A social entrepreneur knows that business is like an onion - many layers but one integrated whole; miss out a layer and you don't have an onion.

Three key layers of a business design are usually left out, minimised or just payed lip service to - environment, community and staff development and welfare. 

If we were to use the metaphor of a seed growing into a fruit tree we can see how when a business design and execution is in alignment with natural order, exponential growth and returns can be achieved.

A seed as it grows, takes the basic building blocks of water, sunlight, minerals and carbon dioxide, and transmutes these into growth, fruit and new seeds; spurning exponential growth as animals and birds share the fruit and spread the seeds far and wide.

As a tree grows from a seed, it is full integrated into its environment taking only what it needs and giving back in the form of soil enrichment, oxygen (life for others) and shared fruit as well as creating natural beauty.

Imagine if business understood that sharing itself and its fruit (profits and resources) could lead to exponential growth beyond imagination, just imagine.

Currently there are no clear globally accepted definitions of what constitutes a social enterprise or a social entrepreneur and there is some confusion between social enterprises and corporate social responsibility. The key elements that make up a social enterprise and social responsibility however are widely accepted. The three additional business elements that need to be added to move in the social enterprise direction are environment, community giving/support and integrated staff welfare.

A thriving example of a global highly integrated social enterprise is Buy 1 Give 1 Free or B1G 1 (Buy1Give1Free.biz). It is highly integrated because it not only embodies the three additional core business elements, it leverages other businesses' activities making it easy for them to give forward to the environment and those in greater need while endorsing them as social enterprises.

Buy 1 Give 1 Free does exactly what its name indicates. Every time as a customer you purchase a product or service from a B1G 1 company, you get to give a gift forward at no cost to yourself on a "buy-1-give-1-free basis". The company on the customer's behalf donates money to a non-profit partner of their own choice to purchase an item of an associated nature. For example, a restaurant for each meal sold, could donate money to a non-profit such as ISKCON (midday meals), to buy a meal for a child just like Bouncing Olive in Australia does. In Mumbai a very successful car hire company called Rohan Car Rentals, run by Manjoy Maheshwari, plants a fruit tree that feeds children for every day a car is hired. Another example is every time an author sells a book they could gift the cost of a book to school child similar to what international best selling author Masami Sato from Australia is doing with her best selling book "Joy - The gift of Acceptance, Trust and Love" in the slum schools of Mumbai. This is magic!

B1G1 simply acts as a middleman partnering businesses with non-profits on any product, any service anywhere in the world. The social enterprise concept that it embodies is so powerful that since it's launch two months ago it not only has been profitable from day one, it has spread to six countries including India. Already B1G1 is facilitating the planting of trees, educating children and teachers, feeding children and giving educational gifts to children and providing micofinance loan donations throughout India and the world.

When a business thinks first about its staff, the environment and the community in which it trades, the long-term success in this modern fast changing world is more secure. At the end of the day giving your customers a clear story to share that touches them, creates dynamic word-of-mouth marketing that is very hard to purchase in other ways.

In the last issue of Marketing Magazine, an Australian national publication, Dora Nikols, a leading marketing consultant, wrote an article entitled, "What do you stand for?" She pointed out how leading global brands now support a key social cause such as Bono from U2, The Body Shop, Oprah and Microsoft. "Evidence shows that companies and brands that stand for something also stand out. They last longer, are more profitable and have good corporate reputations," she wrote.

There is often a little confusion between corporate social responsibility and social enterprise. This confusion is sure to continue for some time as more and more businesses take on social enterprise initiatives. At the end of the day the naming is not as important as intent and action. If greater care and thought is given to others then this is all good.

Social Entrepreneurs are enterprising individuals that create social enterprises. They are often individuals of high business calibre who believe that business must have a heart if it is to have a greater meaning. At the end of the day, more and more of us these days are seeking meaning and purpose as a top priority in our lives.

David Anttony is a Social Entrepreneur, writer and international speaker based in India and Brisbane, Australia. His global vision is to see business flip from getting to giving as part of expanding business profitability in the 21st Century. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Issue BG77 Aug07

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