5 Books That Inspired Me To Become A Social Entrepreneur
What Is a Social Entrepreneur? According to the dictionary a Social Entrepreneur is a person who pursues novel applications that have the potential to solve community-based problems. I would add that there is often a systematic thought to their approach. However, the definitions are many and multiple studies have been done to find the perfect definition. More recently even more concepts are rising to the agenda such as Ecopreneur, Impact Leader, Purpose- Led Business, Social Enterprise, Circular Entrepreneur, Sociopreneur, and I’m sure many more. Regardless of the exact definition I have compiled a list of books that have inspired me on my journey to start and be involved in multiple businesses that exist for another reason than to just make a profit.
1. Conscious Capitalism written by John Mackey, Rajendra Sisodia, Bill George
John Mackey, co-founder and former CEO of Whole Foods Market together with Conscious Capitalism, Inc. co-founder Raj Sisodia have written this book arguing for the inherent good of both business and capitalism. They dive deeply into the four principles of Conscious Capitalism--higher purpose, stakeholder integration, conscious leadership, and conscious culture and management. Conscious leaders are explained as wanting to deliver value to all stakeholders – treating employees, partners, customers, and communities not as merely means to an end, but as ends in themselves. Conscious businesses seek to create financial, intellectual, social, cultural, emotional, spiritual, physical, and ecological wealth. They have a deeper purpose that goes beyond short-term profits. It is a great book for anyone that wants to use business as a means to a purposeful end.
2. Start Something That Matters written by Blake MyCoskie
Blake MyCoskie is the founder of TOMS shoes and took the famous and today highly debatable business model of One-for-One to the market. The book talks about his journey after seeing kids in Argentina without shoes and starting a shoe company that made the famous espadrilles and for every pair, they sold they gave one away for free. The book also goes through a 6-point framework to find profit, meaning, and passion in your business. It is a personal story of a 29-year-old entrepreneur finding his next big idea but also a typical start-up story of how to get something off the ground.
3. The Purpose Economy written by Aaron Hurst
It is a book that is partly a personal memoir of Aaron Hurst and his own awakening as a purpose driven entrepreneur. Aaron left a well-paid job in 2001 to start Taproot, a platform that allowed professionals and companies to volunteer for nonprofits. Like the Information Economy, which has driven innovation and economic growth until now, Hurst argues in this book that our new economic era is driven by connecting people to their purpose. The new are trading in conventional career paths of launching tech start-ups, to starting small businesses that are rooted in local communities or freelancing their expertise. We are sharing everything, from bikes and cars to extra rooms in our homes. We now create, buy and sell handcrafted products in our local communities with ease. This is especially interesting as this book was written already in 2014.
4. The Promise of a Pencil written by Adam Braun
This is the autobiography of Adam Braun and how he turned $25 into more than 200 schools around the world and the guiding steps anyone can take to lead a successful and significant life. The major tips taken from the book are: “take advantage of the freedom that comes with your youth. Inhale life, exhale fire, and embrace the late, sleepless nights, because that's when the magic happens- when everyone else is asleep and you're awake thinking about the world as it is, and the world as it would be. “It is a book that will lift your spirits and it shows the importance of many small steps towards big audacious dreams. Adam was also a pioneer in changing the language of his organisation from “nonprofit” to “for purpose”- something that I just love.
5. Imperfect Courage written by Jessica Honegger
2015 Inc. Magazine listed NoonDay Collection as one of America’s fastest growing companies. However, just a few years prior to that Jessica was standing at a pawn- shop handing over her grandma’s jewellery. At this point she was fundraising money by selling artisan jewellery with the goal of adopting her Rwandan son Jack. She then started Noonday as a side hustle selling the jewellery made in Uganda primarily through trunk shows around the country. This eventually grew into something beyond her wildest expectations. Jessica’s story shines a light on the importance of being brave, standing up for your beliefs, self-worth and that a little goes a very long way. An inspirational story about vulnerability, the importance of a long-term view and female empowerment.
I hope this list has inspired you to pick up a copy of one of the books or perhaps let me know if you have another favourite book about social entrepreneurship.
Xx Alexandra