Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield turned a $5 correspondence course on ice cream and built one of the largest ice cream empires in the world by making humanitarianism and philanthropy integral parts of their business ethic. Entrepreneurship is defined as a business enterprise that makes a profit through undertaking risks and innovations; Ben & Jerry’s fit well by the definition.

In the market for Ice cream, there are many competitors but Ben & Jerry were able to place an emphasis on innovation by creating new products and new production methods which revolutionized the ice cream industry.

Ben & Jerry’s was able to introduce many new varieties of flavours which matched customer’s tastes and preferences and was able to sell it a reasonable price. Ben & Jerry’s set their company apart by one distinct characteristic, upstanding the highest level of business ethics at all time. “Business has a responsibility to give back to the community”. – Ben Cohen.

Ben & Jerry’s faced many challenges when they started their small company but they became recognized for its successful social entrepreneurship as for its ice cream.

More on Ben & Jerry’s company:

http://www.startupnation.com/business-articles/1296/1/social-entrepreneuship-ben-cohen.asp

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197626