I recently attended the 5^th Mindanao Business Management and Youth Council (MBMYC) held last February 6,2009 at the Marco Hotel in Cagayan. It was an uplifting experience to be surrounded with many of the youth of Mindanao, who were very gung-ho about becoming entrepreneurs. I was very impressed with the youthful zeal, idealism, and enthusiasm displayed  by these young people. I want to thank them for a wonderful experience.

One of the great benefits was that I had time to chat with Bam Aquino and the cause of Social Entrepreneurship. Bam, James Fantone and myself were speakers for the portion called “ignite”. Bam gave an inspired speech on the cause of social entrepreneurship, which made everyone sit up and listen.

Social entrepreneurship is defined in simple terms as trying to achieve two goals with one stone, earning profit while trying to help society. In this trying times, more entrepreneurs and would be entrepreneurs need to study and initiate something along these lines.

The example set by Bam is Hapinoy. A program they started that partners with micro-financing institutions to lend money to deserving individuals to start a “Sari-sari” store under the Hapinoy brand. Bam and his company will provide training in managing not only the store but also the inventory. They centralize all their purchases and make “corporate” negotiations with many of the large suppliers. In doing so, they can avail of better pricing for the Hapinoy stores allowing the latter to be not only competitive but also profitable.

Hapinoy is also looking to help local SME’s by allowing local producers to sell their products to the Hapinoy chain. So small manufacturers and producers can now have a viable distribution chain for their products and services.

It is a wonderful program that achieves to my mind two major goals, one, to uplift the lives of the less fortunate, and two, establish a viable business distribution business.

Bam and his partners are literally helping hundreds if not thousands with their business. I was blown away by his passion and determination for the cause. It brought back memories for me. When I was younger, I always wanted to have a chance to speak with  Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino. I wanted to feel his passion and love for our people and our country. I get the same sense from Bam, who being Ninoy’s nephew, is almost a spitting image of him.

Our country needs more social entrepreneurs. It actually makes sense to go into it especially in these trying economic times. When you think about it, if we lose ground on our traditional markets, we need to look for new ones to supplant or supplement our business. Social entrepreneurship opens up a huge untapped potential market.

How much will our country benefit when more social entrepreneurs set up business.  We just need to keep in mind that social is not “sosyal” but providing real benefits to society.

Let’s follow the examples of these ordinary individuals as they strive to make a difference. Each week, lets all get together and share knowledge, stories, experiences, information, all for the sole purpose of getting One Step Up.

For comments, suggestions or stories that you want to share, email me at stirspecialist@gmail.com ,  or visit  www.stirspecialist.blogspot.com