Even though the motivation for a business entrepreneur and social entrepreneur may be somewhat similar , their missions are starkly different . If the business entrepreneur is driven to innovate and excel within a commercial market where his / her success is gauged by how much wealth he / she creates , for a social entrepreneur , wealth creation is equally important but only to be used as a tool to effect social changes . And who better to explain the tenets of social business with context to the readymade garment business then Md . Ashraful Hassan , who took over the mantle ( as the Managing Director ) of Grameen ’ s not-for-profit entity –

Grameen Shamogree recently after guiding and leading Grameen Knitwear ( the Group ’ s knitwear manufacturing unit ) for decades to take it to all new heights .

“ Social business is a cause-driven business . In a social business , the investors / owners can gradually recoup the money invested , but cannot take any dividend beyond that point . The purpose of the investment is purely to achieve one or more social objectives through the operation of the company … The company must cover all costs and make profit and at the same time achieve the social objectives , such as healthcare for the poor , housing for the poor , financial services for the poor , nutrition for malnourished children , providing safe drinking water , introducing renewable energy , etc . in a business way ,” explains Ashraful , the concept of social business , in an incisive conversation with Team Apparel Online . He further emphasizes that social business becomes even more significant at a time when almost 50 % of the world ’ s total wealth is concentrated amongst only one per

The 7 principles of Social Business

• Business objective will be to overcome poverty , or one or more problems ( such as education , health , technology access and environment ) which threaten people and society ; not profit maximization ,

• Financial and economic sustainability ,

• Investors get back their investment amount only . No dividend is given beyond investment money ,

• When investment amount is paid back , company ’ s profit stays with the company for expansion and improvement ,

• Gender sensitive and environmentally conscious ,

• Workforce gets market wage with better working conditions , and

• ... do it with joy .

cent of the population , and this gap is increasing fast .

“ This is driving the conflict between the ultra rich and the poor , thereby vitiating the order of the society …,” says Ashraful , who is also the Managing Director of Grameen Telecom and Grameen Distribution Ltd ., and CEO of Grameen Telecom Trust .

Established in 1997 , Grameen Shamogree owes its origin to the very same cause of social alleviation . Associated with the readymade garment sector for long , Ashraful was surprised when he came to know that many amongst the Grameen Bank ’ s borrowers were poor handloom weavers , who made fabrics for a third-party at a paltry Taka 2 per yard . “ That is not a good pay by any standards …,” explicates Ashraful underlining that limited in terms of their capacities as the fabrics are handmade , the weavers ended up earning almost nothing at the end of the day .

To bring these weavers under a common platform where Grameen