The power of social innovation

The power of Social Innovation-reflection from Hyderabad

Could you image customers are lining up to purchase your products or services in today’s increasingly competitive commercial world? Could you image that your company is growing at three digit growth percentage per year? Could you image investors give you the capital and do not give you the pressure to deliver those quarterly results? This is the power of social enterprises at Hyderabad!

Hyderabad is almost a complete change from Kolkata. New constructions very where, cars passed by gaining their few seconds advantage on you, people are all busy selling, hurrying home, or working in their shops. We have not encounter a beggar on the street asking for money yet.

While Kolkata gives us the emotional inspiration on the dedication of individual social activists, Hyderabad gives us the inspiration on how to make the maximum impact with the less amount of resource.

Life Spring hospital specialize in building a chain of small Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospitals that provide vital reproductive and pediatric healthcare to low income people. www.lifespringhospitals.com The Company was found in 2007 with support from Acumen Fund. Within a year they already established themselves in Hyderabad, Nellore and Vijaywada. By specialize and focus in Maternity Care, they are able to develop a very cost effective model to substantially reduce their cost of service to their clients at one third of the market price. They did not forget the value of quality. In fact each of their hospital has to be approved by ISO9000 in term of quality system.

The result is very clear. Patients are flocking in. Life Spring is now planning to open one hospital in every 35 days next year. In two years time, the group will have 35 hospitals and they are already talking about plan for potential public recruitment of capital. What type of business could grow that fast!

We keep hearing other successful examples of social enterprise. We are not looking at small operations start up by trade practitioners, instead we meet many young professionally trained business executives using all the most updated business jargons explaining what they intend to achieve through their social enterprises. Vision Spring was set up provide low cost eye care to rural India. Through their unique model of Vision Entrepreneurs, they managed to create jobs at village level for capable young entrepreneurs while still achieve their goal of providing low cost eye care to rural areas. www.visionspring.org

Established in 2002, Intellecap is one of the fastest growing strategic services firms providing support to social entrepreneurs. The four key operations under Intellecap are: investment banking, Enterprise Development, Knowledge advisory and Incubator. They leverage their understanding of main stream business to create unique solutions that deliver financial, social, and environmental returns. www.intellecap.net

Our high light was our visit to Indian School of Business listening to the live journey of Mr. Vijay Mahajan through which we have a closer understanding of what were and still are the main obstacles to social entrepreneurs. ISB program director, Mr. Subramonia Sarma made an impressive comment before the session end. One cannot underestimate the seed that business school could sow into each future business leader’s heart. Although only a few will choose to start right away to build their dreams in SE, others will adopt the value and support the movement in their respective influential positions in different companies in future. I would love to see those happy and yet determined faces of young entrepreneurs in China too!

Patrick