Product Description

Become a social entrepreneur and transform your career, your life and the planet. That s the challenge that Martin Clark sets readers of this book. His inspiring message is that all of us, however ordinary we feel, can make a difference and help build a better world. How? By joining the new business movement for the twenty-first century: social entrepreneurship, a model that couples sound business practice with social benefit. Though the term social entrepreneur isn t yet widely used, some of the pioneering people and projects in this growing movement are household names: think of Jamie Oliver s restaurants staffed by unemployed young people, Tim Smit and the Eden Project, the Body Shop, The Big Issue. All of them started with the simple idea of making a profit by doing good the best way of running a business for anyone with a social conscience. There are many more high-profile examples, from Muhammad Yunus s work offering microcredit to the very poor to eBay founder Jeff Skoll s efforts to promote social values, but you don t have to be rich and famous or work on a grand scale to make the world a better place. Local projects like recycling furniture, improving disadvantaged children s diet, and setting up buy-to-let schemes to house homeless people can achieve tremendous impact. And for those involved, few things could be more fulfilling than bringing about change for the benefit of others. As a social entrepreneur himself, Martin Clark is an ideal guide to one of the hottest topics in business today. His aim is practical: to provide not just inspiration but also ideas, tools and tips to help anyone do business in a way that benefits the community. Social entrepreneurship has the potential to transform corporate practice and make a major contribution to tackling the world s ills and it might just change your life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41633 in Books
• Published on: 2009-01-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Review
'Martin Clark is an inspiring, effective and purposeful guide to this emerging field. He shows that you and I have a role to play in the revolution taking place. Everyone can become more socially entrepreneurial.' --Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick, CBE, global head of citizenship and diversity, KPMG

'This book captures the excitement, passion and potential of social enterprises, and the social entrepreneurs behind them. I wholeheartedly recommend it as the essential first step to understanding what's happening and how to be a part of it.' --Walter Herriot, OBE, managing director, St John's Innovation Centre, Cambridge

'If you want to join the movement for lasting social impact, this book is for you. Whether you are in business, charity or just want to make some corner of our world a better place, you'll find within this book a fund of inspiring case studies, thorough analysis and practical tools to help you.' --Ram Giodoomal, professor of entrepreneurship, Middlesex University

'This book captures the excitement, passion and potential of social enterprises, and the social entrepreneurs behind them. I wholeheartedly recommend it as the essential first step to understanding what's happening and how to be a part of it.' --Walter Herriot, OBE, managing director, St John's Innovation Centre, Cambridge

'If you want to join the movement for lasting social impact, this book is for you. Whether you are in business, charity or just want to make some corner of our world a better place, you'll find within this book a fund of inspiring case studies, thorough analysis and practical tools to help you.' --Ram Giodoomal, professor of entrepreneurship, Middlesex University

'This book captures the excitement, passion and potential of social enterprises, and the social entrepreneurs behind them. I wholeheartedly recommend it as the essential first step to understanding what's happening and how to be a part of it.' --Walter Herriot, OBE, managing director, St John's Innovation Centre, Cambridge

'If you want to join the movement for lasting social impact, this book is for you. Whether you are in business, charity or just want to make some corner of our world a better place, you'll find within this book a fund of inspiring case studies, thorough analysis and practical tools to help you.' --Ram Giodoomal, professor of entrepreneurship, Middlesex University

About the Author
Martin Clark is development director of Citylife, a national social investment charity based in Cambridge. After taking a first degree in geography, he set up a youth employment charity in Sheffield, lived and worked with unemployed people, and carried out research into unemployment for his PhD. His career as a social entrepreneur began twelve years ago when he helped set up a social enterprise promoting alternative financial products to help people invest in their own communities. In his spare time, he enjoys goalkeeping, driving an old camper van and spending the night on mountain tops.

Customer Reviews

Such an inspiring book!
I love this book!
I was itching to read it when I got it but didn't manage that until Christmas Day evening at which point I read it straight through and immediately I'd finished it read it all over again!
And, what's more, I felt so energised and excited that I had to put some music on and dance round the living room doing a 'Happy Dance!' No, really, I really did that!

It is fabulous. Previously I was feeling pretty gloomy about the reality of getting my idea out of my head and into a conversation with real meaning, having read the book several times I feel 'super-wow-amazing-yes-let's do-it' instead!

What I particularly enjoyed was the optimism in it. I've definitely got the characteristerics of a social entreprenuer - I kind of knew that but still it was fascintating to go through those questions with a sensation of, ' what if I'm not one after all?'

So, I thoroughly recommend this book for its feel good factor and pure optimism.

A book to inspire many generations
This book marks a real change in public perception of how society should perform and how business is part of that cycle, with a positive impact through social enterprises.

Martin's book is fast paced, articulate and practical, it challenges all of us to incorporate a socially responsible pattern of behaviour into our work, whatever our business, job or background.

As you read it you realise how many aspects of being a social entrepreneur can be adopted by so many businesses and organisations.

I'm sure this book will be a prominent text for many years to come.

A fantastic resource and inspiration
This book has a broad range. It provides a personal assessment of whether you are or could be a social entrepreneur, but also paints the big picture of how social entrepreneurism is changing the world. Martin opens up the subject brilliantly. Be prepared for how the book moves on. Well researched, good references, inspiring examples,lots of action points, tips, resources to refer to. So the book is engaging. It will help you think outside the norm. I hope you enjoy it and find it useful as I did.