Social entrepreneurship, especially in the field of women, has many capacities due to social harms. In this field, women entrepreneurs have taken many actions, but experts believe that the concept of entrepreneurship in Iran is vague and it has not been properly defined in our country
According to the Iran digital economy annotation, a specialized meeting on women and social entrepreneurship was held in the morning of Wednesday, December 29 at the Iranian Chamber of Commerce. This meeting was organized by the Association of Women Entrepreneurs and was attended by a group of veteran women entrepreneurs of the country.
Reduction of unemployment and poverty as a result of entrepreneurship
Ali Akbar Farjadian, an entrepreneurship consultant and lecturer, said about the difference between the social business model, corporate social responsibility and shared value: entrepreneurship leads to the creation of economic enterprises, which reduces unemployment and poverty. Entrepreneurship is a social phenomenon and its consequences are not unique to the entrepreneur. People create value in entrepreneurship.
He added: In Iran, despite extensive advertising in the past years, its concept is still not taught accurately and has not spread. The root of entrepreneurship is in identifying the needs of a part of society. If entrepreneurship is to be profitable, businesses must make a profit. Entrepreneurship is the engine of economic growth and development of societies. By increasing the income of the communities, it reduces the unemployment rate, reduces poverty and develops the application of innovations in solving the needs of the people of the society.
Creating social value
Farjadian said: Social entrepreneurship is beyond economic entrepreneurship and has a social dimension and creates social value in the society. Social entrepreneurship seeks to identify needs and problems that no action has been taken to provide or solve them.
He emphasized: Entrepreneurs must understand the exact concept and function of entrepreneurship. This social phenomenon identifies the needs of the audience and finds a way to produce the proposed value and use the necessary resources to create value. Sustainability is not considered in entrepreneurship.
The need for sustainable economic benefit
Emphasizing that entrepreneurship means creating an economic enterprise that has sustainable economic benefits, Farjadian stated: As a result of creating sustainable economic benefits, employees can have job security. One of the reasons why our entrepreneurs are weak in the country is at the root of understanding the concepts.
He added: Entrepreneurship can be in the field of air pollution reduction, environmental issues and urban beautification. We all have a role in reducing air pollution. Trees have been removed from the architecture of our houses. In the field of women’s entrepreneurship, if they are properly trained, a positive result will be obtained. Women have been taught to have micro and small incomes.
Cooperation and synergy with the Entrepreneurship Commission
Mohammad Reza Ravand, Secretary General of the National Entrepreneurship Organization said: In the National Entrepreneurship Organization, associations such as the Fintech Association, the Venture Investment Association, Technology and Innovation Management, the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, the Association of Collaborative Spaces and the Association of Entrepreneurial Women and other organizations of the entrepreneurial ecosystem are members.
In a country that is full of challenges and at the same time opportunities, social entrepreneurship in Iran has a lot of room for growth and development. Mobility and diversity of social challenges should be provided.
He added: Considering that entrepreneurial organizations have been established in the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, it can be a suitable institution for pursuing and developing consensus entrepreneurial activity, because the chamber consists of industry and wealth. Both our commission and the working group in the social entrepreneurship association can have good cooperation and synergy in the field of social entrepreneurship.
Pathology of women’s semen
In this meeting, entrepreneurship researcher Nafiseh Azad presented the results of her research on the vulnerability of the role of women activists in changing their economic and social status and said: NGOs do not have the ability to pay their members and most of the activities are voluntary. Therefore, members cannot be asked to develop the business.
Entrepreneurship by sewing machine method
She added: “Non-governmental organization who work in relation to women’s empowerment, all share the same idea; Sewing machine idea. Now, these Non-governmental organization may teach women candle making, flower making and cooking, but the entrepreneurship model they consider for women is the so-called sewing machine entrepreneurship model.
Azad said: In other words, Non-governmental organization provide skills training and empower women in areas that do not require special expertise and are special for women from the lower classes of society and have a low income. In general, ideas related to women’s empowerment focus on activities that are low-income and low-yield.
Resistance to women’s empowerment
Regarding men’s resistance to women’s empowerment, She said: Men of families, policy-makers, and generally many men in society resist women’s empowerment. Many people have the experience that a man has objected to his wife’s empowerment and entrepreneurship.
Azad said about the neglect of the middle class women by the Non-governmental organization: The middle class women have been neglected by the NGOs if these women are poor and do not have much economic income. Almost 80% of the women of this class are housewives.
She added: In the study of 27 associations in Tehran, it was observed that they did not have an effective association and did not have legal demands. We are weak even in demanding. On the other hand, women don’t have the ability to solve big tensions and can only solve small tensions in families. Therefore, they create small economic benefits for themselves in financial matters.
Women are not trained to earn money
Azad said: Women in Iranian society are not trained to earn money, but they are trained to provide for themselves. On the other hand, men are trained to provide. So when women work and earn money, they think they are doing extra work.
He emphasized: We must create small investment packages for women. Many women are small businessmen at home; They buy and sell gold, they buy a product in an auction and then sell it at a higher price, these people have the ability to trade and can make a profit by providing investment packages. On the other hand, women’s time is scattered and few. Due to the responsibilities they have towards the home, children and the elderly, their time is few and scattered, so they should be entrusted with small responsibilities.
The difference between social and economic entrepreneurship
Mahta Vezvaei, the director of the non-governmental organization in Australia and a PhD student in entrepreneurship, gave an explanation regarding the overview of social business models in the world and said: “The definition of entrepreneurship has changed since the 1970s.” In the social entrepreneurship model, the goal is to create social value, not economic.
She emphasized: In economic entrepreneurship, the goal is to make a profit, but in social entrepreneurship, another concept is called social shared value. The biggest concern in this model of entrepreneurship is how to provide capital to create social value.
Vezvaei said: types of social values include ethical production and supply, social participation, the needs of minority groups, economic-social strengthening of solidarity and integration of work and development of charitable activities.
She added: In the practice of social entrepreneurship, one should take into account the fact that solutions cannot always be tested. There is no list for all solutions. Also, social entrepreneurship should be done continuously and every problem can be a sign of another problem. There is also credit risk in social entrepreneurship.
At the end of the ceremony, Sirot Asgari Rankohi, Fatemeh Farhangkhah, Khojasteh Esmaili and Fatemeh Firouzi Bandpey were honored and a certificate of appreciation was presented.
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