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Social business
Working with the poor led me to many other problems of the poor. I tried to address some of them. I always tried to solve each problem by creat- ing a new business. Over time it became a habit with me. Every time I confronted a problem, I created a business to solve it. Soon I created many companies, and company-like independent projects, such as housing for the poor, sanitary toilets for the poor, health care, renewable energy, nutrition, water, nurs- ing college, eye care hospital, auto mechanic training school, and many more.
ey gradually started displaying some common features. ey are created as sustainable businesses, but no one is allowed to take any personal pro t out of it. e investor gets back the investment money, nothing more. e company’s pro t is put back
into the company for improvement and expansion.
I called this new type of business social business, de ned as a non-dividend company to solve human problems.
Human beings are not money-making robots. ey are multi-dimensional beings with both sel sh- ness and sel essness. When I create a social business, I am allowing the sel essness to be expressed through business. e old interpretation says that sel essness cannot be a part of the business world, it must be expressed in the world of charity. My point is, if a human being has sel essness in his DNA, why should it not be allowed in the business world? e business world should be an unbiased playground for both sel shness and sel essness. Economics text- books should introduce two types of businesses to students: self-interest-driven and sel essness-driven business. Let the young people decide whether they would like a cocktail of both businesses mixing them in various proportions, or enjoy each one separately.
I was amazed how easy it was to solve human
problems if we designed it as a business with the sole
mission of solving a prob“lem, and with no inten- rooted human values in our economic life, we can
tion to bene t personally from the business. We are always told that the business-engine was designed for only one use, making personal money. I used the same engine for a completely di erent purpose, that is, to solve human
transform the wealth-pyramid into a wealth-dia- mond. ese values can be expressed through social business to take us there.
Social business may be seen from two perspec-
tives. From the charity side we can look at it as sus- tainable charity. From the business side we can see it as a sel ess business. e great thing about social business is that it is done by choice; no compulsion is involved. One can go in and out of social business
as one likes. is makes people feel free. ey can decide what they want.
I am glad that social business is drawing atten- tion from all sections of people from all around the world. Universities are opening social business cen- ters, multinational companies are setting up social businesses, young people are getting attracted to the idea. More and more people are convinced that as
problems. I found it
extremely powerful in
getting the job done.
Suddenly all the cre-
ative power could be
marshalled behind this
engine for one spe-
ci c purpose: solving
human problems. I
wondered why the world le problem-solving to the governments and charities alone? I found my own answer. it was because the business world was given a very clear mandate by the economic theory. eir only mandate was to make money, leaving the peo- ple’s problems to be addressed by governments and charities. A businessperson is supposed to be driven by self-interest. To him/her, business is business.
i always tried
to solve each problem by creating
a new business.
MarketiNg for social chaNge
In the world of sel shness-driven business, many express their sel shness in its extreme form, becoming limitlessly greedy, addicted to money. In the process, humankind has been brought to the verge of losing its human identity. A human being
is a person of love, empathy, compassion, and fellow feeling. If we create a conceptual framework that allows us, indeed encourages us, to express our deep-
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