As a new breed of entrepreneurs begin to underline their strong presence in the business arena, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: businesses that proactively understand and engage with social issues will benefit most and they can easily identify the right paths for creating value from opportunities and the risks arising from sociopolitical issues.

Not all enterprises are driven by a profit motive. If it sounds a little exaggerated, blame it on the low visibility factor. Nevertheless, it is a fact. A new breed of entrepreneurs is taking the plungenot for profit sake, but for something noble, i.e., social change. Unlike the business world, social entrepreneurs are driven by creative individuals who question the status quo, exploit new opportunities and their ultimate goal is to remake the world for better. And fortunately, with determination and innovation, even a single entrepreneur can make a remarkable difference with practical solutions to social problems. These entrepreneurs thrive on challengesbe it related to health, education, labor conditions or human rights.

The most frequently quoted definition of social entrepreneur was formulated by Prof. J Gregory Dees, Stanford University in 1988. He outlines five factors that define the social entrepreneurship: adopting a mission to create and sustain social value (not just private value); recognizing and relentlessly pursuing new opportunities to serve that mission; engaging in a process of continuous innovation, adaptation, and learning; acting boldly without being limited by resources currently in hand; and exhibiting a heightened sense of accountability to the constituencies served and for the outcomes created. In short, Drayton, CEO, Ashoka (a global organization that identifies and invests in leading social entrepreneurs) describes, social entrepreneur who combine the pragmatic and resultoriented methods of a business entrepreneur with the goals of a social reformer. Going by these definitions, social entrepreneurs are people who bring about social change. To accomplish this, they identify unique ways of combining proven practice with innovation to address complex social problems. For instance, Dr. Verghese Kurien, founder of the Amul Dairy Project, is the classical example of a social entrepreneur in India. He has revolutionized the dairy industry by creating a distinctive supply chain and business proposition culminating in White Revolution. The drive was social, and the result was a unique and sustainable business model.

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