A friend asked about ACT (Quick Response Actions), that lots of people struggling working in disaster areas. “For social needs, do we have to work that hard? Then you called yourself a social entrepreneur, what is its relevancy with ACT?”

There are two points in that question. First about social activity. Second about differences between social worker (SW) and Social Entrepreneur (SE). There are two same words, social, but different in meaning. Besides, there are also two different words with two different meaning.

The meaning of Social Worker is the ones who work for social activity. The meaning is suitable with the words, to conduct social activities. The word social in Social Entrepreneur is different. It doesn’t only related to social activities. With the word entrepreneur after it, the meaning of social has developed to community matters/problems. Same words, different meaning.

The word “worker” and “entrepreneur” are very different in meaning. Worker is the one who works, Entrepereneur is the one who creates works. The ones who do social work in disaster area, they are called social workers. However, the ones who do the ACT, they are entrepreneurs. ACT could only stay as social works institution if they are only regularly helping the disaster’s victims. Strategies need to be developed in order to help those people  to change their fates. How? That’s the area of Social Entrepreneurs.

The benefit of social entrepreneurs are many. The more businesses to create, the more vacancies are created. More over if they are visioner entrepreneurs, which means that they are not only developing business but also the economics. We have to be aware that business is different from economics.

The differences between them are on ownership and benefits. Business gives benefits for the owner, workers and partners. Even if they have to compete illegally, that’s business. The logic of economic is different. Economics need to be developed using entrepreneurial principals. Business is part of the economics. Developing economics is to develop all aspects of businesses. If we develop a business, the benefits are only for the owner and operationals. Developing economics, more parties will gain benefits. Even the ownership then developing to for each person that doing the business, the ones who works and do other business activities inside it.

Developing the economics could not be done by businessman. It should be government’s area. Therefore, the government must fair and good in the making of the policies. For example, franchaisee system. If someone takes franchaise and given profit 80-90%, that could be called developing the economics. However if the owner of the franchaise still taking high profit, well it is so called business. The owner of franchaisee will still rich eventhough he only take 10% of profit sharing.

Back to the social worker. Each of social entrepreneur is a social worker, bot not all social workers are social entrepreneurs. Both social workers and social entrepreneurs have the same limitation that they are only working in grassroot and empowerment area.

Working for others is not really interesting for sure. Businessmen and most top executives of  government  still do not understand the meaning of being  a stateman. The other lower level of government officers  do not really understand their position, function, tasks and roles. They are only working administratively and so they are called formal beaurocrats. Some of them do not understand their roles in building the nation.

What they, both government officers and businessmen, need is spirit of social entrepreneurship to deal with the problems in the community using entrepreneurial principals. Anybody who work for the government (top level executives or lower levels) and expected to be called a  “stateman”, they should be acquainted with and train their social entrepreneurship. And so the policies that come from them will give benefits for public, for our nation.

To create the community to live and be independent, will also make them stronger. Economically, they will become a market strength that are ready as new buyers of things produced by the businessmen. In the context of nation and country, It is strengthening  the equitable defense , isn’t? A community self defense and secure? Wallahua’alam

 Posted by Erie Sudewo, 30 November 2009 at eriwsudewo.niriah.com