Social entrepreneurship concepts and applications

Social Entepreneurship

Social Entrepreneur

A slum is a dwelling that is built on public or private real estates unlawfully. In Turkey, these illegal settlements started with movement of people from urban to rural areas in the 1950's. Main causes of the migration incident were subdivision of agricultural lands which was caused by the then heritage systems and lack of urban public services like health, education and culture among others in rural areas and job opportunities in metropolitan areas. Currently, on average 10% of buildings are slums in Turkey.

These are mostly in industrialized cities where accessibility is available and public real estates are common. As a result of the political and socio-economic factors, doing away with these slums owned by low income persons is a big challenge (Dumashie 2004). Since slums are not built according to building rules and 92% of Turkey's residential areas are on the seismic belt it is wiser to come up with creative solutions necessary to solve the housing problem instead of protecting the slum.

The main goal of the business idea is to develop a viable solution for the housing problem in urban Turkey. Business organizations are profit-oriented and are therefore usually unwilling to venture into seeking solutions for social problems. The competitive advantage behind this business idea is based on finding cheaper alternative building solutions and an organizational model incorporating user-initiated involvement for the slum dwellers to afford more decent housing.

Statement of the problem

Slum areas in Europe are not characterized by the abject poverty experienced by slum dwellers in third world countries. Rather, they are described as areas where communities face social exclusion whereby the individuals have been pushed to the edge of society which prevents them from fully participating in social life owing to their lack of basic competencies and opportunities. This may result from their lack of finances to afford the level of general standard of living enjoyed by the larger population of the city, especially housing, which prompts them to seek and elect illegal makeshift shelters on government and private property. The nature of the social problems in these communities becomes self perpetuating and more difficult to overcome poverty challenges owing to unemployment and difficulty of the government to effectively provides basic public amenities for the communities.

Turkey has achieved relatively high growth rates in the last decade, but still continues to grow at a much slower rate than other EU countries. The economy suffers a higher unemployment rate than the rest of the EU. The world economic depression of 2007-2010 has largely affected the slum communities of Turkish cities with persistent unemployment showing no signs of abating in the near future (Edgar 2009).

In Africa, Slums tends to cause misery and physical pain for those experiencing it directly and anyone including children is prone to violence. As earlier mentioned Slums has been on the increase in today's society and is currently perceived to be a social and health menace which needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. It is rather unfortunate that majority of those who tend to experience or witness Slums issues in its different forms rarely report to the concerned authorities for instance the law enforcement. As a result many incidences in Slums in the different environs have gone unreported and unheard thus increasing such cases in the community.

There are numerous problems of Slums for instance domestic problems in Slums tends to take place mostly within the family unit, sexual issues which includes intimate partner abuse, marital rape and child sexual abuse, community problems which includes shootings, peer pressure and assaults as well as media influence which is commonly reflected in film, video games and on television (Elliott, et al. 1998). Majority of individuals tend to question why violent behaviors in Africa slums are common or even tend to occur in the first place. Research studies have indicated that violent behavior are caused by different factors, some of which are inherent but most of which are learned from witnessing or experiencing violent behaviors by others, especially from those considered role models (Elliott, et al. 1998). Some experts argue that violence is genet in that chromosomes tend to carry genetic messages that are relayed from parents to their offspring where some of these messages may be aggressive in nature thus inherited. Violent behaviors can also be caused by other factors such as alcohol and substance abuse which tend to interfere with one's better judgment or actions, brain injury which may tend to bring about aggressive or angry behavior in the injured individual and desensitization

Housing being a basic human need greatly determines the ability of persons to optimize opportunities and put more effort in emancipating themselves from social exclusion and poverty. Provision of decent affordable shelter to slum dwellers is thus of utmost importance for societies hoping to eradicate slums from their cities. Government and NGO-driven projects face sustainability problems arising from resource shortage inherent in non-profit ventures and as such have not been able to provide adequately for all public utility needs. Problems plaguing government programs to solve social problems of slums include administrative and management inefficiencies, inability to ensure equitable and fair distribution, and underfunding. Market oriented solutions for social problems are expected to provide sustainable and equitable remedies through finding viable business opportunity in meeting societal needs. By viewing the social problem of slums as a market gap which can be filled by providing cheap affordable housing and enabling the slum dwellers to own the houses.

Cheap Housing for Slums

The business organization envisioned in this business plan will be a construction firm providing cheaper and innovative housing using interlocking bricks and beams made from recycled plastic material. The interlocking bricks are designed in such a way that greatly reduces the use of cement in building and the time taken to finish one unit of housing (Edgar 2009). The construction firm will implement a management design that organizes the community living in the slum to purchase the housing units through microfinance loans based on the Table-Banking model.

This is a different approach than has been in use in Turkey to provide urban housing. The organization will target to mobilize individuals living in the Sultanbeyli slum to form Community-Based Organizations (CBO's) which will provide self-organization of the community to enable individuals to raise funds and credit for purchasing housing units. Through CBOs, individuals will also be able to access other opportunities for business and make it easier for the government and involved organizations to provide services to the community. The Table Banking model to be used in providing micro-finance to the CBO's has enjoyed much success by the Grameer Bank of India which is involved in providing cheap financial credit to poor individuals in society to enable them improve their livelihoods.

The organization will also take a different approach in the choice of building materials used for the housing units. Interlocking bricks, have seen widespread success in East Africa in solving housing problems in slums like Kibera, Kenya. The organization will employ affordable home ownership model to distribute housing units to the slum's residents. The individuals, through their CBOs, will begin the purchasing process of the housing units as construction is underway. Once the units are complete, the new tenants will start using the houses as they continue payment and security for the loan credit will be guaranteed by members of the CBO the individual belongs to.

Being a C.B.O does not mean that we shall ignore the basic principles of doing business since it is the only way to ensure sustainability of the proposed projects. I will be in charge of helping the youth in writing Business plans required by financiers to help those with talent and interest and capability in business.

As a student in management I realize when over 3 billion people from china India and the former soviet empire all want to own a computer, a microwave and a refrigerator, and later dispose them after their life we are going to create an environmental disaster. This means we should try and do more things with less energy and lower emissions. The paper will aim to combine the building technology such that it utilizes recycled plastic materials as one of the ways of managing computer waste. The social business will not be limited to the slum areas only, the technology will also be sold to the real estate developers (Dumashie 2004)

ISSB (Interlocking Soil Stabilized Soil Block)

These are building blocks made using ordinary soil mixed with a little stabilizer and then compressed to form a highly condensed block and then carefully dried under a polythene paper in a process known as curing.ISSB saves up to 50% of the total cost if one was using ordinary building materials and their technical performance is the same.The Interlocking Machines comes in two types, Manual or the hydraulic machine which is used for extensive construction. To be successful in the business of manufacturing interlocking blocks the organization will have to first carry a market survey which will highlight such information as. Competitor products and their equivalent prizes, this is so that after establishing our break-even analysis it can act as a guiding line to set the best price. (Tao 2008)

The survey should enable one establish the best marketing strategies and anticipate any future contingencies.

Entrepreneurship development services

This service will target individuals who wish to start business on their own or in a group it will mainly involve

Training on how to originate business ideas. It is said that if you feed a man you have only feed him a day, a long-term problem in a short-term way. If you show the man how to fish then you have feed him and his family for life and I add that if you show the man how to run a fish business you will have feed the society too. In his book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Kiyosaki explains that the most important skill is how to create business opportunities i.e. seeing with the mind what others fail to see with their eyes. Slum dwellers might not be very educated but with a purpose, creativity and the skill of business entrepreneurship you are set.

Sourcing for information to support the idea through market research.

Sourcing of funds to support the business to enable some margin to operate effectively.

Coming up with plans to execute the idea, the outcomes of plans are sytems, procedures, activity flow charts and budget.

Social entrepreneurship is perhaps the easiest way to become rich as elaborated by Haanel in his eBook the science of getting rich."Give every man more in use value than you take from him in cash value, then you are adding to the life of the world by every business transaction." (Tao 2008)

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE and the DEPARTMENT

The organizational structure will relate the marketing department to the organization as a whole.

Illustration of organizational structure (Tao 2008)

ROLES and RESPONSIBILITIES of the MARKETING TEAM

The roles of the marketing department will include planning and decision-making, the actual network selling, records and tracking costs, computer related tasks, transport and supply model management, and market research it will involve mainly.

1. Building the right sales strategy, Market quotas/niche, and setting most suitable price(s), individual sales strategies for different market niche/segments.

2. Conducting market research: given the contact with actual market and individual customers, we will be in best position to carry out research and data gathering for our potential customers.

3. Training and motivating the team involved.

4. Building necessary cost projections and sales estimates to enable tracking sales revenue against set goals; also drafting the initial books of account for the department.

5. Working in coordination with other departments to harmonize / synchronize the organizational/accounting, production and marketing processes, e.g. defining optimal productivity (production, revenue & cost curves/graph), marketing the organization as a whole through magazine and website, ole.

6. Managing the sales process and its continued improvement,

7. Getting the actual sale: this includes organizing non-bulk transport of product to individual customers, following up potential customers to lock in the sale.

Illustration of marketing department roles (Tao 2008)

MARKETING STRATEGY

This section will explain the choice of marketing strategy and its advantage over other marketing strategies. It will also explain in detail the network strategy.

Stakeholder Analysis (Beneficiaries)

The main beneficiaries from organizational activities are mainly

The slum dwellers will benefit from better housing and minimal rent

The youth will gain from employment opportunities in Manufacturing of bricks and others will be in recycling process later construction of the houses.

The Urban surrounding will benefit from better sanitation and drainage

The Business environment will benefit from the construction purchases especially the raw materials. In this category are also professionals who stand to benefit from construction activities like architects and masonries.

The government will indirectly benefit from decreased crime rate, Health issues from their citizens especially from the slums and is likely to benefit from benefits of having patriotic citizens.

The slum dwellers will benefit from entrepreneurship development services since those who will seek the services will mostly run successful businesses hence improving their lifestyle

Means of reaching to the beneficiaries

The easier way to approach the slum dwellers is by approaching them if there are any registered groups through the chairman of the individual groups. This has the advantage in that one gets to know the people, know what they do, and get a feedback of what they think about the proposed project. Such meetings also help to customize your proposal better. The business community, if approached directly one can offer financial and professional advice to the organization which will go a long way to ensuring the success of the entire project from manufacturing, distribution and marketing (Dumashie, 2004)

The government through the appropriate ministry can facilitate the inhabitants of slums especially if the activities in question provide better governance.

CAPITAL, HUMAN and PHYSICAL RESOURCES REQUIRED

The organization will start with a minimum of four partners mainly a specialist in Finance, Marketing, production and a financiar.Interlocking department requires at least 4 casuals for the manual machine and seven for the hydraulic machine. Initial capital required will depend on the demand of the organization products and the finance specialist will create a partners account which will enumerate the partnership deed and important clauses therein (Yukseker 2009)

Market Segmentation

A group of investors are considering investing in and building a family of nursing homes. They require a feasibility study to be conducted as to segment attractiveness and to assist them in creating the marketing mix.

1. Considering the appropriate variables of demographic, benefits, geographic and psychographic sought, the meaningful segments are being able to measure, access, differentiate and act on these particular segments (Peter & Donnelly 2006).

2. Given the guidelines for segment attractiveness in the text, the segments that are most attractive include benefit sought where the market is as per the different benefits consumers seek from the product and psychographic where the market is classified according to lifestyles, personal characteristics or social class (Peter & Donnelly 2006).

3. Given the targets a marketing mix strategy that will serve the market as well as the investors would include Price where this concept is determinant of the number of consumers who would develop interest in the housing. It is believed that the lower the prices the larger the number of customers (Peter & Donnelly 2006). Promotion would be another consideration given the targets as this can be used to create awareness and advertise the company's houses.

The 7s entails a framework that will help in management. These will include strategy which involves having a set that involves the actions that you have to start with and which must be maintained throughout. The second is structure will involve the organization of people as well the tasks that are to be taken. Third are the systems that will comprise of the various processes as well as information that help in bringing the entire organization together. Fourth is the style adopted by the managers that define how they should behave? Staff is the fifth component that entails how the organization is in a position to develop managers both at the moment and future. Organization must have goals that are super ordinate which defines the long-term vision helping to shape the future and destiny of the organization performance. The last one is the skills. This will involve the attributes that are dominant in terms of the capacity of the members who make the organization. These strategies in the change management adapted by the managers will ensure that the organization is successful.

REVENUE ALLOCATION

Partners will agree to treat the business as a separate entity and therefore bound to each other to share realized returns in the following manner.

i) Wages to be paid to a member who performs specific business as agreed prior by the business.

ii) Net income/Loss to be shared monthly or otherwise depending with the nature of transactions in the period.folowing the guide

a) Divided to members -60% of income/loss

b) Marketing & Research provision -20%

c Reserve a/c (Contingencies) -20%

For example; Business loss, Machine Repairs, Depreciation

EXPECTED CHALLENGES & RECOMMENDED REMEDIES

Possible malfunctioning or Loss of brick machine -- Client to sign a contract on the safety of the machine and we ensure that one of the casuals is ours.

Vandalism of Brick walled advertisement boards-Liaising with outlet retailers to keep watch of the same.

Delays in payment by clients -- Always ensure that the deposit is sufficient to at least break-even before engaging a client.

Print Marketing can result to large orders which we may not manage due to capacity -- Assurance by financier to acquire additional incubator with supported orders.

GROWTH STRATEGY (WINNING STRATEGY)

Increased promotion effort will lead to increased enquiries and consequently more work. All partners understand that it was and always will be a great advantage to have passion and curiosity for anything today more than before because so many tools are available to take our passion of becoming successful entrepreneurs so much farther and so much deeper.