It rarely happens when one can’t find a certain book on Amazon. And one book that you (I was not able to locate it) can’t find on Amazon happens to be one of the best I read on the topic of social entrepreneurship. It is a Research on Social Entrepreneurship: Understanding and Contributing to an Emerging Field, edited by Rachel Mosher-Williams. The book is published by the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA).
When you are starting a company it is a good thing to conduct preliminary market research. When you are planning to ask for the money, either from a foundation or from a VC, it is imperative that you demonstrate your market research. The good thing is that this book does it for you.
In its first chapter, this book defines social entrepreneurship and tries to identify who these entrepreneurs are and where they operate. In a research, the first step is building a base and identifying what is being researched. Social entrepreneurs most often are people with entrepreneurial drive who build organizations, initiatives or programs in the non-profit sector with a desire to change the current processes, and find new better solutions while using most successful business techniques and strategies. This is exactly what the book does, listing seven identifiable factors. Here they are in one sentence: Social entrepreneurs most often are people with entrepreneurial drive who build organizations, initiatives or programs in the non-profit sector with a desire to change the current processes, and find new better solutions while using most successful business techniques and strategies. Since it is clearly identified, social entrepreneurs have a miraculous entrepreneurial drive, in a first chapter authors try to establish and evaluate sources of this drive, such as life experiences and intent. This research is fascinating.
Later in the book, there is an interesting chapter where authors argue that now social entrepreneurship has reached its tipping point. Before it was rather about theory and today social entrepreneurship is all about doing. In fact, I am willing to argue that one of the reasons it is so hard to define social entrepreneurship is because in a short period of time entrepreneurs started to innovate in so many different areas, that now it is just too hard to summarize everything that has been done. Within several years social entrepreneurship became the it subject and now, Time Magazine literally went green, by changing the front page border from red to green. This unique issue was published on Saturday, April 20. This book gives more quantitative reasons to how the tipping point was reached and what factors contributed over time.
Another great section in the book talks about the impact of social entrepreneurship and how it will affect all of us. Personally, I think it will affect us in a very positive way. However, recently I read an interesting article that talked about social entrepreneurship in a not so positive way, stating that this wave will not create a sustainable change but rather will make the news without any lasting impact. Obviously, you can start arguing this and the current evidence says that social entrepreneurs already changed the lives of many, but I guess it will have to be a test of time that will determine how this age of social entrepreneurs has changed the world. This book has a great section entitled “Ashoka’s answer to the challenges of measuring effectiveness.” This is exactly what is needed in order for social entrepreneurs to demonstrate how their work will be measured.
I can’t say it enough – this book is awesome, and I highly recommend you buy it. Here is a link to buy it directly from ARNOVA. And last thing, at the end of each chapter there is an extensive list of other books and papers that is worth looking at. Some of the books listed there will be featured in our later digests.
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