BEYOND helping the less fortunate, social enterprise is the best business model for the future, said an entrepreneur.

Speaking at the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) general membership meeting, Microventures Inc. president Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV said social enterprise simultaneously addresses spiritual, material and environmental divides in society.

While he lauds the Filipinos for being charitable, especially during times of calamities, he believes there are some poor people who do not need charity. Instead, they need help acquiring skills to better themselves.

Aquino, who organized the Hapinoy stores with his business partner Mark Ruiz in 2006, likened successful social enterprises to “a new form of people power.”

“There is dignity in livelihood. If they (poor) are able to build a business on their own, there is a dignity there that can’t be bought,” he said.

PinoyME, a non government organization, recently held its first micro-entreprenuers forum aimed at giving entrepreneurs full knowledge in running a small business and the available financial vehicles in the country. Ken Ishikawa, one of the organizers from PinoyME, said the group usually hold forums on value chain purposes and on business development services but they…

Knowing the importance of skills mastery for budding businessmen, the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) in partnership with Accenture, Inc., and ABS-CBN Bayan Academy created two-day training for BiD entrepreneurs. Sixteen Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) owners took part in the said training held last November 28-29, 2011 in Manila to hone their abilities…

MANILA, Philippines — Among the opposing great forces of human nature are: self-interest and caring for others. In business, the former is simply called “corporate greed” while for the latter, we put many labels to it – “corporate philanthropy,” “corporate social responsibility,” and just recently, “social enterprise” or “social business.”

What is Social Enterprise or Social Entrepreneurship?

How do you define social enterprise and how is it differentiated from a profit-oriented business? The term was originated by Bill Drayton, a famed social entrepreneur and founder of Ashoka Foundation. As its central organizing principle, social enterprise aims to directly and deliberately address societal inequality. Its primary objective is to maintain or uplift social conditions that go far beyond financial criteria usually mandated by traditional corporate funders and other stakeholders. In contrast, the first priority of business is mainly geared towards economic accomplishment. A typical business by its very nature has to show profits at least equal to its cost of capital otherwise, it will fold up and cease to exist.

                The Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) recently received a grant of PhP 3.49 million awarded by Accenture Philippines, to help set up and manage training development programs for promising entrepreneurs in the country. The grant is aligned with Accenture’s global corporate citizenship focus, Skills to Succeed,…

A businessman got a loan through the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP). Three years came and went but the small entrepreneur is still where he was when he started the business. Obviously, he needs professional help. This is where the PBSP comes in with its slew of volunteer advisers in practically all types of…