Social entrepreneurship is defined as a business model used by companies to help solve problems while also contributing to positive social and environmental changes. Rather than focusing solely on profits and the bottom line, social entrepreneurs hone in on how their businesses can positively transform the world around them.
That was the goal of Maga Kambala, former Miss Africa Crown International and social entrepreneur focused on helping people and organizations create transformational change through resilience training, executive coaching and skills development.
On the topic of social entrepreneurship, Maga Kambala said, ““Social entrepreneurship is about developing business opportunities that positively impact your community and the people around you. It’s using your venture as a force for good.”
“Try to look at your company’s role in the world as well as the ways you can create positive change,” says Kambala, who says businesses can tap into new growth opportunities by giving back.
There’s a new acronym being tossed around and it’s SROI (Social Return on Investment). SROI assesses the social impact of investments by quantifying social, environmental, and economic outcomes in monetary terms.
SROI is in fact outcomes-based. For example, if an organization were to provids one-on-one reading lessons to children to help promote literacy, the output of the program would be the number of lessons provided. The outcome, however, is how much the program helped increase literacy.
Maga Kambala says that organizations can then share the positive contributions they’ve made. Whether it be in marketing materials, on their website or in engagements with prospective customers and stakeholders, being able to quantify and articulate your social impact can make more people want to buy from you or do business with you.
This carries over to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies. By implementing a CSR policy, companies can show investors that they are doing their best to operate ethically and responsibly. Investors will be more likely to invest in companies that demonstrate good corporate social responsibility.
A holistic approach to social entrepreneurship means looking at the small impacts your business can make day-by-day as well as the positive contributions to society than be made over time.
“It’s one piece at a time,” says Maga Kambala, who plans to continue advocating for positive change, sharing free resources and materials with people who want to follow in her footsteps as entrepreneurs.
On the official website of Maga Kambala, you can learn about corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship as well as other pertinent self-development topics. Recent offerings include personal and professional development, public speaking and communications and community contribution.
“I am quite excited for expanding the piece on community contribution and the way it ties into entrepreneurship,” says Kambala. “It means I can transcend the typical image of that driven entrepreneur to become somebody who has the ability to drive positive change through their work and their enterprise.”
Speaking of enterprise, it’s an enterprising spirit that keeps Maga Kambala committed to seeing her impact on her community.
“There are so many ways to give back, and while I’m starting with educational material so that people can learn how to build on their skills and find new opportunities, I know this is only the beginning.”
