Light Bulbs, Micro-Entrepreneurs, and Solar Panels

Every once in a while things from different areas of my life come together like pieces of a puzzle and form an image that was previously unclear in my mind. Uhh…I guess that’s just what most people call an idea. Well anyway, this aligning of the stars occurred for me recently, and I was excited by my new idea, so that is what I shall share with you in today’s blog entry.
I recently finished reading Muhammad Yunus’ new book “Creating a World Without Poverty.” For those of you who don’t know, Muhammad Yunus is the founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and the winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. He is also one of my personal inspirations for his undying effort and success in alleviating one of the world’s gravest problem; extreme poverty.

“Creating a World Without Poverty” introduces Professor Yunus’ new concept for bringing about wide scale social change, which he calls the “Social Business.” The idea behind this approach is that a new breed of businesses will be developed that focuses not on achieving maximum profit, but rather on achieving maximum social impact. Because the venture will run on a business model, it will turn a profit, thus enabling it to pay back investors, expand into new areas, and invest in research and development to further advance its mission. Investors in social businesses will be individuals looking to make a difference in the world (much like current day philanthropists), and they will be responsible for holding their companies to strict measures of social performance, seeking not maximum financial returns, but social returns.

Professor Yunus’ created many Social Businesses as part of the Grameen Bank family of companies, but recently launched a new corporation to serve as a model. Known as Grameen Danon, the Social Business is a partnership between Grameen Bank and the Danon Yogurt company. Grameen Danon sets up small-scale factories in rural Bangladesh that produce nutrition-fortified yogurt. It relies on Grameen Bank microfinance customers to distribute the yogurt to poor families, and particularly focus on children, who are the most vulnerable to disease and death caused by malnutrition. Grameen Danon achieves several social objectives: first, it provides healthy food at an extremely low cost to those who are most susceptible to disease caused by malnutrition; second, it provides added business opportunity to Grameen Bank customers, thus allowing them to increase their income; and, third, it creates a great deal of employment opportunities for Bangladesh’s unemployed rural poor through the locally based factories. You can see how the growth of this company can create massive health and livelihood benefits for Bangladesh.

Fast forward a few weeks, and a coworker recommended another book to me: “The High Performance Entrepreneur” by Subroto Bagchi. This book is in many ways a how-to guide and a self-help book rolled into one for people interested in starting their own companies. It gives very concrete instructions on what is needed to build a powerhouse company from the ground up. Everything from required personality traits, to professional an academic competencies of the entrepreneur, to the logistics of capital-raising, and how to form a winning management team are covered.

I’m not usually one to read books on management, and if I do I rarely enjoy them, but the timing must have been right, and this book struck a cord for me. It pointed out the strengths that I already have that are valuable for becoming an entrepreneur, and also gave some tactical steps I can take towards developing other useful skills.

The third piece to the puzzle comes from Ujjivan’s urban slum dwelling customers. They are, in general, the main source of motivation behind my work. I admire their ingenuity and creativity, their ability to beat the odds, and their unwillingness to give up despite the most difficult of conditions.

One of the factors that makes microfinance successful for these women can be found within the name of the movement itself; “micro.” It is the fact that a huge number of women are empowered with small loans, to start their own tiny businesses, that entire cities and countries are able to achieve large-scale social progress.

When I think about these two books and microfinance customers, I see a link that is very applicable to me (and possibly many others). A Social Business does not need to be a large-scale company that impacts the entire world, or even an entire nation, as exemplified by the companies referenced in both of the books. It can also be an opportunity for individuals considering taking the leap and becoming an entrepreneur to start his/her own small business that has a social mission to impact the local community. Just like the hundreds of thousands of microentrpreneurs in countries like Bangladesh and India creating broad social change, a movement of thousands of small Social Businesses could have a real, tangible grass roots impact.

For me this idea is particularly appealing because it allows each individual to pursue something that they are truly passionate about. Through food, art, technology, etc. there are an infinite number of ways to make a difference.

I’ve always loved food and entertainment. Maybe someday I could open a restaurant that provides vocational training to marginalized or at risk individuals by employing them as chefs and waiters. A portion of the meals prepared each day could also be designated to feeding the hungry at a minimal cost. My Dad is passionate about the environment. He’s talked about starting a company that provides job training for homeless people to install solar panels on city buildings. These ideas might not be developed, but they are a start. What’s great is they infuse individual passion, with entrepreneurship and social impact.

So what kind of business are you passionate about starting up in your town or city? How can you shift the way it operates to positively impact the local community or environment?

P.S. If you are interested in reading either of the books that I mentioned, help me out by purchasing them through the Amazon link at the top left of my blog. I get 4% of all your amazon.com purchases made through it, and trust me, that can go a long way in India. Thank you.