Social Entrepreneur: a trend?

I have to be honest. I never heard about Social Entrepreneur before studying the subject. Well, it is not totally true. I heard, I read some information about it but I didn’t know that it was about “Social Entrepreneur” or “Social Entrepreneurial”.

When business meets social development! Can we consider it as trend? Frankly, I have a doubt. After reading some stuff about it, I think that it will stay confidential for a long time. I talk about real “Social Entrepreneur”. Of course, big companies have actions oriented on social development but to my mind, it is only opportunism! Those companies have foundations with actions on health, education, local development. But these actions are market oriented. Perhaps I am rude, and I do not want admit that they have good intentions.

Let’s talk about Bill Gates. He gave a big part of his fortune to his foundation (education, health..). We present his foundation as the most powerful one, with $ 67 BILLIONS (source: L’Expansion.com) for his program. It is a good thing, but before this Bill Gates was (and still is) a business man. I do not criticize him, it is just a noting. Newspapers have a business presentation of this foundation

In my opinion, real “Social Entrepreneur” has first in their mind the common interest. They work for the community. They begin their business with this mindset. Of course, they look for return, but profit is not the main goal. Reading the article of Business Week, talking about the B-schools which have an interest in this subject; I asked myself if it is not done because the students are futures managers. The experiences developed in those cases can favour some aptitudes to this kind of responsibility. Before working on the subject, I read about Muhammad Yunus (Bangladesh) the founder and chairman of the GRAMEEN BANK. After my readings I think that he is a Social Entrepreneur. His bank gives micro-credits for poor people in non developed countries to create their own business. People call him “The poor people banker” In 2006, he get the Peace Nobel Price.

You can click on the following link to have more information about M. Ynus:

http://www.80hommes.com/80portraits/fiche33.htm

Photo: wikipedia

Social Entrepreneur: definition

Someone who puts in practice news solutions to solve socials problems. He uses innovating process to reach the common interest (developement) . He works with the locals resources: human resources, raw,..
The Social Entrepreneur has a global vision with a transverse approach of the problems. It means that all sectors are inter-related. Pragmatism is the master word; it is not an academic concept.

More information

This an article of journaldunet.fr. It gives us some information on this market. I went on the websites quoted at the beginning of the article. Dealtonic.fr does not exist anymore.

http://www.journaldunet.com/0603/060315-ventesprivees.shtml

Who are on the maket?

www.achatvip.com
www.linvitedesmarques.com

Global analysis on vente.privée concept

http://www.perles-bijoux.com/ventes-privees/

How does it works?

http://www.emarketing.fr/Magazines/ConsultArticle.asp?ID_Article=19799&t=VENTE-PRIVEE-COM-AU-SERVICE-DES-MARQUES

Vente Privées.com

Sales on web again and again! Clothes, wines, fashion accessories, shoes… The customers have discounts on brands. What is the difference with another website which sales goods. First of all, the customers can not enter on the website without a “parrain”. Someone has to introduce you to the community. This person gives you its e-mail (he has to be a vente.privees.com customer) to register yourself.

After you registration you chose your favourite theme and you receive invitation for the next sales which take place on the website. You have a little movie showing the next articles on sale. I would qualify this movie as a show room. Each sale is an event!

The process is:

*brands,
*good discounts on them,
*sales limited in the time (Good deal do not let them go!)
*and overall the customers. Except what I described later, everyone can go on the website. It is not difficult to find a “parrain”. They are in the centre of the process. They have to feel UNIQUE.

Vente.privées.com forecasted 700 sales for 300 millions euros on 2007 (http://www.journaldunet.fr/)

http://www.zdnet.fr/blogs/2005/12/01/revue-dapplications-mashup-le-phenomene-web-20-est-en-marche/

mashup definition

http://www.journaldunet.com/encyclopedie/definition/1056/54/22/mashup.shtml

Advantages / Disadvantages of 'freemium' concept

As advantages:

-free service brings many people on the website
-"clients" are not bounded
-may create "regulars buyers"

As disadvantages:

-frustation because people do not use the entire service
-difference between the service (value) and the price you paid to use it
-conversion rate: how many persons using free services pay for premiums one

Freemium concept!

An evolution of the e-business. First the succes of a website was the audience. How many people surfed on the web site? Making money was not so important. But lot of web sites have disappared because they did not have a business model.

One e-business model is a mercantile one (amazon.com), other one is between mercantile and free, for example a website like meetic.com. It's free for women but men have to pay.

And we have the freemium one. Provide free services (basics one) and paying services (sophisticated one). The free services must lead to create needs for the client, and those should be covered by the paying services.

We can quote the website we studied: www.musicovery.com. You listen to free music but if you want to listen to hi-fi music or download music on your mobile phone, you pay for it. I tried a website, and honestly i did not kown that it was a freemium since i worked on the subject. This website is www.zylom.com.
Games website, you have plenty of games, you play on line and it's free. Each week you recieve a mail on your mail box which invites you to play with a game. You download it and you enjoy your time but after 60mins playing : black screen! You have a pop up "you want to finish, buy the total version". You can not download it again, and you recieve the day after a new mail giving you a discount on the game you played with. For the moment i bought just one game.

info source:

http://www.blog-conversion.com/taux-de-conversion/le-taux-de-conversion-du-business-model-freemium/

To finish and just for fun

Fun chez Easy-Jet
envoyé par Tango-fox

Easypizza - “One woman even asked me if our pizzas had cheese."

How can Easygroup make money with pizza overall using YM? There are no seats. You do not plan the date when you eat a pizza. However Easypizza brands provide a basic product (10 types of pizza – precooked product), optimizes the using of its oven asking to their customer avoid the rush time, no tips because of prepaid pizza…

The Yield management

Sell the service/product at the best price at the right time. For example with easyjet, people can pay a good price if they book their “ticket” in an early time. However, it is not the only way to make money. They use the Yield management providing other services with the first demand.

The company identifies the problem of a service or a product and optimizes its using.

E-business and Easy group!

Can a company consider its development without having an e-business strategy? It seems difficult so true is it that the weight of web is growing each day. E-business in not only e-selling but as well an integrated process based on new information and communication tools. Those tools improve the relation with the customer, the partnerships and the employees.

E-business has to create value by:

 creating new services and products because of the huge potential market
 cutting costs,
 finding new markets and new customers,
 keeping those customers,
 improving quality of services and goods

Easygroup started with the Easyjet – Airline Company – and developed its activities in mainly in leisure and travel industry building its sales strategy on the web. Stelios Haji-Ioannou, chairman of the company, provides basic service / product for a reduced price. Taking the Easyjet as example, they reduced all the unnecessary costs:

 no retail network
 no free meals on board
 no more tickets
 the staff on board clean up the cabin

The product or service in functional and basic. Regarding this experience, Easygroup develop other brands: Easycruise, Easycar, Easyhotel, Easycinema, Easybus, Easymobile, Easywatch, Easypizza, Easyinternetcafé….. Those brands works on the same scheme.

www.tourismag.com
www.e-consultancy.com

easy group

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