Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs

by Muhammad Yunus

The more time you spend among poor people, the more you become convinced that poverty is not the result of any incapacity on the part of the poor. Poverty is not created by poor people. It is created by the system we have built, the institutions we have designed, and the concepts we have formulated.

The essential fact about humans is that they are multidimensional beings. Their happiness comes from many sources, not just from making money.

We must replace the one-dimensional person in economic theory with a multidimensional person—a person who has both selfish and selfless interests at the same time.

business, and a part is kept in reserve to cover uncertainties.

A social business is outside the profit-seeking world. Its goal is to solve a social problem by using business methods, including the creation and sale of products or services.

The first responsibility principle that every business leader should follow is to make sure the business does not imperil anybody’s life on this planet.

The second responsibility principle goes a bit further. It states that the business will contribute to making the planet safer than it would have been without the business.

And the third responsibility principle is that the business should be conducted within the framework of social and political responsibilities established by the state and global authorities.