Entrepreneurship: the road map for the AFTERSCHO☺OLIANS

I have a few stories to share with you I believe that we can learn a lot from these stories. Once upon a time, there was a kingdom, which was cursed to be decapitated after every 5 years. The system was such that after 5 years, the king would be thrown in a dreaded deserted island, notorious for venomous animals only to be killed by them. As the time passed, no body was willing to become king of this kingdom. Once a young person was made the king of this kingdom. He ruled for 5 years and when his tenure completed, he was also taken to the deserted island. The king went there happily. He was quite pleased to go to that place. He rather asked some of his friends and courtiers to accompany him, however, no one was interested in the offer. The king departed to the new island. In fact, in these 5 years, the king had developed the island into a beautiful residential colony. He was happy to be shifted to this place. The lesson is simple, every problem can be planned and this is the lesson of life. If we are able to plan for the challenges of life, we can make our life meaningful.

Can we really chalk out solutions to our problems? Can we really believe in our capability in solving our own problems? Most people think that they don’t have the capability to solve their own problems, and this belief becomes the biggest hurdle in their way. People have two choices, - one to believe in our own capability and to believe that we can bring about transformation in the our own life. If you have this belief, entrepreneurship is for you. If you think otherwise, then probably entrepreneurship is not for you. Entrepreneurs are generally those people, who believe that they can bring about transformations. They are the people, who can radically change their destiny and have a positive belief in this.

20 point action plan . . .

You might have heard about 20 point action plan for removal of poverty in India. However, I shall talk about 5 point programme to remove the poverty of our ideas.

Let us talk about them:

change our self
learn from entrepreneurs
learn from the poor
find the way a person can start from scratch
value every paisa

. The mission of the entrepreneur has been to create wealth and business growth. Accomplishments of these missions result in additional benefits to members of society, whether intended by the entrepreneur or not. For instance, customers benefit because they are able to fill a need through the purchase of a product or service. Second, venture capitalists, lenders, and shareholders benefit by attaining returns on investments or interest through the entrepreneur’s business. Third, employees benefit by earning income through the business’s growth and prosperity. As a result, employees then become customers that have purchasing power to buy goods and services that entrepreneurs produce. Over time, many entrepreneurs began to focus on a new, specific mission towards improving society. This new mission helped to develop and define social entrepreneurship. Although social entrepreneurship is virtually a new concept with no clear and concise definition, Johanna Mair and Ignasi Marti (2006) propose a broad, working definition: Social entrepreneurship is a “process involving the innovative use and combination of resources to pursue opportunities to catalyze social change and/or address social needs” (p.37). In today’s society, the role of social entrepreneurship is vastly increasing through both, nonprofit and for-profit businesses. Society’s desire for philanthropy has created many new opportunities for entrepreneurs. Ethics and a focus toward the common good are key concepts that are vital in today’s business world.
Success of entrepreneurs such as Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, and Bill Gates created both personal wealth and public wealth. Although these were not social entrepreneurs their innovations greatly enhanced society. Their products aided in the progress and advancement of an improved society. Entrepreneurship enables one to become both wealthy while improving society at the same time. Therefore, what motivates one to become a social entrepreneur instead of an entrepreneur for a profit seeking venture? Can social entrepreneurship invigorate society in ways that conventional entrepreneurship cannot?