At its heart, entrepreneurship is about seeing possibilities. For many entrepreneurs, those possibilities involve profiting from opportunities in the business landscape that others have yet to tap into.
But for those who have adopted the title of “social entrepreneur,” the vision is bigger. Much bigger.
“Social entrepreneurs are a breed apart,” says Pedro David Espinoza, founder and CEO of Pan Peru USA. “Rather than simply leveraging business tools to drive revenue, they use them to drive change. They see a pressing societal problem and design a business model to have a positive impact on that problem.”
Espinoza is a Peruvian American writer, speaker, business owner, and philanthropist who has built his career on the belief that entrepreneurship can be used for good. His mother, who was an engineer, instilled in him a vision for social entrepreneurship when he was a boy growing up in Lima, Peru. She used her work to raise funds for Pampas Grande, a remote village a day’s travel from Lima, whose poverty-stricken inhabitants lacked many basic resources.
“Watching my mother do her entrepreneurial work, I saw the potential for using technological skills and entrepreneurial spirit to help others,” Espinoza says. “I saw the young girls in Pampas Grande change their mindset as they came to understand the work my mother was doing. Rather than seeing themselves becoming farmers, they began to dream that they could be engineers, entrepreneurs, and scientists, breaking the cycle of poverty that had impacted their village for generations.”
The need for social entrepreneurs in Latin America
Poverty is a widespread problem in Latin America, with World Bank statistics showing that 25 percent of the population in Latin American countries lives on less than $6.85 per day. The World Bank’s data also shows that poverty has remained prevalent in Latin America in recent years, largely due to slow economic growth.
Social entrepreneurs bring a multi-pronged solution to the economic issues impacting Latin America. By launching new business ventures, they stimulate economic growth. A successful business not only benefits its founders but also provides jobs for those in the community, which has the potential to spark further business development by putting new capital into the economy.
Furthermore, social entrepreneurs bring about positive change in struggling economic landscapes by focusing their business models on serving marginalized or vulnerable segments of the population. By operating in this manner, they aim to address both societal and business pain points.
“Social entrepreneurs target the gaps in society,” Espinoza explains. “They strive to use their business success to bridge those gaps and create opportunities for others.”
To illustrate the benefits social entrepreneurship brings to Latin America, consider the potential impact of socially minded app development. Rather than targeting an app to address the greatest business need, social entrepreneurs seek to blend business needs with societal needs.
“An app that delivers educational resources to schools can deliver value for businesses by raising the quality, accessibility, and accountability of educational efforts,” Espinoza says. “At the same time, it can provide free resources to be used by students anywhere to increase literacy.”
Lessons from Oprah Winfrey and Steve Jobs: How famous entrepreneurs can inspire greater social impact
As today’s entrepreneurs seek to maximize the social impact of their startups, they can find inspiration in the work being done by some of the world’s richest business leaders. Top entrepreneurs like Bill Gates of Microsoft, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, and Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic have all leveraged their business empires to support the efforts of social entrepreneurs. The Gates Foundation, for example, empowers entrepreneurial journeys by helping to develop scalable solutions for social problems.
While influential entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos, Oprah Winfrey, and Steve Jobs focused more on philanthropy than social entrepreneurship, their innovative business ideas can help social entrepreneurs improve their impact. Jobs, for example, championed the “think different” approach to solving problems, which is often essential for addressing the deeply entrenched issues causing societal inequality. Jobs also prioritized user experience, which is essential for designing entrepreneurial models that motivate long-term engagement from the target audience.
“Storytelling is central to social impact and something that would-be entrepreneurs can learn a lot about from studying Steve Jobs,” Espinoza says. “He had a singular talent for presenting an inspiring and relatable vision of how Apple could not only change people’s lives, but also change the world.”
Succeeding as a social entrepreneur in Latin America requires a deep commitment
Leveraging social entrepreneurship to bridge gaps in Latin America often requires overcoming substantial obstacles. The societal challenges in the region are complex and often require long-range solutions. Aspiring entrepreneurs who don’t start with a deep commitment to the people they intend to serve will struggle to make an impact.
“Surface-level engagement won’t translate to transformative and sustainable change,” Espinoza warns. “Making a lasting impact requires going deep — truly understanding the communities you intend to serve, unearthing the innovative solutions that are both profitable and beneficial, and staying anchored in communities in the face of adversity. Those are the types of commitments that build bridges.”
