Social Entrepreneurship
A social entrepreneur works to address social needs and problems in innovative ways, while sustaining the initiative through generating a profit. She differentiates herself from a conventional entrepreneur by focusing on the financial aspects as a means to an end, and not a means in itself. She measuring the success of her endeavour on it’s positive impact on society as a whole. A classical challenge of the social entrepreneur is securing funding that allows her work to sustain itself. It’s a common misunderstanding that profit is unimportant for a social entrepreneur, but in fact the ability to self-sustain by generating profit often determines the viability the ideas or projects of social entrepreneurs.
Baisikeli*, Bikes for a better future – the work of an social entrepreneur
The idea of Baisikeli is to ship used bicycles to Africa where they are repaired or rebuilt and sold, and where the profit forms the foundation for the creation of a sustainable bicycle industry in Africa. - A commodity that has no value in one place may have great value in another - The idea comes from a need for quality bicycles in Tanzania, where most bicycles are of mediocre standard and are sold at an extremely high price. While there is a high demand for used bicycles in Africa – 400,000 bikes are scraped annually in Denmark. Many of these can be used in Africa.
We strive to make bicycles accessible in the poorest areas of the world, where the bicycle can be a means out of poverty. We have designed bicycles that meet the needs of the poorest so that we can:
- Increase the income of farmers by more than 100%
- Create healthcare accessibility
- Increase the attendance of primary schools
All of the above are considered key factors in reducing extreme poverty and meeting the Millennium Development Goals.
“My definition of social innovation is to activate unexploited resources. To take something that has no value at one place, activate it, and thereby impart value into it.” - Henrik Smedegaard Mortensen, founder of Baisikeli
*Baisikeli means Bicycle in Swahili
The Specialists
In 2008 a Danish IT company called “The Specialists” received the international IT award for “most unusual entrepreneurship”, and it is good example of an initiative with a triple bottom line (people, planet, and profit).
The Specialists are known for primarily employing people with autistic behaviour to work with quality checking software, acknowledging that they are some of the best in the field. In a simple and beautiful way the Specialists tell the good story about how IT businesses can be a constructive engine to change the world and improve people’s lives. Not only do the people being employed as a result of this initiative benefit, but so does the computer industry itself through the employees highly developed skills within repetitive quality control.
Usually the IT award goes to millionaires who have been in the industry for a long time, but for the first time, thanks to the Specialists, a social company has received this award. This is something that creates an echo in the entire world among autistic people, therapists and relatives, since a new world where they are actually the best within their field is opening in front of them.
Among young people with autism the initiative gives new hope to enter the job market.
