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The Accidental Social Entrepreneur
The remarkable story of one gutsy contractor's determination to end poverty in Africa
Grant Smith is not a visionary or an enthusiastic missionary. He's a problem solver. When confronted with the desperate problems of poverty he witnessed in Africa, he did the only thing he knew how to do--business. Business that would provide jobs and pay people enough so that they would not have to rely on charity to send their kids to school, so that none would be forced to live in a tin shed without water, electricity, sewerage, or dignity, fighting off the threat of pneumonia every time it rained. His venture led to a great become the biggest house-builder in Kenya.
Both humorous and realistic, Smith tells of his successes and failures with projects as diverse as growing oil crops, a road-building scheme, house building, and selling old gas pumps. With faith in God's provision--and a little bewilderment--Smith wrestles with difficulties that every entrepreneur knows too finding investment funding only to lose it again, acquiring trustworthy business partners, confronting bribery and bureaucracy, corruption and culture. He is not the biggest house-builder in Kenya (yet!), but Smith has stumbled on a near-miraculous way of unlocking long-term financial provision for local Christian charities.
For those who dream of making a difference for communities affected by poverty, this story is inspiring and thought-provoking. It encourages readers to see how ordinary people have been created for a purpose and have the potential to facilitate miracles. The Accidental Social Entrepreneur is a real challenge to consider how we might use the gifts and resources we have been given by God to change lives.
Grant Smith is not a visionary or an enthusiastic missionary. He's a problem solver. When confronted with the desperate problems of poverty he witnessed in Africa, he did the only thing he knew how to do--business. Business that would provide jobs and pay people enough so that they would not have to rely on charity to send their kids to school, so that none would be forced to live in a tin shed without water, electricity, sewerage, or dignity, fighting off the threat of pneumonia every time it rained. His venture led to a great become the biggest house-builder in Kenya.
Both humorous and realistic, Smith tells of his successes and failures with projects as diverse as growing oil crops, a road-building scheme, house building, and selling old gas pumps. With faith in God's provision--and a little bewilderment--Smith wrestles with difficulties that every entrepreneur knows too finding investment funding only to lose it again, acquiring trustworthy business partners, confronting bribery and bureaucracy, corruption and culture. He is not the biggest house-builder in Kenya (yet!), but Smith has stumbled on a near-miraculous way of unlocking long-term financial provision for local Christian charities.
For those who dream of making a difference for communities affected by poverty, this story is inspiring and thought-provoking. It encourages readers to see how ordinary people have been created for a purpose and have the potential to facilitate miracles. The Accidental Social Entrepreneur is a real challenge to consider how we might use the gifts and resources we have been given by God to change lives.
280 pages, Paperback
Published July 26, 2019
1 person is currently reading
17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 11, 2019
Grant Smith has written an exhilarating book. It’s exhilarating in many different ways.
It’s exhilarating because the story he tells of his burning desire to help defeat poverty, motivated by, and rooted in, Jesus Christ, moves along at pace from ‘I can do something’ to attempting to do ‘everything we can’.
It’s exhilarating because two things are significant in the movement from the one phrase to the other - first is a recognition that there is always more I can do to live life in a way that honours Jesus Christ (that might not be poverty, Kenya, or business for you, but the statement remains), and second is the movement from ‘I’ to ‘we’. Grant names so many people throughout the book that by the end, it’s almost a muddle of who did what and when!
It’s exhilarating because that’s exactly the point - nothing Grant describes happened in a vacuum. It happens because of Jesus Christ and in the context of friendship and partnership.
It’s exhilarating because Grant’s approach is embedded in a common-sense theology. One that is practical, exciting, and so blindingly obvious that if Grant doesn’t help us see it, we might miss it!
Finally, and importantly, it’s exhilarating because by the end of it, you want to get up out of your seat, recognise the gifts and talents that Jesus has given you, and use them for his glory, his purposes, and his kingdom.
That’s the most exhilarating thing - thinking that so many who read Grant’s story won’t just enjoy the page-turning events he describes, but actually get up and go try to change the world (one step, one set-back, one mis-step, one success at a time)!
So, what are you waiting for? Get reading!
It’s exhilarating because the story he tells of his burning desire to help defeat poverty, motivated by, and rooted in, Jesus Christ, moves along at pace from ‘I can do something’ to attempting to do ‘everything we can’.
It’s exhilarating because two things are significant in the movement from the one phrase to the other - first is a recognition that there is always more I can do to live life in a way that honours Jesus Christ (that might not be poverty, Kenya, or business for you, but the statement remains), and second is the movement from ‘I’ to ‘we’. Grant names so many people throughout the book that by the end, it’s almost a muddle of who did what and when!
It’s exhilarating because that’s exactly the point - nothing Grant describes happened in a vacuum. It happens because of Jesus Christ and in the context of friendship and partnership.
It’s exhilarating because Grant’s approach is embedded in a common-sense theology. One that is practical, exciting, and so blindingly obvious that if Grant doesn’t help us see it, we might miss it!
Finally, and importantly, it’s exhilarating because by the end of it, you want to get up out of your seat, recognise the gifts and talents that Jesus has given you, and use them for his glory, his purposes, and his kingdom.
That’s the most exhilarating thing - thinking that so many who read Grant’s story won’t just enjoy the page-turning events he describes, but actually get up and go try to change the world (one step, one set-back, one mis-step, one success at a time)!
So, what are you waiting for? Get reading!
Read
June 24, 2019The idea of entrepreneurial evangelism raises several finely balanced challenges but also opens the prospect of Christians changing the world in new ways. Grant Smith contributes to this debate with a set of stories culled from his experience in setting up charities and companies, largely in Kenya. The style is engaging and the content lively, but there is more to this book than an entertaining read.
Nor is it just another business primer (how to find a partner, where to find funding, whom to employ) because Grant is writing in a different context: he wants businesses that deliver societal benefit within a wholeheartedly Christian framework. To address this, he opens doors that no business school would look behind, and we find ourselves mixing in ambiguous company. Not every who claims to be a Christian businessman turns out to be particularly Christian or even good at business. But we also meet men and women of astonishing vision, insight and integrity who are steadily making a difference. For that exposure alone, the book is worth reading.
I worked with Grant in the rough and tumble of church leadership from before his Lanzarote days (read the book) and recognise an enduring frankness in this effort, which is a second feature to set it apart: he is not simply writing about something, he is part of the things, the pain even, that he describes.
The accidental accent of the title sets the mood of the book: it is about what he has tried and is not a final analysis. It has taken courage to write in the way he has, especially about himself, and inadvertently underscores the importance of his early conclusions. His observations around corruption, for instance, are relevant and practical. They also raise a neglected agenda when we pray for those in authority and ask that they will allow Christians to ‘live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness’ (I timothy 22). Corruption is the enemy of peace and godliness, not just an impediment to business.
I read it from cover to cover in a single sitting and wanted to learn more about how close Christian businesses are to covering all their costs and to creating sustainable employment at scale. As I say, it doesn’t answer those questions, but Grant explored what it will take to answer such questions. In fact, unanswered questions are part of the book’s mood, no more so that when Grant explores the challenge of habitable homes for millions of people earning just $1.50 a day.
My answer? Don’t! Instead, apply the ideas in this book to creating thousands of sustainable jobs that pay $3.00, $5.00 or $15:00 a day and then tackle the easier question of homes for those earning $5-10 a day. Now, how will you answer the questions raised by this book?
Nor is it just another business primer (how to find a partner, where to find funding, whom to employ) because Grant is writing in a different context: he wants businesses that deliver societal benefit within a wholeheartedly Christian framework. To address this, he opens doors that no business school would look behind, and we find ourselves mixing in ambiguous company. Not every who claims to be a Christian businessman turns out to be particularly Christian or even good at business. But we also meet men and women of astonishing vision, insight and integrity who are steadily making a difference. For that exposure alone, the book is worth reading.
I worked with Grant in the rough and tumble of church leadership from before his Lanzarote days (read the book) and recognise an enduring frankness in this effort, which is a second feature to set it apart: he is not simply writing about something, he is part of the things, the pain even, that he describes.
The accidental accent of the title sets the mood of the book: it is about what he has tried and is not a final analysis. It has taken courage to write in the way he has, especially about himself, and inadvertently underscores the importance of his early conclusions. His observations around corruption, for instance, are relevant and practical. They also raise a neglected agenda when we pray for those in authority and ask that they will allow Christians to ‘live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness’ (I timothy 22). Corruption is the enemy of peace and godliness, not just an impediment to business.
I read it from cover to cover in a single sitting and wanted to learn more about how close Christian businesses are to covering all their costs and to creating sustainable employment at scale. As I say, it doesn’t answer those questions, but Grant explored what it will take to answer such questions. In fact, unanswered questions are part of the book’s mood, no more so that when Grant explores the challenge of habitable homes for millions of people earning just $1.50 a day.
My answer? Don’t! Instead, apply the ideas in this book to creating thousands of sustainable jobs that pay $3.00, $5.00 or $15:00 a day and then tackle the easier question of homes for those earning $5-10 a day. Now, how will you answer the questions raised by this book?
June 19, 2019
You’ll hear Grant Smith’s voice in these pages. It’s authentic, honest, and it’ll make you smile. More than that, you’ll hear his heart. It’s the heart of someone who is not only bothered by injustice but is determined to do something about it – through business done well, in a way that makes a social difference but still makes money. In an account that’s part business memoir, part theological reflection, part spiritual journey, Grant takes us through the lows and occasional highs of his adventures, all from the perspective that ‘Christianity is a way of life, not an insurance policy for what comes next’. If that resonates with you, read on.
Antony Billington, Theology Advisor, London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, and Senior Pastor, Beacon Church, Ashton-in-Makerfield, United Kingdom.
Antony Billington, Theology Advisor, London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, and Senior Pastor, Beacon Church, Ashton-in-Makerfield, United Kingdom.
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June 20, 2019An Excellent read. It is challenging and honest account of Grant's persual of God's plan for his and his wife's lives. It narrates the ups and downs of a journey of faith that seeks to bring about change in the lives of Kenyans who are on the margins of life. His aim is to see honest business being done to promote the health and welfare of those who work for Hand in Hand and allow the furtherance of the goal of sound business and the creation of wealth that will promote God's work in that nation. Their commitment to sharing profit with the charity arm of Hand in Hand continues to have an impact everyday in thousands of lives. A must read, it will challenge you and you'll hear Grant speaking on every page. Peter in Cyprus
June 20, 2019
Wowsee...I couldn't put this down!!!...Grant has written in a way that everyone will be able to relate to. Thankyou Grant for writing. Grant shows his unique and special gift of seeing clearly how things really are and then throwing himself full pelt at them!!
I loved his honesty and humility that can be rare these days.I loved his sparkly humour in the book that is infectious.The ponder thoughts are brilliant! I applaud the giving of all the glory to God and the integrity that Grant adheres to.
This book is an encouragement and a big challenge to us all to keep living out our lives as God has uniquely given to each of us. Gill in Cyprus
I loved his honesty and humility that can be rare these days.I loved his sparkly humour in the book that is infectious.The ponder thoughts are brilliant! I applaud the giving of all the glory to God and the integrity that Grant adheres to.
This book is an encouragement and a big challenge to us all to keep living out our lives as God has uniquely given to each of us. Gill in Cyprus
Read
June 28, 2019This book is highly readable giving several short life stories that are interesting to follow. It is a one flowing, challenging story of the life and faith of Mr. Grant Smith relating with several people as he seeks to obey God in serving the needy. I have lived through several of the stories written here, and I very much appreciate the high level of honesty, transparency and vulnerability depicted by Grant. You will be challenged to think and live your faith meaningfully in every circumstance you meet in life.
March 24, 2021
This book inspires ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Built on Grant's story and experience rather than his theory, philosophy or theology, the book gives a glimpse into the reality of being in business for multiple bottom lines. Grant's gentle, self-depreciating humour thinly covers great wisdom and insight, earned the hard way, that will guide those interested in building businesses that make money and do good. The book pulls no punches as the challenges of attempting to make money and treat people fairly unfolds. This is a book you will want to lend or give to everyone.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews