Reyna's Social Entrepreneurship Blog

 

East Bali Cashews is a social enterprise that strives to make sustainable change and opportunities for the impoverished region of farmers in East Bali, Indonesia. The founder and traveler, Aaron Fishman felt the need to improve the quality of life of the people in rural East Bali, and began doing this by helping local farmers grow cashews. They sell food products with their cashews locally in Bali and have expanded across Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the US.  EBC impacts the local farmers in East Bali by helping them generate profits and teaching them sustainable farming techniques . Farmers are able to create income by growing cash crops and being involved in other value-adding activities, such as Village Drying Centres. The drying centres allow extra space for cashew nuts to dry, which eliminates product loss and simultaneously helps farmers make extra income.  EBC is creative and resourceful when it comes to eco-friendly energy . They use the leftover cashew ...

 Why is it so important to stay skeptical when we think of progressive businesses?  At first, progressive businesses seem like they are THE solution to social problems. They embody the ethos of “managerialism,” which is to be more socially responsible. Progressive businesses focus not only on the wellbeing of their shareholders, but their stakeholders.  Businesses can make a social impact by solving market problems, with ideas of buying and selling. However, it is the government’s responsibility to solve the market failures. Therefore, it’s impossible for progressive businesses to completely solve social issues alone. Yes, they can do great things for their employees and stakeholders, but not all citizens. I like the example given in the article about how corporations can surely provide great health insurance to their own employees, but only the state can provide adequate health care for all citizens, including those unemployed. In the end, this article is telling us to q...

 

Beginning:  Learning the necessary theories and concepts in understanding social entrepreneurship. Understand the potential of businesses to produce a social impact above all. Middle:  Analysis - Viewing specific examples of social businesses in practice Understanding how they operate successfully Ending:  Outcomes and impact  Sharing our understandings we learned with each other. Understanding how social businesses play a role in our lives Seeing what they produce in the world and how we can contribute 

     At the moment, I am interested in doing a social business case study. I honestly don't know which business I would choose yet. I need to become more familiar with social businesses or social enterprises. This is a good opportunity for me to explore which local or Canadian social businesses exist. I would like to choose a business that resides in my community and maybe reach out to the business owner.       I would like to discover what they are doing in terms of social well-being. I am also curious to learn why these businesses made the choice to be social. Does it make it easier or harder to operate financially? Are people more attracted to a socially focused business?      I feel like this would be a great way to dive deeper to see what makes social businesses unique. It might inspire me to build a business one day that has the same effects and to engage and buy from more of these businesses.