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“With freedom of movement granted to capital and the deregulation of financial markets, new financial products and hedge funds of all kinds have proliferated: their only goal is to produce value-added market, whose long-term growth is assured by that of the real added value in industry, permitted by increased pressure on wages. These funds voracious need to drain the ever-larger sums, which will destroy the system of pensions and health insurance to attract the savings of employees.

In a stock market crisis, no real wealth is “up in smoke” because only the fictitious bubble collapse and the loss of a speculator is the potential gain of another. However, the ensuing economic recession will be paid by workers, in debt people and the most fragile populations of the world.

The truth about financial capitalism is there, naked. A system that will provide 15 or 20% per year return to shareholders and which claims to dispense with any public regulation, leaving the planet to the law of the market is deadly.” [Http://www.france.attac. org /]

This deregulated system leads to increasing unemployment (especially youth) everywhere and an unprecedented rise in inequality. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) states that 380 million more people in developing countries will live on less than a dollar a day by 2015, and the global development goals of primary education will not be achieved if the present trend continues: 47 million children in developing countries will not attend school in 2015.

The essential question is this: The man must not serve the economy,  but the economy  must be at the service of man!

SOCIAL ECONOMY

A concrete way to fight against the crazy drift of the economy is to promote social economy. This term designates one hand a set of social enterprises operating on principles of equality of persons (1 person 1 vote), solidarity among members and economic independence, and other activities to try out new “models” of how the economy works, such as fair trade integration through economic activity.

A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a venture to make social changes (Wikipedia). A social entrepreneur is both motivated by business and passionate about social change. Social enterprises sell goods and/or services in order to generate a profit as normal enterprises, but they use this profit to benefit society, instead of keeping it for private gain.

Social entrepreneurship can therefore be a relevant way for young people to pass two main thresholds of the transition to adulthood: entering into the world market and taking a place in their communities and being accepted as responsible citizens.

“Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry.”

— Bill Drayton, CEO, chair and founder of Ashoka, a global nonprofit organization devoted to developing the profession of social entrepreneurship.

EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISES

Here are some examples illustrating various types of social enterprises (See “The social enterprise starting point guide, http://www.sel.org.uk/uploads/StartingPoint_1.pdf) in industrialized countries as well as in developing countries:

• Model A: the Ethical Business

In the issue 2 of Indaba-Magazine, you can read the story of Nontwehnle Mchunu, a young woman for South Africa, who wanted her business to be more than just a way of making her money. She had the idea of using the cacao produced in Africa to create the first world class chocolate brand. However, she had not only business in mind, but sustainable change and solidarity. Her ambition was to build a successful business that may help to create jobs in the townships of South Africa (where unemployment is as high as 40%) and expand access to vocational education for many youth through her business.

• Model B: the Voluntary Sector Entrepreneurs

Think about an organization which runs a scheme to assist people with disabilities into employment. For several years they have provided training in plumbing and now they have a team of skilled workers with a service to sell. While they receive grant funding from their local authority, this is only ever on a 2-year basis and it is never guaranteed. To ensure that they can continue to empower people with disabilities they have concentrated all their efforts on running a business as opposed to a ‘project’. The profits made pay real wages to the employees as well as contributing to the training budget for new trainees.

Another example can be found in a developing country : this association, located in Guinea, is aimed at helping street children by providing them vocational training in farming and bakery. Instead of just running a vocational training centre, they decided to help youth run a real business by selling to people the vegetables and the bread they produce. By this way, the association achieve two objectives: (1) becoming self-sufficient; (2) training young people on running a small business.

• Model C: the Charity’s Trading Company

Charity C is very small but has been working for years to find a cure for a rare degenerative disease. The organisation was previously reliant on grants from the government and donations from the public. Because the disease is so rare, it receives little attention from people other than those whose lives are directly affected by it. In order to generate funds the charity decided to set up a trading arm, thereby avoiding UK Charity Law restrictions. The trading arm has designed and copyrighted a specialist course of therapy that it sells to hospitals and doctor’s surgeries around the world. The profits made are re-invested into research for an eventual cure.

• Model D: the Employee Buyout

Convenience Store D used to be independent before being bought out by a high street chain. However the chain has now decided that, because of its location in a deprived part of town, the shop is unprofitable and they are closing it down. The staff, several of whom have been there since before the buyout, disagree and believe that their area needs a shop because the nearest supermarket is several miles away and they are concerned that local residents, especially children, are not eating enough fresh fruit and vegetables. Setting up as a co-operative, whereby each member of staff has an equal share and say in how the business is run, they used the severance pay offered to them to buy the stock and the lease of the shop. By coming together they have helped themselves keep their jobs and their area keep its shop.

• Model E: delivering Public Services for the Public

With the government contracting out more public services to private sector businesses Company E was set up by concerned individuals representing a number of parties interested in keeping the street cleaning service in the public domain. Service users, council officials and local business leaders sit on the board of this not- for-profit company that successfully tendered for the contract put out by the local authority. Its mission is to make the best use of public funds in order to be able to provide a quality service, as oppose to maximising profits for external shareholders.

STARTING UP A SOCIAL BUSINESS

You want to start a social business, what are the steps you need to follow?

A social enterprise is first and foremost a business. As with ‘conventional’ businesses, you need to market your services, do your accounts, complete tax returns, comply with regulations and do everything else that a business has to do. On top of that it’s likely that you’ll have other elements to cope with that arise from your social aim.