Entrepreneurs Create Jobs; Social Entrepreneurs Change Lives

Entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs are increasingly in the news, as they create much-needed jobs and change people’s lives. They are celebrated for their efforts and recognised for their achievements. Politicians, business groups, community leaders and many others praise their work and highlight the crucial role they play in growing the economy and building an inclusive society. But what is all the fuss about? What makes them so special?

Entrepreneurs

The entrepreneur’s ability to create jobs has never been more important, as austerity bites and unemployment, particularly amongst young people, remains a concern.

Entrepreneurs have a special quality that enables them to turn ideas into actions and actions into businesses that create opportunities where none previously existed.

Instead of looking for a job or wait for someone to give them a job, they simply and, it appears, effortlessly create their own and then create more for people around them.

Entrepreneurs see things differently and find opportunities where others don’t, as they build businesses from nothing in the most unusual of ways and unlikely of circumstance.

They often experience failure but have the ability to keep going until they find success, as they possess the resilience needed to learn from setbacks and apply the lessons to their next venture.

Entrepreneurs have the priceless habit of getting things done and achieving what they set out to do, regardless of the obstacles faced or difficulties encountered.

Social Entrepreneurs

Social entrepreneurs, just like entrepreneurs, have been around for a long time, and make a significant contribution to the economy and, more importantly, to society.

The financial crash of 2008 and the resultant austerity driven recession highlights the weakness of an unfettered capitalist driven market, as it demonstrates that even though capitalism creates great wealth it also creates great inequality.

Social entrepreneurs, thankfully, provide a solution as they address capitalism’s shortcomings and unpleasant side effects by engaging with people who experience poverty and suffer from disadvantage and exclusion.

They are driven just like other entrepreneurs to work hard and build successful organisations but have the added motivation of pursuing a social purpose for the common good.

Social entrepreneurs bring an extra dimension to their work as they provide the glue of social cohesion and build social capital in areas not reached by the traditional economy, financial markets or government.

They are now seen as an essential part of the mainstream economy, as it is no longer considered acceptable to accept that capitalism creates wealth for the few at the expense of the many.

Entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs have many things in common and will continue to be in the news for good reason: they make things happen, improve people’s lives and help build a better world.

SO, entrepreneurs create jobs and social entrepreneurs change lives and we need more of them to ensure a vibrant economy and a fair society.