My thoughts on (Sustainable) Entrepreneurship, Development and Personal Satisfaction

Entrepreneurship inspires me! 

Entrepreneurship combines it all - creativity, imagination, alternative ways of seeing and combining the known, out of the box thinking, structure, processes, team work, networking, marketing, branding... It is the high league of intervening with the world through creating, defining, forming it. 

A great entrepreneurial design is a masterpiece of art. It is beautiful in its parts and its whole. It is well thought. It enriches - the person behind it, the team, and the whole ecosystem. It brings positive social change. It develops and builds its creator the same way it is built and developed by this very creator. It serves as an inspiration for others so that many achieve deeper satisfaction in life through taking personal responsibility, creating value for others and generating opportunities.

…While I was doing my master of arts (MA) in the field of communication for development, I was accompanied by one question - how can I help people from the "developing world" achieve stability, self-respect, satisfaction? How can I help them out of the trap of misery? During my MA, I understood that donating money in projects people don't need was a horrible approach. Building the next washing room e.g. without asking the customer and if it fits the cultural setting, leaving it finally unused was disgracing for all parties. 

"The White Man's Burden" was my favorite book during my studies because it showed me the ugly face of the reality. I was (almost) cured of my wish to pay my way out of the pain I felt looking in the eyes of the beggar. I did not have that urge to donate money for every possible cause I was offered. My thinking changed and evolved. I saw myself a part of it. Urged to intervene instead of pay myself … clean out of their story.

I like the idea of giving underprivileged persons the opportunity to learn, to enjoy guidance and mentorship and help them build own businesses. Through clever entrepreneurial designs. Bearing the self- responsibility, being at the driver's seat, driving the change they want to see in their lives. This makes the person strong and positive. This brings knowledge and respect. This brings social change. 

Yes, I love entrepreneurship, done in a clever way, cradle to cradle, socially and environmentally responsible. For the sake of development and wellbeing. I love the idea of building the whole with existing professional components ("Brains versus Capital" Günther Faltin) and constantly working on the concept.

Once I heard an amazing speech of Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi social entrepreneur and banker, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering in microcredits. There he was describing the situation of many women in Bangladesh who took the chance of a microcredit to start their own business. He said something like "If a poor woman from Bangladesh who never went to school, who cannot write or read, and whose life is worth less than a goat, can start an own successful business on a micro credit, what is hindering you to do it after enjoying all your university education and having access to the best information you can imagine?"

This is a question that has been haunting me throughout the last 4 years. What is hindering me in letting entrepreneurship change our lives? I guess clever, sustainable entrepreneurship can save the world and I would like to test this idea.