Entrepreneurship is considered one of the most important basic components of the economies of the leading developed countries and is one of the components of the second axis of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 (#Thriving_Economy). So what is it, and how can it have an economic and social impact in the Kingdom, and what are the key sectors it focuses on?
Social enterprises are defined as social entities that use a business model to meet social needs in an innovative and financially sustainable manner, by establishing a commercial entity for social purposes whose goal is not just financial. Social enterprises significantly contribute to the economy, with their share in the GDP of European Union countries being approximately 6%, and 35% in the UK, and 1.4% in South Korea. They also contribute to employment; for example, 6% of the workforce in the EU is in socially oriented companies, 5% in the UK, and 1.4% in South Korea.
In the British experience, which is considered a leading country in social entrepreneurship:
There are 10,000 social enterprises employing 2 million people and contributing around 60 billion pounds to the British economy. Women lead 42% of these enterprises, and 36% of them are led by individuals with disabilities as CEOs. One of the key sectors that can be worked on in social entrepreneurship includes:
Education - Health - Culture and Arts - Sports - Religious services (Hajj and Umrah), all of which fall within the programs of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 such as Quality of Life, National Transformation Program, and the Guests of Rahman Program, and there is a strong interconnection between them.
The Kingdom enjoys a leading global position as one of the most important economies in the Middle East and one of the largest economies among the world's twenty nations. Being an important Islamic and Arab cultural center, it has the opportunity to be one of the leading countries in social entrepreneurship.
Perhaps the most important question is: how did developed countries achieve these results in such a modern sector as social entrepreneurship?
We can summarize the reasons in five main dimensions:
1- Awareness and Promotion: This includes spreading the culture of entrepreneurship in society through forums, events, training camps, and also presenting successful experiences and stories to learn from.
2- Infrastructure: This includes the legal framework for startups and supportive policies, basic infrastructure like incubators and business accelerators, and also technological infrastructure which includes modern technology and advanced innovation centers to support promising companies.
3- Funding: This includes investment funding (individual investors and venture capital), loans, as well as grants, credit guarantees, and support from granting entities.
4- Access to Markets: Developing a network of relationships, data, and identifying promising opportunities in the markets.
5- Training and Mentoring: It is considered one of the most important pillars of an integrated entrepreneurial environment, focusing on building the capacities of startup founders as well as mentoring from those in the same field, including universities and the strength they possess.
There are many examples of social enterprises that have achieved both impacts simultaneously, such as Patagonia, which reached profits of $1B last year,
and the famous ice cream company Ben & Jerry's, the Kiva crowdfunding platform, and many more.
I am optimistic about a significant development in the entrepreneurial environment in general and social entrepreneurship in particular, and God willing, we will see Saudi startups join the club of billion-dollar companies (Unicorns Clubs). We need everyone to achieve this success, God willing.
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