Viral Ventures: Social Entrepreneurship
The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the very nature of our existence. An analysis of Google searches for the phrase “social distancing” over the past 90 days shows how a phrase that had hardly any traction online till the end of February was topping the charts by the third week of March. But it has also thrown open opportunities for individuals to work with others like never before.
All entrepreneurs are, at heart, problem solvers. In the fight against COVID-19, entrepreneurship has taken a lead role in developing contact tracing apps, re-purposing factories to manufacture ventilators and PPE, creating makeshift hospitals, and accelerating the search for a vaccine, to name a few examples. But do we need a virus to catalyze harmony between enterprise and societal good? After all, it is human to have collective purpose. Within the new social distancing norms, people have learnt to work, exercise, study, celebrate weddings, attend funeral services, act in films, conduct concerts and do much more using collaborative digital platforms.
With a growing sense of civic responsibility spreading among younger generations, social enterprises have become the de facto choice for many aspiring entrepreneurs. This is especially true in smaller economies that are grappling with environmental and social challenges. The popularity of social entrepreneurship has grown even further in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which has threatened the livelihoods of half the world’s workforce and the existence of some businesses.
Social innovation and entrepreneurship can be extremely impactful in these turbulent and uncertain times by supporting impoverished sections of society as well as providing services such as healthcare, sanitation, and education. In Belgium, Maatwerk has tasked nine facilities with the production of 10,000 surgical masks per day and 12 others towards the production of medical material.
It has become increasingly clear that social enterprises are no longer just a short term trend. With many organisations inadvertently earning goodwill by making an impact on the lives of individuals and communities in 2020, investing in ‘social good’ may easily end up being the best strategies for small and large businesses, even long after the pandemic comes to an end.
New trends are emerging and entrepreneurship will look a little different in a post-coronavirus world, with more businesses acting as a force for good. As we look to rebuild things — communities, the economy and the world more broadly — we’re going to look to businesses to lead the way on that. There’s an opportunity to rebuild better businesses, more purposeful business and more sustainable businesses in the future. Start-ups will absolutely be the ones leading the way on that.
Data sourced from:-
https://journals.sagepub.com/page/etp/covid-19-and-entrepreneurship
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/covid-19-is-showing-us-a-new-model-of-entrepreneurship/
https://www.glion.edu/blog/impacts-covid-19-on-entrepreneurship/
https://www.virgin.com/richard/holly-sam-0/closer-look-entrepreneurship-during-covid-19
