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Social Entrepreneurs and the Future

The economic collapse of 2007 hit hard. Signs labeled Foreclosed tainted the lawns of
millions of properties nationwide. News stations titled their latest reports with Biggest recession
since the Great Depression. Since then, politicians continue to promise a better tomorrow by
guaranteeing incentives for companies that keep and maintain good jobs in the United States
and reducing the corporate tax rate for American businesses (The New York Times). This country
clearly relies on the wellbeing of the nations businesses.Therefore, the entrepreneurs are also
critical to the economys health, as they are the ones who establish them. Will traditional
entrepreneurs continue to be able to guide the United States to the path of prosperity and improve
the lives of millions of Americans? According to the U.S. Small Business Association, a
traditional entrepreneur is one who organizes and manages a business undertaking while
assuming the risk for the sake of profit (What is an entrepreneur? SBA). A new breed of
entrepreneurship applies these business tactics while resolving the problems entangled within our
society and addressing the long term needs of our planet(Murphy Forbes). Unlike business
entrepreneurs who improve the economy and promote prosperity, social entrepreneurs do not
directly impact and improve the lives of thousands of people.
Social entrepreneurs try to alleviate the problems in our society by filling in the cracks
that government and business are normally unwilling or unable to address. They develop
innovative business models that blend traditional capitalism with solutions that also tackle
chronic social problems. Their occupation ranges, from guiding health care delivery in subSaharan Africa to resolving the controversial issue of public-school funding in the United
States. Some cases of social entrepreneurship blend the traditional model of business while at
the same time answering these social questions. An example of these hybrid companies that

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generate revenue in pursuit of social goals is the U.S. benefit corporation , or B Corp, a
business that is legally required to create benefit for society as well as its shareholders.
Another example of this combination is VisionSpring, a company that subsidizes basic eyewear
for the poorest customers by using the higher profits from more expensive glasses. Furthermore,
some social entrepreneurs can create a sustainable, lasting change in the communities that they
serve. For example, I-DEV International, a New Yorkbased impact investment firm,
organized some 200 Peruvian farmers to organize a farming co-op that today is the largest and
most successful supplier of tara, a native fruit known for its medicinal properties (Murphy
Forbes). An example specific to the economic downfall of the United States follows the trail of
an innovating social entrepreneur, Dan Gilbert, who established a company that provides
thousands of jobs in downtown Detroit. The abandoned city is $14 billion dollars in debt with
unemployment at 18%, twice the national rate, and just 12% of residents 25 or older have a
bachelors degree. Gilbert introduced his company, which makes real estate for companies in
the downtown area more appealing, in hope of doing good for Detroit, the city where his
family roots back for generations. Since then, more than 60 companies have moved into his
buildings downtown (Salter Fast Company). Social entrepreneurship, with streaks of traditional
business approaches, can prove to be a reliable source of economic improvement.
Historically, the role of small businesses and conventional entrepreneurship and the
United States economy go hand in hand. Entrepreneurs are the gatekeeper of the five Ms, also
known as materials, manpower, markets, management and money, which are key to economic
prosperity (Clark SBA). Business entrepreneurs play a vital role in economic development by
providing jobs, conducting business locally, creating and participating in entrepreneurial
networks, investing in community projects, and giving to local charities (Tesreau, Missouri

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Economic Research and Information Center). Not only do business entrepreneurs employ large
number of people with sustainable jobs, but also improve the standard of living in the country.
They enable people to avail better quality goods at lower prices by adopting latest innovations
in the production of wide variety of goods and services in large scale at a lower price. They act
as a catalytic agent, setting off a chain reaction of opportunities within the local community
(Kumar Preserve Articles). While business entrepreneurship shows a relatively rapid change in a
societys economic climate and standard of living, social entrepreneurship can be a much more
challenging endeavor, as reaching a sustainable impact can be more difficult.
The obstacles that social entrepreneurship faces continue to impede its growth and blurr
its substantial results. Social entrepreneurship has not yet shown a dramatic increase in a
countrys economically developed state, and thus advancement in the field is difficult to measure.
It is still an immature industry and continues to go through its growing pains along the way.
Although social entrepreneurship brings a unique approach to the eradication of poverty,
questions continue to arise about its sustainability in the marketplace. The debate of profit
versus an organizations mission continues to be a controversial and complex one (Cuellar Rising
Pyramid). The answers to these complicated challenges could be resolved through an increased
emphasis on government policy, institutions, and tax incentives that would encourage young
social entrepreneurs to risk their own economic situation to help others. The American
government should take a leap of faith and pursue this experiment, as it may be a last-resort
solution to the economic situation that currently plagues the nation.
Victims of the latest recession in the United States have been forgotten. A middle-aged
secretary has been replaced by a cellphone, a hard working supermarket cashier replaced by a
self-serve register. A social entrepreneur, acting as a life jacket before they sink into the sea of

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bankruptcy, might be able to save them. This innovator could find a way to solve the problems
that the government ceased to acknowledge; that the government could not find a solution for.
Despite the personal challenges this person faces, he/she is willing to selflessly put everything
on the line for the sake of helping others. Although social entrepreneurship may be a risky
undertaking for the United States government, an investment in this promising field may be what
we need for a better future.

Works Cited
Election 2008 Party Platforms. The New York Times. New York Times Company, n.d.
Web. 31 Oct. 2013. <http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/issues/partyplatforms/index.html>.
What is an Entrepreneur? SBA. U.S. Government, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.

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<http://www.sba.gov/content/what-entrepreneur>.
Murphy, Richard McGill, ed. The Rise Of Social Entrepreneurship Suggests A Possible
Future For Global Capitalism. Forbes. Forbes.com, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.
<http://www.forbes.com/sites/skollworldforum/2013/05/02/the-rise-of-socialentrepreneurship-suggests-a-possible-future-for-global-capitalism/>.
Salter, Chuck. How a Young Community of Entrepreneurs Is Rebuilding Detroit. Fast
Company. Fast Company & Inc., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.
<http://www.fastcompany.com/3007840/creative-conversations/how-young-communityentrepreneurs-rebuilding-detroit>.
Clark, Major L., and Radwan N. Saade. The Role of Small Business in Economic
Development of the United States: From the End of the Korean War (1953) to the
Present. SBA. U.S. Government, Sept. 2010. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.
<http://www.sba.gov/advocacy/7540/12143>.
Tesreau, Kerri, and Veronica Gielazauskas. Entrepreneurship: A Driving Force in the
New Economy. Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 4
Nov. 2013.
<http://www.missourieconomy.org/community/econ_policy/entrepreneurship.stm>.

Preserve Articles. PreserveArticles.com, n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2013.

<http://www.preservearticles.com/201101143326/role-of-an-entrepreneur-in-economicdevelopment.html>.
Cuellar, Christopher. The Role of Social Entrepreneurship in the Capitalistic Model.
Rising Pyramid. Rising Pyramid, 1 Nov. 2010. Web. 4 Nov. 2013.
<http://risingpyramid.org/2010/11/01/the-role-of-social-entrepreneurship-in-the-

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capitalistic-model/>.