What is inclusive business?
The term inclusion carries the meaning of accepting or including a part into a whole. Its opposite is exclusion, which can be encountered in mathematics or natural sciences. However, we encounter this term more and more often in pedagogy and social sectors, where it dominates education and sociology.
Although in the framework of inclusive education, the method of including all children in the main educational stream, where the teacher treats all students equally, is used in practice, this methodology would probably not be successful in business.
Entrepreneurship carries with it the personal risk of every entrepreneur who, in the event of his failure, will most likely endanger his own family, i.e. the families of all others who were connected to the entrepreneurial activity and on whose income other entities depended.
An inclusive business is one that, beyond its profit-making goal, focuses on higher goals, such as global social problems, and primarily or secondarily contributes to their elimination.
As part of its business strategy, an inclusive enterprise thus provides opportunities for people living at the base of the economic pyramid to reduce poverty and increase prosperity. The goal is to support and reduce the number of financially weak and underserved entities throughout the business chain. The company/entrepreneur will focus on such subjects who can become, for example, employees, outsourcers, suppliers, distributors, retailers, but also customers.
Business Models that Make a Difference
The inclusive entrepreneur has great opportunities in the modern age. The private sector is growing and the call for further growth is growing as automation and robotization advances. There is an increasing demand for supplies and services of various kinds, often of innovative dimensions, which are yet to be integrated into the normal course of business.
Pioneering companies show how the private sector can bring population engagement across the entire economic pyramid. The private sector can thus be an engine for the growth of economic inclusion of disadvantaged groups and thus raise living standards.
In Europe, the most vulnerable group are women, who often live on the poverty line due to the separation of their partner (separation, divorce). In most cases, the woman must provide education and bear all living expenses without the right to ensure 50% participation in the educational and cost burden until the child is 18 years old or until the time of graduation. The consequence is also other forms of partner separation, such as the death or economic loss of a partner caused by poor health, a lower career level or mental health. Another vulnerable group in Europe is the over-50s, who are often ignored by practice guarantees and discriminated against for conservative attitudes and digital illiteracy.
Inclusive business is or will be essential for companies that want to grow. Businesses that turn economically disadvantaged populations into dynamic entities will create new markets and resources that will have a far-reaching impact on society as a whole.
Small entrepreneurs and small businesses should focus on business opportunities as part of entrepreneurial inclusion, as good intentions must be in line with strategic goals, which include generating profit, in order for the entrepreneur to be able to operate in the market in the long term.
You can learn more about inclusive business in the programs of our institute.