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Unit 6: Grassroots Entrepreneurs through Self-Help Groups

that create social value. And like the best business entrepreneurs, grassroots entrepreneurs Notes
are intensely focused and hard-driving – even relentless – in their pursuit of a social
vision.
4. Resourceful: Because grassroots entrepreneurs operate within a social context rather than
the business world, they have limited access to capital and traditional market support
systems.

Notes Grassroots entrepreneurs must be exceptionally skilled at mustering and mobilizing
human, financial and political resources.
5. Results-oriented: Ultimately, grassroots entrepreneurs are driven to produce measurable
returns. These results transform existing realities, open up new pathways for the
marginalized and disadvantaged, and unlock society’s potential to effect social change.
Today, grassroots entrepreneurs are working in many countries to create avenues for
independence and opportunity for those who otherwise would be locked into lives without
hope.
Whether they are working on a local or international scale, social entrepreneurs share a
commitment to pioneering innovation that reshape society and benefit humanity. Quite simply,
they are solution-minded pragmatists who are not afraid to tackle some of the world’s biggest
problems.

Example: Well known grassroots entrepreneurs include Prof. Muhammad Yunus, who
won a Nobel prize for his work expanding micro-lending to the poor in Bangladesh, comedian
Drew Carey, who is producing pro-freedom videos with Reason TV, and Ward Connerly, who
pioneered ballot measures opposing racial quotas in state governments.
Examples of grassroots entrepreneurship include microfinance institutions, educational
programs, providing banking services in underserved areas and helping children orphaned by
epidemic disease. The main goal of a social entrepreneur is not to earn a profit, but to implement
widespread improvements in society. However, a social entrepreneur must still be financially
savvy to succeed in his or her cause.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. Women have become aware of their existence, their …………… and their work situation.

2. SHGs are not only increasing in rural women entrepreneurship but also in …………..
women entrepreneurship.
3. Grassroots entrepreneurs are just as innovative and change-oriented as their ……………..
counterparts.
4. Generating social value – not …………………, is the central criterion of a successful
grassroots entrepreneur.
5. Grassroots entrepreneurs operate within a …………….. context rather than the business
world.

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