Hope Bakery & Cafe Social Science Entrepreneur Issue Surrounding Project Attachment is the requirement and example. Please read the requirement carefully.

Hope Bakery & Cafe Social Science Entrepreneur Issue Surrounding Project Attachment is the requirement and example. Please read the requirement carefully. READ the Attaachment!!!! Katie I.
Project #4
Hope Bakery & Cafe
Throughout this semester we have explored entrepreneurship and the increasing emergence of
social and cultural entrepreneurship to address societal needs. We’ve uncovered different
business models of social entrepreneurship entities — from business enterprises where profits or
goods are donated to social causes (e.g., The Tom’s Shoes Story) to ventures whose innovative
solutions are addressing a public issue (e.g., the use of biochar to help African farmers). Our
readings have also discussed intrapreneurship, where individuals pursue entrepreneurial activities
while working within a large organization (e.g., Geek Squad at Best Buy).
In considering a social entrepreneurial need in my community I introduce a third model: a
business venture whose employees represent a special workforce need in the community, in this
case individuals with cognitive disabilities. My interest is this social enterprise approach is
deeply personal. One of my friends is “Kristie” who happens to also be the younger sister of a
very close friend. I’ve had ringside seats watching Kristie grow up, always marveling at her
incredibly positive spirit, her feistiness in trying to be independent, and her infectious smile. This
year, at age 19 and with the mental capacity of a 8 year old, Kristie completed her education at
our local school. In Michigan, cognitive disabled individuals are allowed to attend school until
they are 26, at which point they “age out” of publicly-provided education. For the parents of
Kristie, and the dozens of other cognitively disabled young and middle-aged adults in our greater
community, the challenge of caring for a quasi-independent special needs adult is daunting.
Although some may suggest that these care challenges represent a small proportion of the overall
population, I believe it is morally wrong to consider this issue as someone else’s problem.
Beyond a moral obligation an innovative social entrepreneurship strategy provides an
appropriate opportunity to enhance the interest among others in addressing this societal need.
Connecting a community need with a larger social issue
For years my community has yearned for a bakery/coffee shop. I’m told that several years ago,
before coffee shops were cool, a very successful bakery existed on Main Street until the owners
retired and closed the business. Consequently the perfect location for a more contemporary
bakery/coffee shop/café remains empty. I propose opening “Hope Bakery and Café” a unique
non-profit restaurant that employs individuals with cognitive disabilities. Risky? Absolutely.
While any business venture includes risk, my proposed enterprise faces additional challenges.
Using limited skilled employees provides an added hurdle, particularly for a service-oriented
business. Additionally, for many individuals (and potential customers) there is a natural
discomfort being around individuals with disabilities. Other businesses that employ special needs
and disabled individuals (e.g., Peckham Industries of Lansing) are often manufacturers whose
employees have limited direct contact with the general public. Would a wait staff of special
needs individuals potentially drive away, versus attract customers?
According to the Rippling article (Schwartz, 2012) “social entrepreneurship is all about bringing
new opportunities into the arena of solutions and sponsoring a process that will enable new
people and voices to participate in the emerging system that is being created.” As such, I believe
that my social entrepreneurial venture includes many innovative approaches to address the
previously mentioned challenges. First, establishing Hope Bakery and Café as a non-profit entity
provides an opportunity to invite key community stakeholders to serve as a non-paid board of
directors overseeing the entity. It is difficult to create a positive community narrative with a
single voice. Engaging thought leaders within the community, who buy into the vision of Hope
Bakery and Café, can play a key role in drowning-out local skepticism, particularly in a smaller
community where negativity can be more prominent. As suggested by Schwartz “…. to do this
successfully, many people need to be inspired, involved, engaged and active (p. 238).”
Additionally, as a non-profit organization Hope Bakery and Café is better positioned for
potential outside grants, which can positively change the entity’s balance sheet.
Capitalizing on trained expertise
Additionally, an important aspect of employing people with special needs is that they require
extensive training and likely occasional retraining. To address this training requirement the Hope
Bakery and Café will use job coaches as part of the staff to work one-on-one, nurturing,
encouraging and providing guidance to the special needs employees. The creative use of job
coaches, which may be drawn from individuals in the region seeking to enhance their skills in
working with special needs individuals (e.g., individuals pursuing careers as special education
teachers), will help our special needs team stay focused, learn job skills and be proud of their
work. Additionally, since this social enterprise is largely locally focused, an additional service of
Hope Bakery and Café is to consult other businesses exploring using cognitively disabled
individuals as part of their workforce. Our job coaches will be well positioned to share their
learning’s on training special needs individuals to other social enterprises.
Spill-over benefits
The creation of Hope Bakery and Café, in addition to addressing a social issue, offers a number
of spill-over benefits. First, I believe the enterprise can play a significant role in breaking down
stereotypes of cognitively disabled individuals. By closely interfacing with a population that
largely has been marginalized, local citizens of the community have an opportunity to see special
need individuals with a different lens as they observe their productivity. Similarly, providing a
work experience, where wages are earned, provides a tremendous opportunity to enhance the
self-esteem of the workers. Perhaps Schwartz says it best “innovation, combined with behavior
change, has the potential to reshape the same environment. For solutions to be effective they
have to get people to act differently in a way that changes not only them but their communities
(p. 241).” Beyond the societal benefits this social enterprise also enhances the community by
filling an empty storefront on Main Street and providing a great place for residents to eat,
socialize and learn.
Challenges and Lessons
While this essay has largely discussed the positive aspects of social enterprises it is important to
note that in a competitive market employing disabled individuals is perhaps the most difficult
model of social entrepreneurship. Cox (2012) suggests that because of increased labor costs,
oftentimes-significant increased costs and/or reduced efficiencies, social enterprises in a
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competitive market are severely disadvantaged. To compensate these social ventures often
require a complex business model that may include two or more synergistic training activities
(e.g., bakery and training facility). In an examination of four case studies, a Northwestern
University study (Boni-Saenz et al., 2005) cited the importance of hiring managers with
curricular education, forming partnerships with outside disability organizations, avoiding
stereotyping, and embracing flexible scheduling as success factors among organizations that
have successful disability hiring programs. In reviewing numerous social enterprise case studies
(The Chronicle of Social Enterprise, 2009), beyond the best practice employment elements cited
in the Northwestern Study, sustainable social enterprises were successful because they provided
a product, service or innovation that the public was seeking.
Conclusion
Entrepreneurship comes in many forms. A common denominator, however, is innovation,
oftentimes continuous innovation to be sustainable. Social and cultural enterprises must follow
the same growth principles. In the end Hope Bakery and Café will succeed or fail based on its
ability to meet the community’s needs (in this case provide exceptional food and coffee) not due
to the community’s decision to patronize the restaurant because of its social mission. It is the
social mission, however, that motivates me in creating the enterprise. While many may seek
fame and money in life I’m not motivated be either. And, never will be. For me, this is a much
bigger fight. A fight for Kristie.
References:
30 under 30: Social Entrepreneurs, Forbes Magazine.
Blake Mycoskie – The Tom’s Shoes Story, TED Ed presentation, April 24, 2012.
Boni-Saenz, A., Heinemann, A., Crown, D., and Emmanuel, L., (2005). “The Business of
Employing People with Disabilities: Four Case Studies Multi-Case Study Report,” Northwestern
University, U.S. Social Security Administration Disability Research Institute.
Cox, G., 2012. “Why employing disabled people is the most difficult form of social enterprise,”
The Guardian, Retrieved on June 29, 2015 from www.theguardian.com/social-enterprisenetwork/2012/jul/03/social-enterprises-employing-disabled-people.
Schwartz, B., 2012. “Rippling: How Social Entrepreneurs Spread Innovation Throughout the
World,” Chapter 19: “Turning what is and what if into what can be,” Jossey-Bass Publishing.
Skelley, S., 1015. “How Tigger Inspired Intrepreneurship at Best Buy … and the Geek Squad,”
Entrepreneurship & Innovation Exchange, Retrieved July 1, 2015 from
https://eiexchange.com/content/php?id=81
The Chronicle of Social Enterprise, Spring, 2009, Retrieved on June 30, 2015 from
www.socialent.org/pdfs/THE_CHRONICLE_OF_SOCIAL_ENTERPRISE_VOLUME_ONE_S
PING_2009.pdf.
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1.
OVERVIEW
Then identify one issue you think is particularly
compelling.
For Project 4, you will write a 2-3 page essay in
which you identify a need or issue in your
community, and suggest a social entrepreneurial
approach to addressing that issue or need.
Brainstorm ways a social entrepreneurial
approach, initiative, company, venture, etc. might
address the issue.
You can define “community” however you see fit.
“Community” might refer to your neighborhood.
It might refer to your city. If might refer to MSU,
or to a particular group at MSU. It might refer to
a specific population that has specific needs.
3. WRITING YOUR ESSAY
Open your essay by introducing, explaining, and
situating your issue. What is the issue? Why is it a
concern? Why does it need to be addressed?
This is our final class project; please
consider it a “capstone” project. That
is, reflect across and draw from our
readings, cases, and sparks from the
last six weeks and across your other
projects.
Then introduce your social entrepreneurial
approach to addressing the need or issue. Be
sure that in doing so you draw explicitly from our
class readings, cases, and sparks-point to
models from the class resources, quote from the
class readings, etc.
Project 4 should allow you to both reflect-that
is, look back and think back on what we’ve done,
explored, and created over the past six weeks,
and it should also allow you to think forward-to
apply what we’ve been reading and talking about
to think about how we might address a particular
issue.
In your conclusion, discuss potential challenges
you might face and address the potential impact
of your approach. In your conclusion, draw on
best practices, ideas, or suggestions from the
readings.
2. GETTING STARTED
4. SUBMITTING YOUR WORK
Save your essay as a .doc, .docx, or PDF file.
Think about needs you’ve observed or issues that
you’ve faced or you know others in your
community have faced. You might also look at
local news web sites, or Facebook pages of local
community groups and nonprofits. Create a list
of needs or issues.
Upload your essay to the Project 4 dropbox on
D2L, saved in the week 7 folder, by noon eastern
on Friday, June 28.

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