Social Entrepreneurship is continually growing around the world as young entrepreneurs use ingenuitive solutions to fix social ills and make our world a better place. Albina Ruiz is a real life example of this.

Albina came up with an innovative way to fix the out of control problem of trash in Peru and provide jobs for unemployed Peruvians. One of the first neighborhoods that she started working with was El Cono Norte in Lima, where 1.6 million people lived and produced over 600 metric units of trash. The city had a trash disposal system, but it was ineffective and did a poor job of collecting and disposing of the trash the residents produced. Consequently, people threw their trash on the streets and filled vacant parking lots with it, creating a very disgusting and unsanitary environment. 

     Albina had the idea to help micro-entrepreneurs start a trash collecting businesses. These entrepreneurs started by going door to door, collecting people’s trash and charging a small fee for their work. The new business owners would also educate people about sanitary habits and why it is important to dispose of trash properly. Some of the entrepr

     Because of Albina’s efforts many young Peruvian women now have a job and the giant trash epidemic in Peru is being resolved.  Albina’s trash collecting businesses are now in 20 cities around Peru and Albina has been asked to come up with a national plan of trash removal for her country. Thanks to Albina’s recognition of a need and her willingness to provide a solution, many unemployed people now have jobs and the trash problem in Peru is declining. When I hear stories like Albina’s it gives me courage and inspiration to make a difference right where I am. I hope it does the same for you.eneurs made extra money by creating organic fertilizers or other products out of the trash.

You can visit Ciudad Saludable, Albina’s website here. 

The topic of this blog post is Quirky.  If you want to read about how to be quirky, I recommend this article by wikiHow.  If you want to learn about the industrial design company located in Soho, New York City, keep reading.

If you are not familiar with Quirky, it is one of the companies at the head of the crowdsourcing race, allowing its many users to determine which products to design and manufacture.  Ideas are solicited (only $10 to enter one) and voted on through the Quirky   website, which functions as a platform for open innovation and allows anyone to become an inventor.  Chosen products are designed, manufactured, and marketed, with help from Quirky users around the world.  The inventor gets up to 30% of the revenue.

The company was created by Ben Kaufman, who took great risks to become successful, but now is the CEO of his own company.  His enthusiasm  is inspiring, although many find him to be as quirky as the company he started.  Focused around community and collaboration, Quirky allows anyone the opportunity to be the inventor of a product, or to contribute in the building of one.  Most reviews shout praises for Quirky and what it’s capable of, and I’m close to hopping on the bandwagon, but as always there are critics.  Most notably, they point out that by nature of the rushed design, Quirky products languish in pre-sales and often receive unfavorable reviews from customers (namely for poor quality); these critics also point out that lack of patent protection for inventors.

Quirky seems to me a genius idea.  It has its issues, but the crowdsourcing platform on which it is based is magnificent, and will be inseparable to its success.  Keep on eye on Quirky, as it will no doubt turn out successful entrepreneurs and could one day carry many people out of poverty.

One of the most important ways a business can market itself and create differentiation is by telling its own unique story of creation. This idea not only applies to traditional, brick-and-mortar businesses, but also internet-based businesses or even companies with an online presence. There are many ways to present one’s story to customers online. Scott Steinberg posted a terrific article to Mashable.com’s business section about this very subject.

Steinberg says in the article a business can create customer loyalty and brand awareness by developing a compelling narrative about the brand. He lists eight different ways this can be accomplished:

1. “Rise above problems and offer meaningful solutions.” This first method simply means to chronicle exactly how the business solved a customer problem. Use various methods to convey this point, including video and customer testimonials.
2. “Take viewers behind the scenes.” Let the customers experience who exactly makes the business work. Let them see the individuals responsible for the company’s success. This tactic allows the customer to empathize and identify with the business, which engenders loyalty.
3. “Act as an industry insider.” Build original content on the website through employee-run blogs, etc. This original content should include tips and information about the specific industry in which the business is competing. Not only will customers appreciate the attempt to educate them, but it will also serve as a way to reinforce the expertise of the business and its employees in whatever industry it competes.
4. “Find unique ways to recount your origins.” Steinberg cites Facebook and Craigslist as two examples that use this tactic well. The way this can be accomplished is by revealing the personal struggles and tribulations that built the business’ foundation. From the customer’s perspective, this gives the company a “face.”
5. “Explore interactive solutions.” Use creative means to tell the brand’s story. Videos, visuals, apps, and games are just a few of the possibilities.
6. “Discuss your future.” Tell the customers your hopes and dreams, as well as the practical ways you plan on reaching them. Of course, this does not mean revealing potentially damaging information. Another interesting option here is to include the customers in this by giving them a voice for input and advice. This gives them a personal stake in the company’s future.
7. “Salute your community and your heroes.” Tell the customers who was integral to the success of the business. Who provided inspiration? Who did the founders admire and aspire to emulate?
8. “Speak about topics close to your heart.” Speak about social issues in which the business can be involved. Steinberg mentions TOMS and how their charitable element has made them a success.

The eight tactics above can increase customer loyalty and brand awareness by revealing the business’ brand narrative. Great advice from Steinberg for any e-business.

Common perception is that the internet lifestyle is one of beaches, parties, and plenty of leisure time, on top of the boatloads of cash spilling out of a laptop. However, internet entrepreneur and pro-blogger Daniel Scocco interviewed twelve top notch internet entrepreneurs to find out how much they actually work.

The entrepreneurs demonstrated a number of similarities. First, they consistently work seven days a week, even those that take as much time off the weekend as possible to spend with family. Second, vacations are nearly nonexistent. Usually they consist of a long weekend with the family; occasionally a week is taken to travel. And many of the interviewees said they take their computers and put in time even then. Third, work hours per week ranged from forty to over 100 hours per week. Two thirds of the interviewees said they normally worked over sixty hours (even though for some this varied from week to week). One individual said he’s had his share of eighty plus hour weeks and twenty hour weeks. The one exception is Yaro Stark, who claims ten to twenty hours of productive output plus extra time in front of the computer.

When it comes to fixed routines, a little more variety is present. Five entrepreneurs have some form of routine throughout the week while seven say there is very little structure. One reason for a lack of routine is meetings or travel that varies regularly. But one category of reasons was purely psychological. One entrepreneur says he does something until he’s tired of it. Another says he became an entrepreneur for the sake of freedom, so keeps himself productive but has no set schedule.

On average, these entrepreneurs will spend between one to three hours a day on email. There are a few exceptions, where one claimed as high as five hours and another as few as twenty minutes max. When not working, leisure includes time with family and friends, video gaming, reading, and, in one case, enjoying the nightlife.

This interview reveals a couple of key insights into the life of the online entrepreneur. First, hard work is a daily reality. Second, while there may be elements of one’s business that he dislikes, like admin or accounting, his work is more than just a job. It is so much a part of his lifestyle that he struggles to pull himself away from it even while on vacation. Third, structure is minimal, and when it is there, it is oriented around that part of the business the entrepreneur finds most important, fulfilling, and key to his success (which, in most cases, involves writing). Fourth, independence is important. One may find himself in a one hundred hour work week compared to the forty hours he might put in on a corporate job, but those one hundred hours are spent doing his own thing, running his own show, determining himself how he spends his time.

(Source: Daniel Scocco, “Interview: 12 Top Online Entrepreneurs Share how Hard They Work;” DailyBlogTips: www.dailyblogtips.com/interview-12-top-online-entrepreneurs-share-how-hard-they-work)

As an entrepreneur, you know that your website’s design communicates your company’s brand image  to the masses. The million dollar question: How do you design your site to grab your customers’ attention and pull them from your competitors?

One answer that is quickly rising to the top is image-based, super sleek web design. This visually arresting style evades the traditional by combining minimalist typefaces,  high resolution, rich contrast, single image backgrounds, and scrolling or roll-over navigation.

The nature of such aesthetically concerned websites makes this style  most beneficial to businesses that are trying to differentiate their services from competitors’ through brand image. Some examples are real estate brokers or law firms.

But don’t fear, such super sleek design is pliable. Other successful proponents include hard goods companies, personal websites, museums, architecture firms, and e-commerce websites.

The bottom line: If you want your website to stand out, learn from the best and use bold, sleek design.

Check out these examples of beautiful sites and see for yourself.

The Diehl Group - Architecture Firm

De Certeau & Associates – Legal Firm

CG Rendering – Design Firm

Shelley Sandzer – Real Estate Agency

Inzeit – Mobile Retail Firm              Warning: this site’s navigation is AWESOME

Grey Goose – Liquor Company

Salt Surf – Surf Lifestyle Brand

Grayden and Jenny – Wedding Website

Anna Safroncik – Personal Website

Rijksmuseum – Museum

Tommaso Nervegna – Personal Blog

Vanmoof – Bicycle Manufacturer

It is not uncommon for the early adapters of a new service or product to be friends or relatives of the producer. We’ve seen this from early childhood: who was it that always bought the first cup of lemonade at your lemonade stand? Your mother, of course. We encounter this dilemma in school: we want to sell our textbooks for as close to the original price as possible, but how can we demand such a high price from our friends?

I’ve been thinking about this issue a lot recently. How do you balance capturing profit and being generous with the people we love?  Obviously, this becomes less and less of an issue as a business expands and draws in people to whom we feel no sense of obligation. It’s hard, however, when a business is just getting off the ground. How do we charge a large enough price to support a budding business without feeling like we’re ripping off our friends who are willing to come in on the ground level?

In high school, I had a small restaurant business run out of our home. I usually got orders for homemade pizza, but sometimes I would get an order for a more customized meal and would end up making something more along the lines of chicken cordon bleu and cheesecake. This was all fine and fun for me, but I always ended up in an awkward place, having to recalculate my prices every time, depending on the customized order. It would seem like a straight-forward pricing system: cost of food plus a fixed cost for labor. However, it got sticky when I had to take into account that I was serving friends who were fellow missionaries in our community. Add to that the extra cost of ingredients, since any American ingredients cost more in Honduran grocery stores. How could I charge fellow missionaries & friends such a high price? Most of the time, unfortunately, I ended up forgoing the profit in favor of blessing the friends who were ordering.

I still haven’t found a good balance between reaping a profit and charging my friends an unobtrusive price. I guess that’s something to which a good business person must become callused.