SOCIAL ENTERPRISES CAN STOP THE WIDENING GAP BETWEEN THE HAVES AND THE HAVENOTS (column 6/24/14)

THE METAMORPHOSIS

By Ernie D. Delfin

SOCIAL ENTERPRISES   CAN STOP THEWIDENING GAP

BETWEEN THE HAVES AND THE HAVE-NOTS

                “Every economic and political theory or action must set about providing each inhabitant of the planet with the minimum wherewithal to live in dignity and freedom, with the possibility of supporting a family, educating children, praising God and developing one's own human potential. This is themain thing; in the absence of such a vision, all economic activity is meaningless."

              From Pope Francis’ Letter to Prime Minister David Cameron  for the G8 Meeting, June 2013

        The last couple of decades  the  middle class has been declining as their income, in real terms, is getting smaller while costs of living has been rising.  This is true in the United States (as well world-wide) as the wealth of the country  is concentrated in the so-called one percenter of the total population.   This economic scenario is even worse in third world countries, like the Philippines,  where there only several dozen families, the tycoons who are mostly “non-natives”  (likethe Chinese, Americans, Canadians, Europeans, Koreans, Taiwanese, etc) are the ones harvesting the ‘’gold and natural wealth” of the country and exploiting  the Filipino people to be their subordinates,  employees, hired hands,  as nannies, katulongs, yayas and atsays and muchachos. In many major cities, it is now quite obvious that high end restaurants have many foreigners as their regular clientele  and most, if not all,  servers, janitors and busboys are the natives  (Filipinos).  In theUnited States, it is the other way around, the  non-Caucasians, especially the Mexicans and Latinos,  Chinese, Filipinos or Indians who do the menial jobs like busboys, cooks and janitors.

          That’s the sad reality that is happening in many countries today ----  from America to Asia to Africa.   However, as hope is eternal and as an optimist (for the sake of my own grandchildren) I continue to pray that things will become better.  And there are signs that continue to pop out, especially from theVatican, as Pope Francis boldly address the unconscionable inequality of income and wealth, where fewer and fewer people control them while more and more people are going hungry and starving to death.

           Also, there is now a surge of more and more entrepreneurs and business innovators engaging in social enterprises.  Although  they are not yet household names like McDonalds, these  social economic enterprises are creating wealth while giving  their clients, customers and employees thecapacity to be more self-sufficient.  They are creating wealth for others, especially those in the bottom of the economic pyramid while also making money that is necessary used to expand their market to help their constituency  and society in general.  

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           With that as background, let me expound what  SOCIAL ENTERPRISES are.   And what do they do  that differentiate them from  the traditional business enterprises or corporations  that are primarily motivated to make profits for the owners and or stockholders?

            In my research,  many definitions come out, but thefollowing stand out giving a very clear  wide angle to thestudent:

            “Social enterprises are revenue-generating businesses with a twist. Whether operated by a non-profit organization or by a profit-company, a social enterprise has two goals: to achieve social, cultural  community or environmental objectives, and, to earn revenue. On the surface, many social enterprises look, feel, and even operate like traditional businesses. But looking more deeply, one discovers thedefining characteristics of the social enterprise mission is atthe core- centre of its being in business, with income generations playing an important role.”

           It is under this definition why social enterprises are getting more and more supporters among successful business people in order to leave this planet  a better place for their children’s children. What comes to mind are successful businessmen and also great humanitarians  like Bill  Gates, (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) Scott  Harrison, Oprah Winfrey (her university in Africa)  (Charity:Water)  Jeff Mendelson (New Leaf Page).   As a Filipino, I am proud to include among them here, Wilk Dylan,  a “nephew” (he calls me “Tito” LOL) a successful social entrepreneur in the Philippines.   Dylan, is a  British multi-millionaire who founded Human Nature based inthe Philippines and now lives in the Philippines, with her wife,   Ana Meloto, one of the daughters of Tony Meloto who founded Gawad Kalinga.  A strong advocate and champion of  Gawad Kalinga,  Dylan’s Human Nature company, also  believes and practices the GK’s motto  of “Walang Iwanan”  (No one should be left behind) and in the GK’s goal of  “Eradicating Poverty inthe Philippines by 2024”!

             What is quite unique in social enterprises is theinvolvement of the marginalized segment of society, thus creating capacity and self-sufficiency of individuals and impacting their families and communities, thus reducing thereliance on social safety nets, (in the USA, they are  commonly known as welfare grants, like the AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children).  There are also important elements that make a social enterprise different and unique compared to a traditional profit motive business as the former applies entrepreneurial approach to addresses social issues with theobjective of creating positive community change.  A social enterprise can be owned at least in part by a non-profit organization, that is using  entrepreneurial methods to accomplish its social goals and providing its profits to its owner(s) for use in continuing their core missions.

                 Furthermore, a social enterprise is a revenue-generating business with primary social  objectives whose surpluses are reinvested for that purpose in the business or inthe community that it belongs to, rather than being driven by theneed to deliver the profits or dividends to the owners or stockholders.

              Lastly, there are six defining characteristics of a typical social enterprise:  

                      .  Having a social a purpose or purposes.

                      . Achieving the social purpose, buy, at least in part,  

                                  engaging in trade in the marketplace.

                      .  Not distributing profits to individuals

                      . Holding assets and wealth in trust for community benefit

                      . Democratically involving members of its constituency in 

                                  the governance of the organization.

                     . Being independent organization accountable to a defined

                                    constituency and to the wider community.

         If  the reader wants to know more about social enterprises and entrepreneurs in the world,  google “social enterprises” and  “social entrepreneurs” and Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Prize Award winner the founder of Grameen Bank, whose work in empowering the poor in Bangladesh has become a worldwide model. The curious reader is also encouraged to read, The Fortune at theBottom of the Pyramid”,   an international best-seller authored by C. K.  Prahalad.         

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       THIS   COLUMNIST’S COMMITMENT TO EXPAND  SOCIAL ENTEPRISES.

             Now that I am “semi-retired”  I  have now embraced another paradigm that excites me greatly  in  my remaining years of being productive.  In addition to doing regular myAPOStolic work (APOs in Filipino means grandchildren) and Church  volunteer and Prison Ministry involvement  and my Rotary advocacy  work,  I am quite passionate  to train and mentor the young adults (Rotaractors age from 18-30) in entrepreneurial pursuits, together with my fellow Rotarians who also believe that the YOUTH are the future leaders of our community and the business world.   Towards this end,  I have been created my  Foundation 4 Next Generation,  with theprimary purpose of  attracting, training, coaching and mentoring them to become entrepreneurs in any field that they have passion for.   

             With the support of our GK e-Rotary Club that I founded in 2011, and the vast network of Rotarians worldwide who also  believe in the same philosophy of “teaching people how to fish, rather than giving them a fish to eat” I believe that  working together in expanding social enterprises globally,  we can change the world, one person at a time, one  community  at a time, starting where we are.   Our small and young and energetic  GK e-Rotary Club for instance, has given some initial funding capital  to the Gawad Kalinga Namnama (Hope) Village, in Villasis, Pangasinan, that was founded and managed by fellow Rotarians Sol and Pete Montilla to start a “Goat Raising Livelihood project”  by the GK village residents.    This Montilla  couple are  Filipino American retirees who spent more than half of their lives in the United States as professionals, who went back to where they  were born,  to share and give back to their community  the best gift they can leave this world:  involving and training the GK residents  to become  entrepreneurs in their AIM Global  trading and  marketing business.  In less than three years of operations,  lives of these  beneficiaries have been transformed, and their examples are giving light for others to follow.  

           As fellow advocates of GK, Wilk Dylan and Sol &  Pete Montilla, are my kind of heroes; they just don’t  talk about about Service Above Self!  They walk the talk.   May their tribes multiply!

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               From our end here in California,  this year I have also invested some money   to get involved in e-commerce business, and to  own a Premier Online Mall, like Amazon or E-bay.   After a few months of real work,  the returns have been  very good.  Our e-commerce business has attracted more than a dozen associates, after they have  seen the formal and complete presentation of our company, products, the market place thesystem and the compensation plan, and showing growth every week, and witnessed the factual earnings of those who worked diligently the since last year

              Yes, this new business which I christened “Foundation4NextGen”  online shopping mall is also a  SOCIAL ENTERPRISE.   I would plow back all the profits that are earned by it to  expand the concept  to the Philippines and Asia (in thenear future).  Our primary (social) goal is to  coach, mentor and inspire the young adults to engage in  entrepreneurial pursuits like what the Montillas are now  doing in the Philippines.   We can show to those interested the roadmap and assist theambitious and hungry  how to  legitimately and ethically earn lots of money  in this growing e-commerce business.  Those inthe USA can also meet and here the visionary leaders who are now making $1, 000 a day, and  the income is still growing, asthe company is only a year old.  For this simple retired CPA-businessman, even just half of $1,000 a day, will mean a lot to our  Foundation’s  goal to train, mentor  and empower would-be  entrepreneurs,  especially the youth in the Philippines!        

           For those in the USA, especially in California, we are now aggressively expanding and we have scheduled weekly meetings now “HOW TO GO INTO YOUR OWN  e-COMMERCE BUSINESS WITH VERY SMALL CAPITAL”…  If you are interested, contact this social entrepreneur and columnist.

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Email :     ernie.delfin@gmail.com  or     zhunrize.foundation@gmail.com

        

AN OPEN  INVITATION

TO ATTEND OUR  VERY  POPULAR WEEKLY SEMINAR

on

 “GOING  INTO YOUR  OWN BUSINESS

 WITH A VERY SMALL CAPITAL”

(NOW expanding to San Diego, Temecula,  Orange County,  LA County, Northern California and Las Vegas)

COMPLIMENTARY ADMISSION, WITH PRE-REGISTRATION

Call any of our   P.E.N.  members below for details:

Ernie Delfin  - Orange County     (714)  742-1365             Genny Silverio – San Diego          (619) 851-9547

Celly Adamo – Cypress              (714) 325-6310        Paddy Padilla    Cars          (310) 895-5830

Irene Alzate -  Anaheim             (714) 251-7638         Leo Cimeni      Buena Park       (714) 350 4268

Soledad Almarines – Cerritos   (562) 818-1363         Audrey Nazareno  Harbor City (310)935-8825

Benita Rivera -FountainValley  (714) 742-1365         Gus Ganay     Buena Park    (714) 265  9

This particular seminar  will feature and compare:

OUR   “E-COMMERCE (ONLINE) SHOPPING MALL BUSINESS

versus

A TRADITIONAL BRICK AND MORTAR STORE,  LIKE A 7-ELEVEN

        THE 7  M’s  CRITERIA           OUR ONLINE MALL                7-ELEVEN

1.       MONEY   (Capital investment)     from $495* (ask me)                 $150,000 to $350,000

2.       MARKET                                                  Nationwide                             5 - 10 mile radius,

                                                                      (soon more countries)                      plus walk-ins

3.         MANAGEMENT                                   TEAMWORK(no need to hire)           Hire and pay salaries

4.        MANPOWER (employees)                 N0 employees to pay                          Hire   & pay salaries

5.        MATERIALS  (inventory)                     N O N E                                    Buy wholesale, pay suppliers/vendors

6.       MINUTES (Hours/Days of Operation)   20 hours a week, may be,                    24 hour/7 days               

                                                                                Totally up to the owner                     168 hrs. a week!

7.       MANSION (Net profit after all expenses)   TOTALLY DEPENDENT            Depending on location,                           

                                                                         Can be $1,000 a day!                May be $60K - $150K/yr.

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         CONSIDERING ALL THE ABOVE 7 FACTORS, ESPECIALLY IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THAT HUGE INITIAL CASH TO INVEST AND A BIG FAMILY THAT IS WILLING TO HELP YOU OPERATE YOUR STORE,    WHICH  BUSINESS  SHOULD YOU CHOOSE, TO MAKE THEMONEY YOU DESIRE FOR YOUR FAMILY?

            If you are like many of us,  who chose this 21^st century ‘e-commerce’ business, let’s  talk!   Call or text me at:   (714) 742-1365,  or email me:  ernie.delfin@gmail.com, to show you how you can also join us.

        ACT NOW TO BE THE  FIRST IN YOUR COMMUNITY OR AMONG YOUR FRIENDS,  SIMPLY BECAUSE “THE EARLY BIRDS ALWAYS CATCH THE MORNING WORMS.” It is also true in business!