What is a Social Entrepreneur and the Importance of Social Entrepreneurship In This Era


What is a social entrepreneur? A harbinger of social change? A propounder of successful business innovations? A versatile contributor to a country’s national income and employment? A visionary? A social entrepreneur is all that, and much more.
The concept of social entrepreneurship is not, on the whole, a new one. But the very term might come across as unfamiliar to many. One can simply think of it as an amalgamation of the way too familiar terms of ‘entrepreneurship’ and ‘social work’. Wikipedia defines social entrepreneurship as “the use of the techniques by start up companies and other entrepreneurs to develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues.”
The following points further elaborate to make us understand what is a social entrepreneur. A social entrepreneur is someone who:
• Proposes and drives the impetus for systematic social change. The intended changes can be small scale or large scale, and can be focused on a particular sector. The change can be directed towards a certain group of people in society.
• Achieves these intended changes through innovative business strategies, or a different approach to the existing ones. So in tandem with benefitting the society, a social entrepreneur can add a new dimension to entrepreneurship along the way.
• Works sometimes with a non-profit motive, sometimes with a profit motive, or sometimes with a combination of both.
Social entrepreneurship can accommodate a vast array of startups and businesses. Be it non-profit organisations like HelpAge India and Smile Foundation, or the countless private schools and hospitals providing valuable education and healthcare services to our country, social entrepreneurs can venture into a wide range of sectors.


What matters is the motive, the yearning to do good for the society. A social entrepreneur must possess the patience and resilience typical to entrepreneurs. Yet, s/he must also have an impulse, an eagerness to act and persevere to bring out desirable changes in the societal arena. Sometimes, it is in the form of initiatives taken by successful businessmen for social service, often called charity organisations. These are usually bereft of any profit motive and work solely for a special cause that can bring about welfare in the society.
Furthermore, some social entrepreneurs are driven by profit motive while at the same time intend to work for a cause that prompts social change. In some cases, social entrepreneurs can combine both these profit and non-profit elements. They can pursue the alleviation of social issues like poverty, illiteracy or unemployment with entrepreneurial ardour.
What is the importance of social entrepreneurship in this era?
Social entrepreneurship is a field with enormous possibilities. Especially for a country like India which is teeming with a massive population of educated youngsters, it can open up major avenues. We have fresh batches of graduates every year, full of ideas and potential. What’s more, we also have a compelling need for change and revolution in every nook and cranny of the country. Social entrepreneurship, among several others, can be the means to achieve an end which is a developed society with better facilities, better environment and most importantly, better citizens.
Government endeavours to effect social change in our country can often prove to be largely unproductive. It often happens due to lack of proper implementation, corruption, lack of cooperation of citizens or simply lack of awareness. Initiatives by social entrepreneurs can therefore add-on to the government’s attempts, and in that process create employment opportunities as well as inspire more people to take similar steps.
India’s tryst with social entrepreneurship actually goes back several decades. Around the time of Independence, numerous individuals created successful enterprises by virtue of their sheer hardwork, vision and desire to bring about revolution in society. One of the most popular examples we can give is of Dr. Verghese Kurien, the father of India’s White Revolution. He founded the dairy co-operation Amul which is today a household name, and founded several other cooperative institutions during his lifetime. His contributions turned India from a milk deficient nation to the world’s leading milk producer. Therefore, he can rightly be considered as a pioneer in India’s journey to the world of social entrepreneurship.
Another great example would be Vikram Akula, who founded Bharat Financial Inclusion (formerly SKS Microfinance), aimed at providing financial services to the poor for food security. It has been one of best initiatives so far in social entrepreneurship to alleviate poverty.
The present scenario of social entrepreneurship in India involves hundreds of innovative enterprises. Few notable names are Harish Hande, Trilochan Sastry, Aditya Baran Mallick etc. Founder of SELCO, Harish Hande’s company has been reputed for making solar lighting suitable and affordable for villagers. SELCO has installed 1,20,00 systems in the State of Karnataka. Trilochan Sastry is an IIT-IIM alumnus whose simple act of filing a PIL turned into a judgement coaxing politicians to declare their assets and criminal records. Due to his efforts, the Association of Democartic Reforms was formed to act as a watchdog of the eletions held every five years. Aditya Baran Mallick founded the Institution for Quality Skill Training which is a vocational training institute aimed at creating livelihoods for the unemployed.
Social entrepreneurship can therfore open up a huge array of opportunities for the betterment of society as well as in regard to the entrepreneurial field. The above paragraphs should give a fair idea of what the world of social entrepreneurship involves and what is a social entrepreneur. The key is build a strong and sustainable organisation that can promote entrepreneurship and social change with equal fervour, for these are two things a developing India desperately needs.
