Where Does the Idea of a Social Entrepreneur Come From?

I recently received a question about the work that we do and how our online store operates. The person had taken a brief look at some of the website and decided she could not understand what we are doing. She stated that she is an entrepreneur and could not understand how we have an online store that has a cause linked to it. Are you a charity? What are you doing?

I tried to explain about the concept of a social entrepreneur but this made her more confused. This was intriguing to me. The truth is that the idea to sell products with a percentage going to fund a cause was not something new to me. I am also not the first person to begin a store that has a percentage helping others. Honestly, I had not set out with the idea of being a social entrepreneur. I did not even know the term. However, having come up with the idea it was not long before I stumbled over the concept of social entrepreneurship and thought “perfect!” that’s what we are trying to do.

Since discovering the idea of a social entrepreneur and doing research for other stores that like to help a given cause, I have found quite a number that do so. TOMS shoes is a great example. There are several stores that sell products with a percentage to help a charity. Then I discovered artists who sell their art and do art classes or workshops with a percentage helping those in need.

In setting out to write this blog post, I decided to do some research into what a social entrepreneur does or what the concept is so that I can try to give over the information and clear up some confusion. As I listened to a presentation on YouTube followed by two TedX talks, I was reminded of a series of videos I had hoped to put together earlier in 2019. Perhaps this is a little nudge to get going and bring out those videos?

“What am I talking about?” you might well ask. Well, while I watched these videos, I began to question just how new the ideas being presented really are. I noticed the same examples being used and began questioning whether being a social entrepreneur is really so new?

So what is a social entrepreneur? Is it an entrepreneur who is really sociable? Perhaps an entrepreneur who likes to party a lot? Perhaps someone who enjoys entertaining? What is the social that is linked here to entrepreneurship?

I would say that a social entrepreneur is a proactive, business minded person who cares deeply about others and the world at large. Someone who notices the problems taking place in their community and globally and wishes to do something to alleviate the problem. Someone who is innovative and wishes to solve an issue or problem, assist a cause, make a change, for the better of course.

To answer the question as to whether we are a charity, I will ask a question in return. Did you know that a social entrepreneur can operate as either a not-for profit or a for profit? That means that both business models are possible. Actually, if you read a previous post on this blog, you will discover that we had started off trying to develop a store with donated items sold at reduced cost. We simply altered our products to having ones that we create by us instead of ones that are donated for sale. We also altered the pricing from reduced cost to having a profit margin. The profit margin enables us to cover expenses and also have the means to split off a percentage that goes towards a given cause. In this way, you become a partner with us. Through every purchase of specific products, a percentage of your purchase goes to our causes. In this post I explain one of these causes, in another post I will mention others.

My goal is to increase how many products have a percentage going to the cause as sales increase. If you would like to know why only some of our products currently have a percentage supporting our causes, I can explain. The answer is because there are expenses involved in starting up a business and we have to make sure we have enough sales to cover expenses. However, we are constantly learning and upgrading. I should also add that another goal for sales of this store is to enable us to share Torah and this includes preparing our videos for YouTube.

Now to get to another set of questions. Is it really so new to want to use one’s professional skills to make a positive change? Is it really so new to want to use a percentage of one’s earnings to assist others? Are these new concepts? The articles seem to say that they are, however, I wonder if this is true. You see, I am aware of a few organizations that began by Jews or with Jewish involvement with a goal to meet a need. One was a charitable organization that my mother worked for that I believe was started in 1958. This organization feeds hungry children to enable them to have the nutrients necessary to learn effectively. I am not sure of their current stats but at one stage they were feeding 300 000 hungry children, daily.

Another was an organization for the physically disabled that my grandfather was involved in. I do not know when my grandfather’s involvement began but it was before the early 1970s. I can say that for sure because when we arrived in Cape Town in 1976 to join my grandparents,  a certain centre was already built and operating. In my book “Healing Your Life Through Activity” I share a little of how my grandfather got involved with this project and how he used his professional skills as a civil engineer and his position to secure the plot of land, design the rehab centre, secure funding and see the building come into being. Now there might be slight differences with some of the model of the social entrepreneur, but knowing the work of my grandfather gave me ideas for what we now do. I can think of others too, e.g. a number of Synagogues or other Jewish services that had a bookstore or store selling Judaica in order to fund their organization. Perhaps we can say that these ideas provided ingredients for the recipe of our online store.

I think about the idea of some organizations that offer loans to help the disadvantaged population to have a chance to begin a business and my mind wanders to lectures at university to become an occupational therapist. Back in the day when I was at university, being an entrepreneur or starting to work from home was referred to as a home industry. As occupational therapists, we often considered work from home as a viable option for enabling our clients to re-enter the working world.

Then my mind wanders further, there is a concept of offering a loan, a small loan and even an interest free loan to assist someone who is struggling to have a start. One goal with this loan is to help someone to get on their feet and be successful. This idea is not a new one. On the contrary it is an old one. As old, perhaps as the creation of the world, for you see, the idea of using ones income for bettering and improving the lives of others is the fabric that the world is built on. The Torah teaches us that the world is built on loving kindness. What is loving kindness? How do we know who to help, how to help, how much to give? All of this is detailed in Torah law, scattered throughout the Shulchan Aruch and requires intensive learning.  

The Chofetz Chaim, Yisrael Meir Kagan (1839 – 1933)  authored several books. One of them is a book called Ahavas Chessed (Loving-kindness). In this book, one of the ways offered to assist another is to provide an interest free loan. There are numerous laws as to how to go about doing so. There are teachings not only of the technicality but of the benefit that this kind of kindness provides to others.

Is it surprising to learn that if one helps a woman with a small loan to begin a business that she can then take care of her family and in doing so reduce the strain on society? The Chofetz Chaim and other great rabbis teach us that the Torah already mentions  that every Jew has a responsibility to help others. There are certain concepts of charity and kindness that Torah extends to gentiles too. There are levels of how to extend and offer kindness or charity, specific ways of doing so. In truth, this is how the world operates.

One of the causes that is closest to my heart is to assist and empower the widow and the orphan. Why? The reason is two fold; firstly because my paternal grandfather died at the age of just 35 years old, rendering his wife a widow and his daughter an orphan. My grandmother, was midway through her pregnancy with her second child when my grandfather died. My father was therefore born an orphan and died tragically when I was still at school. As a result, I know first hand the effects of losing a parent to both the spouse (widow) and the children left behind (the orphans). In addition to this personal experience, the Torah teaches us in several places that we have an obligation and responsibility to assist the widow, the orphan and also the convert / stranger and the poor. Some examples of this are Exodus 22:20, Deuteronomy 16:14, Deuteronomy 24:19

I hope this will provide a little insight as an introduction. If you have further questions, please let me know. With that, it’s time to set to work and begin that series of videos teaching what the Torah says about helping one another.