You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force it to drink. This is one of many life lessons that we’ve all been taught. These proverbs of self-help inspired the Stanton Business Club, a nonprofit organization based out of Jacksonville, Florida, to promote entrepreneurship among underprivileged individuals and give them the chance to become self-sufficient through microfinancing.
How can a small amount of money turn substantial profit?
Microfinancing, according to the Stanton Business Club, “creates self-sustaining solutions for an individual business and helps empower people to work toward a healthier and more prosperous lifestyle.” You may ask: how can a small amount of money turn substantial profit… wouldn’t it make more sense to give a larger sum? Well, no. Oftentimes the people that benefit most from microfinancing are turned away from banks and traditional avenues of borrowing money due to their socioeconomic status. Furthermore, they may only need a small sum of money to get their business off the ground. Optimal Partners discovered the Stanton Business Club’s commitment to assisting underprivileged individuals and donated $500 to help the Stanton Business Club continue to change lives.
To many, $500 seems very little. However, for Sarravannan, from Velar, Tamilnadu, India, this was just what he needed—with Optimal Partners’ contribution, he was given a total of $833 (approximately 50,000 rupees). With this small loan, he purchased a cow and began selling liters of milk (approximately 15 to 20 a day) for 20 rupees each to a vendor. With his new partnership, he was able to purchase two additional young cows and an older one. Approximately six months later, Saravannan has not only repaid his initial loan but is now making enough money to support himself as an entrepreneur.
The Stanton Business Club is another addition to the charitable organizations that we are proud to work with. Since Optimal Partners’ inception in 2007, we have been committed to excellence and social entrepreneurship to encourage positive social change. Throughout our eight year history, we have been able to work with many causes. One of our contributions was working with Room to Read, a nonprofit that is committed to improving literacy rates and closing the gender disparity in education. We were able to fund a small library in India, where young girls could have access to children’s literature. We are also in the process of with the Portuguese government to sponsor a Startup Weekend in the Azorean Islands for local entrepreneurs to pitch their business idea to a panel of judges. More recently, we were able to sponsor another Startup Weekend in the southeastern Massachusetts, partnering with UMass Dartmouth’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Any student regardless of academic discipline could sign up for the event where they would be guided by professional entrepreneurs as they worked in teams to ready their product for the final pitch to a panel of esteemed judges.
Social entrepreneurship allows for the convergence between education and opportunity.
All of these instances of charitable work have one large point in common: education. Through education, opportunity is created—regardless of whether it’s the individualized experience of reading a story and experiencing a new story or the collaborative process of working alongside a mentoring professional. The intersection of where education and opportunity meet is where our work with social entrepreneurship becomes most prevalent. Social entrepreneurship allows for the convergence between education and opportunity to happen more frequently. The Stanton Business Club is a good example of this: with the money that is donated to the organization, underprivileged entrepreneurs are afforded the opportunity to not only become self-sufficient but it gives them the chance to attain a practical, hands-on education to hone their skill-set.
Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a meal; teach him to fish, however, and you will feed him for a lifetime. Unlike traditional loan companies without centralized theme or commitment, Stanton Business Club’s focus on entrepreneurship allows them to work with individuals that are passionate and hungry for success. In fact, their focus on entrepreneurship is driven by this proverb. The money that an individual receives will allow them to have access to the funds they need to begin their business. By starting their own businesses, they are able to learn the skills needed to thrive in their respective economies, thus allowing them to repay their loan and continue to support themselves.
Social entrepreneurship is currently not a widespread concept. However, through the ventures and success of organizations like Stanton Business Club, many individuals are starting to realize how beneficial it can be and are starting to incorporate it into their company’s mission. While each new year brings more businesses to better understanding the concepts of social entrepreneurship, it also brings organizations like Stanton Business Club the funding they need to better serve their mission, a mission that we are so proud to support.
Avoid costly mistakes and wasted time – talk to an impartial peer in Higher Ed!
There is nothing like speaking with a peer who has implemented the same product – send us a request.
You can also provide general feedback, inquire about additional free resources, submit a topic you’d like us to cover, tell us about a feature you’d like to see, or request the best staff for your project.