Deciphering the business of a "Social Business"
I wish sometimes, and I wish really hard, that someone or something teaches me the way to stop all the madness around. Other times, I see an Audi A8 pass by and I wish, may be not with the same passion but with quite some intent, to own that car. Then someday I reflect on what I want from life and on that day I console myself that Elements is my answer to both my aspirations. But is it really, I have no clue.
In the small world we discovered through Elements and that we want to call home, we continue to be strangers. We started the company in an unknown city with the burning desire of changing the lives of artisans for good. 12 months complete, I don’t know if we have done the best possible but I can say with confidence that we have put our blood and sweat into this company. Elements, our logo, our artisans, our maid, our printer, our photographer and everyone and everything associated with our company, we already are responsible for them.
The achievements, though few, are just beginning to show up. We are the baby who has just taken first steps but can’t hold her ground firm. We fall down every time we try to walk. Meanwhile, everyone associated with us, to some degree, also takes a fall with us. We have built a lot of expectations which scares us. Maybe, this is the reason why in our annual meeting we decided to focus on expanding scale, generating money. Today, we begin to believe that more money we make, the more we can pass on to our stakeholders. As we start to recognize that not only we but a lot of people have started to see their dreams through our eyes, our understanding of this social enterprise changes.
We are just discoverers of life and we don’t know if we are doing the “right” thing. But as my very dear friend says, “whatever we do, it feels honest at heart”. With this clear conscience and a bit of “irrational optimism” we make our way forward, not knowing if we will contribute to stopping the madness around or if we will own an Audi or do none or just maybe do both. However, in this journey, we do hope to discover the business of a social business, something that we always wanted to do.
To join us in our journey, please visit us at www.elementsmart.com
