For years and years, the world has faced the same problems. Poverty, hunger, human trafficking, fatal diseases, and more. The list could go on of the wicked problems. The world has tried the same solutions over and over again but to no avail as these problems simply continue to spread and grow. More recently though, entrepreneurship has taken a turn and people are finally starting to realize that if we want to fix these problems, we must start doing things differently. From Sarah Endline who has used a candy business to make social change and Muhammed Yunus who has been connecting with other businesses to help move his cause forward, we are starting to see a turn and I believe it is inspired of the Lord.
The Lord loves all of his children and doesn't want them to suffer. While he can't be here with us making change, he can make us instruments in his hands. As we make the gospel the center of our lives and pray for inspiration, the Lord will help us to know how we can make our entrepreneurial ventures used for the benefit of others. I loved this quote from Elder Gay's talk which basically sums up how I feel about the current changes in entrepreneurship and social impact.
"The time must come when the talent of men [and women] of business shall be used to benefit the whole people not for individual benefit alone. Not for individual aggrandizement alone, but for the benefit of the whole people to uplift the masses to rescue them from poverty."
-President George Q. Cannon
"something" is the real justification for businesses now a days. He basically saying, if you want to be dishonest in business, you will always be able to find "something" or some reason to justify your actions but that doesn't mean they actually are justified.
One solution is measuring success in terms of outcomes for others and ourselves. This makes business less self-centered and about money and more about what it's doing for other people. If we didn't set such a high value on being rich, maybe less people would be dishonest to achieve those means. Also, protecting the personal life of the employee is another way to help change the way things are in business. He talks about how people should not be forced to work long hours completely losing their personal home lives. They should not be seen as human resources. By protecting their well-being outside of work, they will be able to perform better at work as well.
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