Eclairez > Faq

1. Why to participate in Eclairez?

If you ever dream of a business venture but felt that profit is not your end but what matters to you is the social impact that it creates, then Eclairez is meant for you. Social entrepreneurs see opportunities where others see problems and crises. They apply innovative solutions to social and environmental issues, empowering people and communities to envision and create positive change. This competition is meant to combine business acumen with the gumption of solving social issues. The ideas which make to the final round will be mentored by high-profile people who are social entrepreneurs themselves. Besides, the winners will receive a handsome cash prize. Good ideas will get the opportunity to get funded by our partner organisations, venture capitalists and angel investors.

2. What do you mean exactly by social entrepreneurs ?

Florence Nightingale was a social entrepreneur. So was Mary Montessori who revolutionised early learning. Muhammad Yunus with his ideas on micro-credit was one too, and Craig McCaw, the pioneer in cellular and satellite communications, is a social entrepreneur. An entrepreneur who goes beyond just commercial success to transform hundreds of lives with his business model is a social entrepreneur. Running a charitable institute would not constitute social entrepreneurship but equipping thousands of people with a means to livelihood would.

3. How do you define social entrepreneurship ?

Social entrepreneurship is a mechanism to create human capacity in the social sector. I will define it as people working for social causes while exhibiting entrepreneurship qualities like in business. This would include the ability to ideate, design and then implement the process, measure impact and give feedback and the ability to take risks in building the organization. They should also derive quality assurances and should also be able to develop best practices out of these and make this available to others. Our course is meant to create entrepreneurs and not jobs seekers. Some people may require more exposure. The aim of the course is that they should become self managed. Entrepreneurship is not always about profit making, it is about mission accomplishment. Social entrepreneurship is about working within the current constraints, creating an operating model that will adapt and sustain itself to serve the cause in any situation

4. What are the fundamental differences between a social and for-profit founders?

. In terms of temperament, skills, drive, the way they ask questions and think about problems—social and business founders are very much the same creatures. The difference is really in terms of what the founder seeks to maximize .Social entrepreneurs are primarily motivated by an ethical imperative. They seek to respond to urgent needs. The question of why is paramount.

5. What is the Structure and funding of social enterprises?

The profile of financing is similar to that of mainstream entrepreneurs. However, social entrepreneurs are proportionately more likely to have failed to gain access to finance because of the nature of their business. Interestingly, inadequate business planning is not the largest factor for established social enterprises, but unwillingness to share and the costs of finance are.

6. Why Does social entrepreneurship Matter?

Social enterprises are businesses with “primarily social objectives, whose surpluses are reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximize profit for shareholders and owners” or, in short-hand, “businesses trading for a social purpose”. The essence of this definition means that any surplus or profit, is recycled for the benefits of the activity, rather than for shareholders or directors. Because of their structure and constitution, they are able to serve a triple bottom line achieving profitability, societal impact and environmental sustainability simultaneously.

7. What is the most effective way to lead a new organization?
Getting people to buy into a shared vision/ strategy, and inspiring them to do so, as well as putting in the
8. What are the things that keep potential social entrepreneurs from succeeding to fulfilling their potential?

   Social entrepreneurs who run “social enterprises” have a major problem—which is the difficulty in finding patient growth capital targeted at businesses that seek to maximize social, environmental and economic returns at once. A corollary of this problem is the difficulty in recruiting and retaining highly talented people. Another blockage are the lack of two-way bridges between social entrepreneurs and both business entrepreneurs and governments

9. what could government or society do to encourage more social entrepreneurship?

There are many levels at which social entrepreneurship can and should be encouraged. At its essence, the goal is to help build a society in which many, many people have the confidence, skill and desire to solve problems they see around them. The most important qualities in social entrepreneurship are empathy, the ability to collaborate well with others and the stubborn belief that it’s possible to make a difference—which motivates and stimulates people to act. All these can be incorporated in the education .

10. Who is the most famous personality in the field of social entrepreneurship?

The most famous social entrepreneur would be Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank. Like Jobs, Yunus took a product—“credit”—that was once an exclusive item (like the early PCs) and brought it to a mass audience. In so doing, his bank helped to democratize access to capital in a way that is similar to the way that Apple Computer democratized access to information. The effect is similar: more choice and self-determination in the hands of more people globally

11. What is microfinance?

Microfinance – the provision of different and distinct levels of financial service, provides poor people , especially women , with small loans .

12. What is GEM?

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) started in 1999. Now in its seventh year, this world-wide project will involve some 42 countries in 2006. This represents the largest and most rigorous longitudinal study of entrepreneurship in the world.

13. Why measure social entrepreneurship?

With the social enterprise sector as large as it is in the UK, it is important to understand the cultural and entrepreneurial base that supports it, in the interests of developing policies to support more social entrepreneurship and, hence, more social enterprise

14. What is the philosophy and mission of Ashoka Innovators for the public?

Founded in 1980, Ashoka helps to make the social sector entrepreneurial, productive, and globally integrated. Ashoka believes that the most leveraged way to getting a social entrepreneur.

15. How do you identify social entrepreneurs ?

Entrepreneurship is a skill that we can give to people. While most of us are not born entrepreneurs, the passion and the mindset to do social work is a natural instinct. Social entrepreneurship is a set of social, managerial & leadership skills which you give to people who have a passion to do social work.

16. What is an executive summary?

Refer to http://www.ecell-iitkgp.org/competitions/Concipio/resources/

17. How to write a b-plan?

Refer to http://www.ecell-iitkgp.org/competitions/Concipio/faq/