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Social entrepreneurs trying to make a profit and make a difference
A growing breed of businesspeople known as social entrepreneurs have two bottom lines: making money and making a difference. They are individuals who use profit-making businesses -- rather than social service work -- to try to better the world.
"You can run a business with the same ideals as a nonprofit" agency, said Alia Kate, owner of Kantara Crafts, which sells rugs woven by women in Moroccan villages. Kate hopes the rug weavers earn enough so their children aren`t forced to drop out of school to help support the family.
John Kuntz/The Plain Dealer Volunteering can be fun. Jeff Griffiths, executive director of Hands on Northeast Ohio, proves it at a recent dance of Catholic Charities Disability Services. Hands on Northeast Ohio matches volunteers with service projects.
Other Cleveland-area businesses have similar motivations. BeeDance promotes "upcycling," which keeps usable items out of landfills by finding new homes for them. Fresh Fork Market links local farmers with restaurants and other customers.
Such efforts appear to be on the rise in Northeast Ohio. Many colleges and universities, like Case Western Reserve University and Oberlin College, include social entrepreneurship in traditional programs. Local organizations that finance small businesses, like the Civic Innovation Lab, are awarding grants to an increasing number of these start-ups.
"Social entrepreneurs want to change attitudes and behaviors," said Jennifer Thomas, director of the Civic Innovation Lab, which awarded $30,000 grants to BeeDance and Fresh Fork. "They want to make a difference. They want to have an impact on the city."
Many of the area`s social entrepreneurs head newer, owner-run operations with few employees. They often are revamping missions common to nonprofit organizations into money-making models.
BeeDance`s co-founder, Michael Dungan wants to turn his company into a profitable version of ZeroLandfill, which he said has kept 75 tons of trash out of landfills in four cities since 2006. He said the nonprofit format is volunteer-driven, inefficient and "too slow for growth."
The company is creating a Craigslist-like Web site that will match people ready to throw things out with those wanting to take them. The site, scheduled to launch late this year or in early 2010, plans to make a profit through online advertising and membership fees.
"I am confident we are going to be self-sustaining only because there is such a high demand for action around this practice," Dungan said.
BeeDance mimics one of nature`s champions: the hardworking honey bee that efficiently zips about pollinating flowers, he said.
The Internet is also key to Fresh Fork Market. The "virtual farmers` market," started in 2007, now has about 50 farms and about 50 restaurants. Co-founder Trevor Clatterbuck said technology can help the company replicate this model in communities throughout the country. The goal is to have 75,000 small farms nationwide as clients within eight years.
Over the years, several volunteer or nonprofit efforts have tried to link farms and restaurants in Northeast Ohio, said Barb Foose of Blooming Patches Farm in Newbury Township, which uses Fresh Fork. Most soon fizzled, frustrating many who believed the concept held promise, she said.
Karen Small, chef at the Flying Fig restaurant in Ohio City, said she always had a strong desire to buy from local farms but connecting with them and arranging to get the produce often proved too time-consuming.
Without such demand, Clatterbuck said, he and the other owners never would have started the company. But that doesn`t diminish their desire to do good.
"We quickly realized that we could produce a profitable business and promote social and environmental stewardship in one swing," he wrote in an e-mail.
Can the desire to make a change hamper the ability to make a profit?
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