What or who are social entrepreneurs? A social entrepreneur is an organization or individual that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in human and environmental well-being, rather than maximizing profits for external shareholders. The preparation of class 20 tells us stories of many social entrepreneurs that have been successful in their fields. A few notable social entrepreneurs are;  Muhammad Yunus (Grameen Bank),Jaqueline Novogratz (Acumen Fund), Bill Drayton (Ashoka), Sally Osberg (Skoll Foundation), Mrs. Kassahun (Salems Ethiopia), Ms. Tesfaye (Shega Shero Eatery and Yana Sweets). How are these notable individuals different from any other entrepreneurs? Social entrepreneurs are usually:

• Ambitious.
• Mission driven
• Strategic
• Resourceful
• Results oriented

Going back to the question, it is fair to say that there isn’t any accurate answer to the question. I personally feel that social entrepreneurs not only aim to maximize profits, but also aim to improve the standard of living of the community. United Nations may be fully funded, but their funds are not so much to improve everyone’s standard of living. This is where, Arc initiative and social entrepreneurs comes into picture. The pre reading material written by our comm 101 instructor Jeff Kroeker, tells us positive things that Mrs. Kassahun and Ms. Tesfaye done to their community. They were able to not only employee individuals but also gave them incomes which were so much more than the average annual income of Ethiopia. This would have not been possible without the help of the Arc Initiative.

In my perspective, Arc initiatives have played a vital role in spreading awareness amongst the social entrepreneurs. The United Nations may be fully funded but it will not be always available to address the struggle of each and every community. Hence, workshops and programs like The Arc Initiative should always be encouraged.

I was reading through Najila’s Blog post and saw one of her blog post which intrigued me. Her blog post was about  WiFi becoming a threat to phone carriers as its features are becoming more famous in huge cities. In her blog post, Najila includes a comment by David Goldman’s which was posted on CNNMoney which talks about how people may not need a mobile carrier by 2020 as WiFi is becoming more and more available, even in airplanes.

Nowadays, if you look at anyone’s smartphone, we can see that their WiFi is always switched on, and the reason for this is that everyone is trying their level best to maximize the use of WiFi everywhere they go in order to minimize their data costs. Najila mentions that nowadays there are applications to receive phone calls and text messages over WiFi, hence lessening the use of phone carriers.

This might be a threat to the phone carriers as people tend to substitute phone carriers with WiFi. In the long run, a lot of phone carriers may shut down as a result of not making enough revenue to run the firm. In order to prevent this from happening phone carriers may reduce their plan prices (to stay competitive) or create an innovative feature that will allow users to experience features that are not supported with WiFi. The second measure is a long term approach which requires a lot of investment in Research and development; however, reducing the prices of carrier plan is always a strategic option.

To read the full article click on the following link:

Najila’s Blog link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/najlasekar/2014/11/01/wifi-becomes-a-threat-for-phone-carrier-companies/

Article link: http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/07/technology/mobile/wifi-mobile-carrier/index.html?iid=HP_LN

On the 3rd of November, 2014 (Class 18)  Comm 101 section 101 was honored to have three notable Sauder Alumni’s as a guest speaker. This did not only make the class much more fun, but it also taught the fundamentals of starting our own business. We had with us the CEO and founder of Tangoo- Paul Davidescu, CEO and founder of Naked Coconut- Paul Gill, and Founder of Sip Soda- Jenifer.A.M. All the speakers told us how they started their business and how they grew their business.

First we had Paul Gill, founder of Naked Coconut speak with us. He started his business about 2 years back, and the main reason of starting his business was because, Paul was frustrated with the lack of trustworthy products in the market. Paul, had just graduated and hopping from one job to another. He was feeling dejected as he quit his first gig and wanted to jump ship again. Dissatisfied with limited responsibilities early in his working life, he hoped to tap into his much criticized lack of patience to jumpstart something more exciting. He then thought of this brilliant idea, by converting coconut oil and aminos to soy free seasoning sauce. After the success of this product, he then wanted to complete the product family, hence he created the organic virgin coconut oil and raw organic coconut nectar. we asked him ho many employees does he have working with him; and he replies; “Me, I and Myself”.

Next, Jenifer.A.M spoke about how she started Sip soda. She said that, she wanted see people enjoy drinking soda but due to the harmful ingredients of soda people refrain from drinking soda. She saw this niche, and wanted to cover this niche with her product, which later was know an sip soda. This is not exactly pop or soda, it is just flavored water with a slight fizz. she also told us about the tragedy she faced while exporting the soda. She lost over $3000 in this tragedy, however, she didn’t give up, instead she suggested all of us to learn from our mistakes and be sure to not commit them in future.

Finally, we had Paul Davidescu- founder and CEO of Tangoo speak to all of us. Paul, went to Barcelona and worked with adidas in his co op and exchange year. This was where his business idea technically came into picture. He wanted to make something out of his business idea, hence after his graduation he started making his business service. Tangoo is an app which allows you to choose your mood and converts that into a filter which will then show you all the possible outing places that matches your mood. Right now, it is a free app but in the future it might be a paid app. And his suggestion to all of us was to build our connections right from day 1 of business school. It was also very fortunate for him and his firm as his business idea will feature one episode of dragons den. I wish him luck!

Overall, it was indeed an informative class, where all of us got to understand the struggle and success of these business individuals. Its not always possible for businesses to be successful in the market, there will always be ups and downs. I am really thankful to the whole Sauder Team, who have made this event happen, nonetheless, i would like to thank all the notable speakers, who have spared some time to speak to all of us.

To view the business websites, click on the links below;

http://www.nakedcoconuts.com/get-to-know-us/our-story/

http://www.sipsoda.com/

https://tangoo.ca/

I was going through the social trigger (A professional business blog site) and I saw a blog posted by Derek Halpern which intrigued me in writing a response to his blog. The title of his blog post was “There’s only ONE thing that separates a business that thrives and a business that dies…”

He says that there’s only ONE THING that separates a business that thrives and a business that dies. Firstly, he says that its not Social media, neither connections, nor is the tactical or technological nonsense.

So what is the big secret?

According to Derek Halpern, its all about generating more sales, not just any sales but profitable sales. According to him, more sales means more money. And more money means, you can do what you love, help a tremendous amount of people, and make a comfortable living for yourself and your family.

Another question to consider is how to increase sales of a business?

He, suggests that businesses should not be “pushy” towards its customers, instead they should be smart enough to make customers genuinely interested in what the business does. And this is where his project begins. He tells that the secret of thriving a business in the market is revealed in his new released magazine. so, if you want to know how to thrive your business in the market, you might have to buy his magazine.

This is just an example of how to increase generate sales of a business. He again stresses on the fact to not be “pushy” as he later tells us that “If you feel like you’re already doing well enough in your business, and you don’t need to know how to make more sales, feel free to ignore this. No hard feelings.”

To read the full article refer to this link.