What is a social business? And how do we do it?

We are a consulting firm with deep expertise in the business of helping businesses grow. After years of advising large corporations but also small and medium companies, we want to make a worldwide transformation by launching a social business.

A social business is one that aims to make a positive impact on social objectives while remaining financially viable, enabling companies to generate sources of job opportunities across value chains, helping local entrepreneurs grow and dynamize the economy in their communities, fight poverty, improve health, and improve education, especially for the new generations that will also grow with better opportunities and generate more solutions for their communities.

Professor Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and founder of the first micro-credit organization, Grameen Bank, defines social business as one that: “First, it seeks to alleviate social problems, including all forms of poverty. Second, it must be run sustainably—that is, it should not lose money. Third, profits—when they exist—are reinvested in the business rather than funneled back to shareholders. Investors eventually get back only the money they initially invested.” (Reaching the Rich World’s Poorest Consumers Yunus et al. 2015 hbr.org).

At iz solutions, we are experts helping businesses find solutions to grow their business, improve their products, optimize their processes, and tackle their market sweet spots. With these initiatives, we can continue in what we are passionate and good at, and at the same time, we can also unlock opportunities for small entrepreneurs, especially women developing their subsistence businesses, to feed and educate their children. How amazing it is to enable these entrepreneurs to access business consulting that will not only help them grow their businesses but also bring new solutions to their communities and grow even more to generate job opportunities for others.

A double joy is that through this solution, we are also helping achieve several of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

No poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation, and infrastructure, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, life on land, peace, justice, and strong institutions, partnerships for the goals.