Building Social Business Quotes

“When a crisis is at its deepest, it can offer a huge opportunity. When things fall apart, we can redesign, recast, and rebuild.”
― Muhammad Yunus, Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs

“Like any other idea, that of social business is subject to being misused and perverted. A few powerful people will look for ways to distort the concept and twist it for their own benefit—just as some misguided people have applied the term “microcredit” to describe companies that are really just loan sharks in disguise. Well-intentioned people will need to be on guard against those who would abuse the good name of social business.”
― Muhammad Yunus, Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs

“Type I social business: The business objective is to overcome poverty, or one or more problems (such as education, health, technology access, and environment) that threaten people and society—not to maximize profit. The company will attain financial and economic sustainability. Investors get back only their investment amount. No dividend is given beyond the return of the original investment. When the investment amount is paid back, profit stays with the company for expansion and improvement. The company will be environmentally conscious. The workforce gets market wage with better-than-standard working conditions. Do it with joy!!!”
― Muhammad Yunus, Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs

“As a social business, Grameen Danone follows the basic principle that it must be self-sustaining, and the owners must remain committed to never take any dividend beyond the return of the original amount they invested. The company’s success is judged each year not by the amount of profit generated, but by the number of children who escape malnutrition in that particular year.”
― Muhammad Yunus, Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs

“We can think about a social business as a selfless business whose purpose is to bring an end to a social problem. In this kind of business, the company makes a profit—but no one takes the profit. Because the company is dedicated entirely to the social cause, the whole idea of making personal profit is removed from this business. The owner can take back over a period of time only the amount invested.”
― Muhammad Yunus, Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs

“Thus, the social business might be described as a “non-loss, non-dividend company,” dedicated entirely to achieving a social goal.”
― Muhammad Yunus, Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs

“This is a badly distorted picture of a human being. As even a moment’s reflection suggests, human beings are not money-making robots. The essential fact about humans is that they are multidimensional beings. Their happiness comes from many sources, not just from making money. And yet economists have built their whole theory of business on the assumption that human beings do nothing in their economic lives besides pursue selfish interests. The theory concludes that the optimal result for society will occur when each individual’s search for selfish benefit is given free rein. This interpretation of human beings denies any role to other aspects of life—political, social, emotional, spiritual, environmental, and so on.”
― Muhammad Yunus, Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs

“All it takes to get poor people out of poverty is for us to create an enabling environment for them. Once the poor can unleash their energy and creativity, poverty will disappear very quickly.”
― Muhammad Yunus, Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs

“As a social business, Grameen Danone follows the basic principle that it must be self-sustaining, and the owners must remain committed to never take any dividend beyond the return of the original amount they invested.”
― Muhammad Yunus, Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs