Social entrepreneurship is becoming more popular these days.
A lot of people are coming to realize that solving the world's problems does not mean merely giving money or providing dole out assistance to needy folks.
Instead, there is a better way.
To facilitate this, however, the world also needs more social enterprises and these could be facilitated by a social entrepreneurship development program.
Understanding Social entrepreneurship.
Any organization or foundation needs to understand what social entrepreneurship is all about.
For one, it is about addressing social problems and issues.
The entrepreneur identifies these problems and uses his imagination to come up with solutions to the problems.
When the solutions are arrived at, he then looks at various ways to make the solution sustainable.
That's what a social enterprise is for.
Any development program for this kind of entrepreneurship needs to include several things.
Creativity.
It's not only about thinking out of the box.
The students of this program should learn how to use new lenses look at problems from different perspectives.
This way, they can avoid the "tried and tested" formula of solving problems.
If students would just allow their imagination to soar, there are a lot of solutions to the problems of the world.
The challenge is to look at them in a different way until a solution is found.
Innovative problem solving.
This is the natural outgrowth of creativity.
Problems will not go away by themselves.
They have to be identified and solved.
Yet, the solutions should also be sustainable so that the solution will still stand even after several years.
Networking.
Given the interconnectedness of the world today, it is impossible to miss out on the importance of connecting with other like-minded people.
Networking is an essential component of entrepreneurship precisely because one person may not have the tools and the needed experience to implement everything.
With a good network, an entrepreneur will be able to come up with resources and support group that will help him implement his vision.
Mobilizing people.
This includes recruiting and motivating people to implement the entrepreneur's vision.
One of the biggest challenges of companies is looking for the right people.
That's why every entrepreneur needs to know how to recognize the right talents, as well as the right team for the tasks at hand.
Social entrepreneurship development program should be supported by government and the private sector so as to solve the pressing issues of the world such as poverty and illiteracy among others.