do what you do. Keep beauty as the cornerstone of your motivation.” Beyond Profit caught up with three entrepreneurs: Malhan; Solomon Prakash, country director at Ashoka India; and Gijs Spoor, Zameen Organic.

BP: Taking a cue from Sachin’s opening talk in the morning, why do you do what you do?

Solomon: I am at a place and time in the history of India, which has a very unique set of issues and challenges. I want to be part of that history. I don’t live on an island. I open my eyes, I look around and see an issue, and I want to respond. I want to do something beyond complaining. I want to solve the issue, be an actor. That’s where it all begins. All of us have an innate sense of justice. We look at something and say this is not fair. That sense is different from judging right and wrong. I feel unfairness and I want to respond. All of us search for this equilibrium – and we have to do unnatural things to kill it. People want to be relevant—even animals feel that. » Continue reading “Social Entrepreneur Roundtable: Social Mashup Edition”

“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.” -Robert F. Kennedy

Last weekend, I came across a few young people who, like Robert Kennedy, believe that through small acts, they can redefine this generation. In India, a country still riddled by the barnacles of a caste system unwilling to let go, seeing young people working together across class to make change proffered hope for a new India.

While waiting for the monsoon to arrive in an auditorium in Mumbai, I met a series of social entrepreneurs, part of Ashoka’s Youth Venture program, who have taken on the responsibility to change our world, with perseverance and steady energy.

Eighteen year old Shubhangi has started an initiative to inform her community about child sexual abuse. Monika is 15, and raising awareness of substance addiction among young people in her neighborhood. Prabal has started an alternative magazine called SLAP. Prashant is sending drop-outs back to school.

Each of these projects is led by a young person (15-24) and has produced measurable results. 18 conversations about alcohol abuse. 12 drop outs re-enrolled in school. 4 girls returned to school.

As I watched the video about a young woman helping send girls back to school, I caught myself in a wave of cynicism. Four girls, I thought. It’s quite a small number. But then, I tried to imagine the girls. In a classroom. Learning. Playing. Reading aloud. Proving their point. » Continue reading “Blurring Social Divides”