Let me tell you about “the opportunist and the entrepreneur” in this post… let me take you through 3 places they met and married to create an entrepreneurial story together…
It Happened in Greece
The recent economic crisis in Greece threw up a whole lot of questions about the makeup of the economy, how to tide over the crisis, when it will be over and so on. In the middle of all this there were some people in Greece who saw the silver lining in the black clouds looming over their nation.
They were the opportunists who decided that barter was the means they could use to resolve the cash crisis”¦the obvious solution was going cashless. Thus grew a network of people providing all sorts of products and services to other people in exchange for everything except cash.
A novel enterprise was born which not only made cash seem unnecessary but also brought people closer, renewed the social fabric of the country and reinforced belief in the basic good of life and the human race.
The Streets and Fields of Cambodia
All of us are turned off by huge piles of garbage, we think it spoils the cityscape and why not? It does. But when confronted with a pile of garbage what do we do? We probably turn up our noses, complain about the lax civic administration and turn away.
Cambodia is home to FunkyJunk, an innovative social enterprise engaged in making beautiful, functional, long-lasting items from used plastic bags collected from streets and fields and put through a process of disinfection.
Their selling point is that every Funky Junk product contributes to a cleaner environment and provides fair trade income, training and community benefits for its local producers.
Talk about plastic choking drains, choking animals, blighting already difficult lives… talk about opportunity! Look funky too!
The City of Dreams Mumbai
Mumbai, the financial capital of India and the city of dreams for very Indian who wants to make it big is home to several people who want to make their mark and are struggling to realize their dreams. Some have to attend that party, audition or bash to make that connection, land that job, make a splash or be seen. Most of these people have one common problem… they can’t repeat their clothes and they don’t have a big budget or a big wardrobe.
The opportunity, dressing people up, the enterprise solution, a venture called The Secret Wardrobe. Confidentiality, respect for privacy, designer garments all available for a fraction of what they would have otherwise cost. Renting out a wardrobe is so much cheaper than buying new clothes for every occasion!