Call From Community: Giving Back As An Entrepreneur
Being an entrepreneur and running a business does not only mean making money and growing profits, even though it is the practical bottom line. We have to be very forward-thinking in approach to our products and services. Finding innumerable ways to build functional and cost-effective products and services, and also, provide innovative solutions to financial, practical and social problems is imperative.
Business is a vehicle to serve people. We must build businesses with a vision of creating job opportunities in the local community. The jobs keep the community financially stable which in turn allow a positive re-investment of the monthly salary back into the economy allowing a healthy thriving of other small businesses to grow and hire more.
We, as entrepreneurs and businesses, need to find causes that support and align with our business visions. Some endeavours are very dear and channelling of resource support eventually gets chalked out in the form of funding, sponsorships or scholarships. We need to be fast thinkers and hold an innately huge appetite for free-thinking which is ongoing with infusing fresh out-of-the-box ideas and solutions.
We need to be empathetic without losing focus on the vision of our business and constantly strive towards creating better conditions and improving the quality of life not just for us but also those around us. A lot of us want to tackle social menaces and forbidden topics – drug addiction, drinking and poor lifestyle; many sign up to become brand spokespersons of the same cause. Nervous breakdowns and mental burnouts are also very common in the work industry, which is why we often campaign for mental health awareness being the need of the hour.
Giving back to society comes with a definite sense of empowerment as we are hoping to make a holistic impact besides building products and services that will influence the general standard of living. The aim is to earn the consumer’s trust in the brand and not just create awareness around the brand’s activities. Look at Apple, for instance. It fosters a credible tribe to review the business and in turn, brings a lot of layered passion and a new perspective to the table. Simultaneously, there is immense networking taking place, thereby revealing the new scope and potential for growth.
A mutual nurturing transpires during the process of giving back to the community in more ways than one – from growing relationships, pooling resources, sharing ideas and industry expertise and generating referrals. As informed citizens we are also making the community stronger, more aware and of course, elevating the quality of life by making it safer and healthier than existing conditions.
In a simple cause like volunteering, a renewed sense of responsibility towards managing complexities can be found. Being able to decide how we want to effect change and bring a difference to the existing order of things also culminates into a learning process for us; through the mutual sharing of ideas and fresh first-hand feedback from the customer base. This helps to improve existing skills and add fresher skills to the resume.
A fundamental entrepreneurial habit is to find solutions to certain problems at hand irrespective of the monetary results. We consider it a challenge and an honour to be able to provide solutions to problems that have been perturbing a community for the long-term. This feeling comes from a nurtured space of empathy to work for the upliftment of the underprivileged sections of society in the form of a dramatic initiative which is impactful enough to make a valuable difference.
That being said, the biggest brand ambassadors of a business are its employees. So it is essential to tap into their understanding of the society and its existing order. We must begin by paying attention to their needs before venturing out into the advancement of the bigger section of society. Multiple surveys have found out that businesses with greater morale and happiness quotient have retained more employees. Promoting the value of volunteering and giving back to the community, therefore, is an incredible company culture where everyone is a winner.
Mr Prasad Bhide, Founder & CEO at Aaji Care Home Health Services Pvt Ltd, is passionate about creating a positive difference in-home health care services, especially for senior citizens. He founded Aaji Care Home Health Services Pvt Ltd after experiencing inconsistency in quality post-operative care for his mother and grandmother. He is also an active member of the ASCENT Foundation, a powerful peer-to-peer learning platform for entrepreneurs.
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Regards,
The CSR Journal Team
