Social Entrepreneurs and the Characteristics They Possess
Being an typical entrepreneur takes a strong mentality but to be a social entrepreneur takes an extraordinary one.
Social entrepreneurs have to solve a problem for a consumer, while making a profit of some kind (Doesn’t have to be a financial type of profit), and perform some type of public service or benefit to the community.
So what characteristics does it take to be an social entrepreneur? I would first begin with empathy. Wait why empathy one may ask? Why not stubbornness, what about determination, or even intellect? Yes, some social entrepreneurs can display those characteristics but all of them begin with empathy or rather a reason to care about their fellow man and how to improve the world. Brennan Jones began his journey as a social entrepreneur all because he wanted to do more for the homeless than just give a few bucks here and there and began cutting homeless people’s hair for free. Eventually Brennan Jones journey led to a program where the homeless can go to a location to get a free haircut where job recruiters can meet with them and clothes stores lend them suits for interviews. All this happened because a man had empathy and wanted to do more.
Empathy is not the only characteristic needed. A social entrepreneur needs to a problem solver. Empathy is a great characteristic to start with but without a thorough plan things can go badly. While many look up to Tom’s Shoes as an inspiration for social entrepreneurs, many do not realize that in third world countries many shoemakers are put out of business created an unintended consequence. On the other hand the Company Bombas (Appeared in a Shark Tank episode) for every purchase donate a pair of socks, underwear, or a T-shirt to homeless shelter. Bombas points out that the most requested items from a homeless shelter are underwear and socks but most people donate old shirts and pants but don’t think of underwear or socks as a necessity. Bombas and Tom’s have a very similar goal but one company executes their social entrepreneurship better than the other. Problem solving is a vital characteristic but a good social entrepreneur needs to be wary of unintended consequences.
Empathy and problem solving are two great characteristics to have but what else does a social entrepreneur need for a characteristic?
The last base characteristic needed for an social entrepreneur is motivation. Being a social entrepreneur be more stressful than being the CEO of a big company. Staying motivated and keeping up morale is not a skill everyone can just pick up and as a social entrepreneur these characteristics are important for the success of any venture they pursue. While a typical entrepreneur faces the daily challenge of running a business, a social entrepreneur has to also face the challenges of running a business, while keeping up with the social entrepreneur side of running the business. Motivation is a major characteristic every social entrepreneur needs.
Every social entrepreneur will have different characteristics since every social entrepreneurship venture will be different but all social entrepreneurs will share the following three base characteristic: Empathy, Problem solving, and Motivation. One does not need to be the most emphatic, best problem solver ever, or be an extraordinary motivated person to be a social entrepreneur. These are the bases of social entrepreneur’s characteristics and one should use their best personal characteristics to help them become social entrepreneurs.
