Start Young!

“Start your venture young. You’ve got nothing to lose.” That is what various successful social entrepreneurs would hearten young people during their pep talks.

In America, 4 passionate and dedicated undergraduates set up a social enterprise, “My Card My Story” with a common mission to present every underprivileged child in Mumbai an educational opportunity. How? By incorporating the artwork of underprivileged artistic Mumbai children into unique greeting cards, selling them in US and plough the proceeds back to the children to support their education.

As claimed by the 4 undergraduates, their dream of setting up a social enterprise would never become a reality without the exposure and resources their school proffered them. Personally, I agree very much with them.

To begin with, how exactly did these 4 young social entrepreneurs come together and generate their business idea? Well, it all happened during one of their lessons whereby their professor formed the class into teams, pinned large sheets of paper on the wall asking all to brainstorm business ideas and present in 5 minutes. It was then that these 4 individuals realized they had a common passion to alleviate the social issues in India. With a common goal and armed with a business idea they all believed in, they began embarking on a journey, turning a presupposed assignment to a reality.

Following, the school further presented these 4 individuals countless opportunities to enter into business competitions which provided mentoring programmes, funding and resources to take their business model from paper to product. However, reaching any goal involves sacrificing other things to get there. At the initial stage, the team put aside their hobbies and interests, toiled day and night working on business plans, etc. in the midst of juggling with school exams and assignments.

I personally feel their story is a reflection of where my team, Songjie, Bixuan and I are going through to bring our dream of assisting individuals who are recovering from depression to reintegrate into society through employment and rehabilitation. Thus far, the journey is never smooth sailing, many business ideas were pinned down, many logo designs were rejected, and it was also never easy to juggle between school, business and other commitments. However, just like the 4 individuals, working on campus had a way of pushing open doors we have never ever imagined. Encouraging school mates rendered whichever help they could with their talents. Supportive lecturers brushed up our business ideas and introduced competitions for us to participate in. Gladly speaking, our team is currently on the top 10 finalists of the Singapore International Foundation’s Young Social Entrepreneurial Programme, which presented many prestigious world mentors to guide us in our endeavors as well.

In truth, in the long run, it is unfeasible for non-profit organizations to build a robust society without interminable philanthropy. Whether our society will emerge for the common good, that question will be answered by social enterprises ultimately. Currently, Singapore has created a friendly environment to pursue social entrepreneurship – introducing social enterprises courses, organizing social enterprises competitions and conferences, etc. So, as young adults, be bold and courageous, take a leap of faith to step forward and bring innovative ideas to solve world social issues today.

Reference

The Huffington Post. (2012). Why you should start a social enterprise in college. Retrieved July 29, 2012, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/my-card-my-story/my-card-my-story-princeton-university_b_1695390.html