Would you opt to be a social entrepreneur?

We'd all like to ‘do good' and some perhaps, also be known for it. But it takes a very firm commitment and much more, to become a professional social entrepreneur by choice. We spoke to Vishal Talreja, founder of Dream-A-Dream and an Ashoka India Fellow to learn more about his take on social entrepreneurship. 

Dream-A-Dream is an organization best described through its vision - "empowering children from vulnerable backgrounds by developing life skills and at the same time sensitizing the community through active volunteering leading to a non-discriminatory society where unique differences are appreciated." A powerful vision, not only for its intended end, but also because as Talreja says, "it also encompasses a real and practical strategy to achieve the vision." Over to Talreja for more of his thoughts...

Q: What does it take to start out as a social entrepreneur? What critical problems did you face and how did you overcome these? What motivates you?

A: I don't think there is a ready-made recipe to start out as a social entrepreneur. You need a good measure of passion, commitment, dedication and a rebellious attitude to stick it out. However, I believe, most importantly it needs to be a conscious career choice. The individual needs to be excited about a new idea, be willing to take risks and live with challenges; should enjoy the idea of building a world-class, professional organization and most importantly should have the patience to wait out till success is achieved. While, most of these qualities could also be attributed to business entrepreneurs - a critical difference is that the development sector in India is still a largely ambiguous sector and a lot of work has to be done from scratch, hence more challenges and more opportunities to become a successful entrepreneur.

A would-be social entrepreneur must be prepared to face some family opposition, as few parents approve of this line. Age could also be a deterrent, as most social entrepreneurs are retired professionals or in their mid-careers! So it could be a challenge to convince potential investors that you're in it for the long haul. Another challenge could be a lack of understanding of the social sector, which of course may be come over with actually getting involved with grassroots work.

I'm motivated by the vision of Dream A Dream, the idea of building a professional, transparent, accountable and world class organization and the problem at hand. The problem of the rising gap between the haves and the have-nots, and of finding a permanent solution to the increasing number of school drop-outs coming onto the streets.

Q: Can social entrepreneurial ventures be self-sustaining? What business model do you aim to establish?

A: I have always argued with skeptics who say that the donation model is not a sustaining model. I believe it is, more than anything else in India. Imagine being able to garner just one rupee from each of the300 million earning people in India. That itself would yield a huge pool of resources. At Dream A Dream itself, our current annual donor base stands at maybe 700-800 donors. There is tremendous potential to tap into many more donors - individuals, corporates, funding agencies and grant-making organizations.

The key is to recognize that every donor is today looking at a value add from their donation. It may pure satisfaction, or redeeming their guilt, or tax benefits or satisfaction from a report on the utilization of their contribution. So the task of resource mobilization must be given its due importance and priority, such that the community is engaged creatively and innovatively. For example, rather than directly seek rupees five from a persons disposable income, an NGO could aim to target areas where the disposable income will inevitably be used - like eating out, clothes, accessories, holidays, electronic gadgets, etc. Focus on dining out could result in a tie-up with restaurants across Bangalore such that they add rupee one to every customer bill. A customer who has just spent say a thousand rupees on a meal isn't likely to think twice about adding just a measly rupee one to their bill for a cause. Moreover, the customer may come back to the same restaurant to continue his/her support to the cause. The restaurant thus wins customer loyalty and Dream A Dream valuable funds and visibility - a win-win situation for the donor, the cause and the organizers.

Q: Do you feel social entrepreneur-ship is recognized as a field? Does this recognition or lack of recognition help or hinder would-be social entrepreneurs?

A: I think the concept of social entrepreneurship is just coming to the fore-front with the emergence and increasing visibility of organizations such as Ashoka-Innovators for the Public, Schwab Foundation, CII among others. There are not many academic courses that focus on building social entrepreneurial skills as yet but there are some innovative developments happening in that area too. I believe the next few decades are going to truly belong to social entrepreneurs as they are going to lead positive social change in our community from the front. As an example, think of Mohammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank who received the Noble Peace Prize in 2006.

Recognition would definitely help change attitudes and perceptions, and thus help social entrepreneurs network, and forge collaborations with the government and the corporate sector. It would also help attract a lot of young people to the field. Most of all, it would help bring to the forefront many unheard and unsaid success stories of inspiring social entrepreneurs.

Q: What are the avenues that you perceive as open to social entrepreneurs?

A: There are many avenues opening up for social entrepreneurs now. From my own experience - one excellent avenue has been the recognition and support from Ashoka - Innovators For the Public [Vishal Talreja was selected as an Ashoka Fellow from India in 2005]. Many other organizations such as Schwab Foundation, Skoll Foundation, CII, Khemka Foundation are coming forward to recognize and support social entrepreneurs. Successful social entrepreneurs are been invited to be on the board of other young organizations and guide them through their start-up stages. There are organizations such as Centre for Social Initiative and Management (CSIM) who are inviting social entrepreneurs to be on their faculty and governing council to train and build budding social entrepreneurs. Social Entrepreneurs can become consultants helping document and share knowledge, best practices with other entrepreneurs and organizations. I can perceive a considerable demand even among corporate organizations to bring in successful social entrepreneurs to play an important role in helping their companies deal with conflict, scale and expansion strategies. Of course, above all this, the most important avenue for social entrepreneurs is indeed to start many new social change initiatives and drive large-scale social change.

Q: How fundamental do you perceive your initiative as being to bring about change?

A: The Dream A Dream model is based on a two-pronged approach - at one level, we are empowering the under-privileged and on another level, empowering and sensitizing the privileged. Dream A Dream completes the intervention model offered by a variety of children's organizations focusing on the basic physical needs of children from vulnerable backgrounds. We help fulfill all the basic rights of children (Right to Survival, Protection, Development and Participation) by exposing them to life-skills development programs and successfully integrating them into the mainstream.

Further, by promoting active volunteerism, Dream A Dream is bringing about an evolutionary change in the attitude of a common Indian to become a sensitive, caring, responsible and engaging citizen of the community.

Do visit www.dreamadream.org 

Charu Bahri is a freelance writer and author of two books. She also writes funding grants and software for a charity working in the health sector.

Issue BG77 Aug07