Essay about Social Entreneurship

Katie I.

Project #4

Hope Bakery & Cafe

Throughout this semester we have explored entrepreneurship and the increasing emergence of social and cultural entrepreneurship to address societal needs. We’ve uncovered different business models of social entrepreneurship entities --- from business enterprises where profits or goods are donated to social causes (e.g., The Tom’s Shoes Story) to ventures whose innovative solutions are addressing a public issue (e.g., the use of biochar to help African farmers). Our readings have also discussed intrapreneurship, where individuals pursue entrepreneurial activities while working within a large organization (e.g., Geek Squad at Best Buy).

In considering a social entrepreneurial need in my community I introduce a third model: a business venture whose employees represent a special workforce need in the community, in this case individuals with cognitive disabilities. My interest is this social enterprise approach is deeply personal. One of my friends is “Kristie” who happens to also be the younger sister of a very close friend. I’ve had ringside seats watching Kristie grow up, always marveling at her incredibly positive spirit, her feistiness in trying to be independent, and her infectious smile. This year, at age 19 and with the mental capacity of a 8 year old, Kristie completed her education at our local school. In Michigan, cognitive disabled individuals are allowed to attend school until they are 26, at which point they “age out” of publicly-provided education. For the parents of Kristie, and the dozens of other cognitively disabled young and middle-aged adults in our greater community, the challenge of caring for a quasi-independent special needs adult is daunting. Although some may suggest that these care challenges represent a small proportion of the overall population, I believe it is morally wrong to consider this issue as someone else’s problem. Beyond a moral obligation an innovative social entrepreneurship strategy provides an appropriate opportunity to enhance the interest among others in addressing this societal need.

Connecting a community need with a larger social issue

For years my community has yearned for a bakery/coffee shop. I’m told that several years ago, before coffee shops were cool, a very successful bakery existed on Main Street until the owners retired and closed the business. Consequently the perfect location for a more contemporary bakery/coffee shop/café remains empty. I propose opening “Hope Bakery and Café” a unique non-profit restaurant that employs individuals with cognitive disabilities. Risky? Absolutely. While any business venture includes risk, my proposed enterprise faces additional challenges. Using limited skilled employees provides an added hurdle, particularly for a service-oriented business. Additionally, for many individuals (and potential customers) there is a natural discomfort being around individuals with disabilities. Other businesses that employ special needs and disabled individuals (e.g., Peckham Industries of Lansing) are often manufacturers whose employees have limited direct contact with the general public. Would a wait staff of special needs individuals potentially drive away, versus attract customers?

According to the Rippling article (Schwartz, 2012) “social entrepreneurship is all about bringing new opportunities into the arena of solutions and sponsoring a process that will enable new

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people and voices to participate in the emerging system that is being created.” As such, I believe that my social entrepreneurial venture includes many innovative approaches to address the previously mentioned challenges. First, establishing Hope Bakery and Café as a non-profit entity provides an opportunity to invite key community stakeholders to serve as a non-paid board of directors overseeing the entity. It is difficult to create a positive community narrative with a single voice. Engaging thought leaders within the community, who buy into the vision of Hope Bakery and Café, can play a key role in drowning-out local skepticism, particularly in a smaller community where negativity can be more prominent. As suggested by Schwartz “…. to do this successfully, many people need to be inspired, involved, engaged and active (p. 238).” Additionally, as a non-profit organization Hope Bakery and Café is better positioned for potential outside grants, which can positively change the entity’s balance sheet.

Capitalizing on trained expertise

Additionally, an important aspect of employing people with special needs is that they require extensive training and likely occasional retraining. To address this training requirement the Hope Bakery and Café will use job coaches as part of the staff to work one-on-one, nurturing, encouraging and providing guidance to the special needs employees. The creative use of job coaches, which may be drawn from individuals in the region seeking to enhance their skills in working with special needs individuals (e.g., individuals pursuing careers as special education teachers), will help our special needs team stay focused, learn job skills and be proud of their work. Additionally, since this social enterprise is largely locally focused, an additional service of Hope Bakery and Café is to consult other businesses exploring using cognitively disabled individuals as part of their workforce. Our job coaches will be well positioned to share their learning’s on training special needs individuals to other social enterprises.

Spill-over benefits The creation of Hope Bakery and Café, in addition to addressing a social issue, offers a number of spill-over benefits. First, I believe the enterprise can play a significant role in breaking down stereotypes of cognitively disabled individuals. By closely interfacing with a population that largely has been marginalized, local citizens of the community have an opportunity to see special need individuals with a different lens as they observe their productivity. Similarly, providing a work experience, where wages are earned, provides a tremendous opportunity to enhance the self-esteem of the workers. Perhaps Schwartz says it best “innovation, combined with behavior change, has the potential to reshape the same environment. For solutions to be effective they have to get people to act differently in a way that changes not only them but their communities (p. 241).” Beyond the societal benefits this social enterprise also enhances the community by filling an empty storefront on Main Street and providing a great place for residents to eat, socialize and learn.

Challenges and Lessons While this essay has largely discussed the positive aspects of social enterprises it is important to note that in a competitive market employing disabled individuals is perhaps the most difficult model of social entrepreneurship. Cox (2012) suggests that because of increased labor costs, oftentimes-significant increased costs and/or reduced efficiencies, social enterprises in a

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competitive market are severely disadvantaged. To compensate these social ventures often require a complex business model that may include two or more synergistic training activities (e.g., bakery and training facility). In an examination of four case studies, a Northwestern University study (Boni-Saenz et al., 2005) cited the importance of hiring managers with curricular education, forming partnerships with outside disability organizations, avoiding stereotyping, and embracing flexible scheduling as success factors among organizations that have successful disability hiring programs. In reviewing numerous social enterprise case studies (The Chronicle of Social Enterprise, 2009), beyond the best practice employment elements cited in the Northwestern Study, sustainable social enterprises were successful because they provided a product, service or innovation that the public was seeking.

Conclusion

Entrepreneurship comes in many forms. A common denominator, however, is innovation, oftentimes continuous innovation to be sustainable. Social and cultural enterprises must follow the same growth principles. In the end Hope Bakery and Café will succeed or fail based on its ability to meet the community’s needs (in this case provide exceptional food and coffee) not due to the community’s decision to patronize the restaurant because of its social mission. It is the social mission, however, that motivates me in creating the enterprise. While many may seek fame and money in life I’m not motivated be either. And, never will be. For me, this is a much bigger fight. A fight for Kristie.

References:

30 under 30: Social Entrepreneurs, Forbes Magazine.

Blake Mycoskie – The Tom’s Shoes Story, TED Ed presentation, April 24, 2012.

Boni-Saenz, A., Heinemann, A., Crown, D., and Emmanuel, L., (2005). “The Business of Employing People with Disabilities: Four Case Studies Multi-Case Study Report,” Northwestern University, U.S. Social Security Administration Disability Research Institute.

Cox, G., 2012. “Why employing disabled people is the most difficult form of social enterprise,” The Guardian, Retrieved on June 29, 2015 from www.theguardian.com/social-enterprise- network/2012/jul/03/social-enterprises-employing-disabled-people.

Schwartz, B., 2012. “Rippling: How Social Entrepreneurs Spread Innovation Throughout the World,” Chapter 19: “Turning what is and what if into what can be,” Jossey-Bass Publishing.

Skelley, S., 1015. “How Tigger Inspired Intrepreneurship at Best Buy … and the Geek Squad,” Entrepreneurship & Innovation Exchange, Retrieved July 1, 2015 from https://eiexchange.com/content/php?id=81

The Chronicle of Social Enterprise, Spring, 2009, Retrieved on June 30, 2015 from www.socialent.org/pdfs/THE_CHRONICLE_OF_SOCIAL_ENTERPRISE_VOLUME_ONE_S PING_2009.pdf.

Haider By: Yaqeen A. M.

IAH 241E – Summer 2015

On May 22, 2015, I woke up at 9 a.m. and grabbed my phone like I do every

morning to check all my social networking apps. I logged in to Facebook, where I saw

this post by a cousin of mine, who is a well-known social activist: "Please head to The

Central Hospital of Qatif, especially those of you who carry negative blood types.

There is an urgent need for donors due to the large number of injuries from the

terrorist attack." My heart skipped a beat when I read "terrorist attack." I kept

scrolling down my news feed, which was full with posts written by my Facebook

friends at my home country, Saudi Arabia. Everyone was posting about the suicide

bombing of Imam Ali mosque in Qudaih village, which is only 6 miles away from my

city, Safwa.

Twenty one people lost their lives and more than a hundred were injured as a

result of the attack that took place during the weekly Friday prayer. Soon after the

incident, ISIS published a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, and

threatened the Saudi Shia community (the religious sect which the attacked mosque

belonged to) with "dark days ahead". Knowing how dangerous the situation is, many

youth have volunteered as security guards around mosques to keep worshipers safe.

Only a week later, another bombing attempt took place in another mosque, this time

in Dammam city, 13 miles away from Qudaih. The attack resulted in the martyrdom

of four brave young men, who sacrificed their lives to keep the suicide bomber away

from the mosque, saving hundreds of lives.

These devastating incidents had a great impact on us as Saudi Shias. Even

after more than a month, we are still frightened by what happened. Volunteers are still

guarding mosques, and my Facebook home page is still full of related posts and

photographs. People are still sending broadcasts via Whatsapp that have titles like

"how to survive a terrorist attack," and every iPhone owner has already downloaded a

metal detector app.

However, I have some concerns about the situation. When Abduljaleel, one of

the security guards who martyred in the Dammam attack, first suspected the terrorist,

he immediately informed the policemen who were also supposed to guard the

mosque. However, the policemen stayed in their cars and did nothing, which is why

Abduljaleel had to run and stop the terrorist himself. Also, my cousin posted on

Facebook yesterday complaining that the police guards at the entrance of our city are

slacking and letting everyone in and out, without doing any inspections on cars or at

least ask for IDs. She commented that it looks like they are waiting for something to

happen to take their job seriously. It is clear to me that we must not depend on others

to protect us, and that we as a community should prepare ourselves in case another

terrorist was able to sneak in. Also, I do not think that reading instructions online on

how to react during an attack is useful, because you are not going to remember

anything you've ever read when your life is threatened. A professional, practical

training is required for such things. These are the main reasons why I thought of

launching my social entrepreneurial organization to protect people's lives in my

community. I named it after the youngest Qudaih attack victim, Haider, who was only

six years old.

Haider is going to be a non-profit organization that is going to increase the

community's safety during this crisis. First of all, it is going to offer courses about

safety to people in the community, as well as concentrated training for the volunteers

who guard the mosques. The safety courses are going to be cheap; there might not be

professional trainers who want to volunteer to teach for free, but at the same time we

want to make the courses accessible. The price I put is 70 SAR (about $18.65). The

training given to the guards, however, is going to be at our expense; whether from the

surplus money or from the donations we receive.

If we still have surplus, we are going to use it for installing security systems in

mosques, in case a terrorist sneaks in at times when no one is there (i.e. not during

prayer times). The security system is going to sense movement, and notify a particular

person that someone has entered the mosque. That person's job is to inform the police,

let people know, and make sure to stop the mosque's activity until the police do an

inspection and declare the place as safe.

The last thing that Haider is going to do is tracing the sources of the

sectarianism problem in our country and fighting it back through what is known as

cultural entrepreneurship. Although ISIS is responsible for the attacks, both terrorists

were originally Saudi citizens according to the Interior Ministry. People in the

community blame local media, school curriculums and some so-called religious

leaders for promoting prejudice

and agitating the public against

the Shia minority, especially

that there is no law in the

kingdom against hate or violent

speech. Cultural

entrepreneurship, by definition,

promotes new, different, and better attitudes and beliefs. This technique has always

been a critical part of social movements, such as anti-war, civil rights, feminism, and

shifting the attitude towards same-sex marriage in the United States. Cultural

entrepreneurship approach is necessary to change people's bad attitude towards those

who are different than them, and that can be done using social media (Martin and

Witter). Haider is going to have a team of young, talented volunteers who will write,

photograph, use artistic graphic design, sing, and publish their work that promote

peace and tolerance on different social media sites. If we cannot stop hate speech, we

can outperform it.

In their book Address the inevitable sociopolitics, MacMillan and Thompson

address the reason behind the failure of many social entrepreneurial organizations:

bad sociopolitics. During Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef's visit to the Qudaih's injured,

a brother of one of the victims told him “If you do not do your part…listen…then you

are a silent partner in this crime!” This is an example of bad sociopolitics that can turn

an ally into an opponent, which is something we want to avoid in our organization.

Following Macmillan and Thompson's model, I identified the government as potential

allies and sectarians as opponents. The two authors suggest to deal with potential

allies by " Providing them with knowledge or skills or capabilities that will help them

resolve their issues, thus earning influence to extract the ally's support where needed,

including access to the ally's allies." So, we are going to be collaborative with the

government, and make it clear that we are working with them to fight terrorism and

maintain the safety of their citizens, and that alliance can be used to influence local

media to stop spreading hateful messages. For opponents, we will try to influence

them through our social media crew I have talked about, as well as managing them by

demanding an anti-sectarianism law.

We are hoping that security returns to our land. Until then, Haider is going to

help protecting people, teaching them how to be safe, and promoting unity and

tolerance in the society.

Links to the external sources I used: (I don't have the cover page for the books you provide

as PDFs on the web page, so I could not write a full works cited page)

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/23/world/middleeast/suicide-bombing-saudi-arabia-

shiites-sunnis-yemen-mosque.html?_r=0

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32843510

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/23/world/middleeast/suicide-bombing-saudi-arabia-

shiites-sunnis-yemen-mosque.html?_r=0

http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/751326

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabias-shiite-community-protest-sectarianism-

after-deadly-mosque-attack-1339755529

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-crown-prince-accused-silence-sectarianism-

visit-qatif-82588106

I also apologize I made it a page longer than it was supposed to be, but the issue I am

addressing is a little complex and it needed explanation.

P.S.: Thank you, this is the first online class I take and it's been a positive experience -