Turkey’s Social Entrepreneurship Impact Map to be Created

The project titled “The Impact of Social Entrepreneurship in Turkey” was launched to draw attention to social entrepreneurship, encourage and inspire young people.

Istanbul
Within the scope of the “Impact of Social Entrepreneurship in Turkey” project, examples of social entrepreneurship in the country will be analyzed and an impact map will be drawn.

Social Entrepreneurship Campus, with the support of KOSGEB and AIESEC Turkey, launched a project called “The Impact of Social Entrepreneurship in Turkey” in order to draw attention to social entrepreneurship in platforms where entrepreneurship is discussed and taught, to encourage and inspire young people.

Within the scope of the project, to which entrepreneurs from 20 universities in Turkey and 20 countries will contribute, social entrepreneurs, young people and non-governmental organization managers in Turkey will come together in workshops that will last for 6 weeks starting on July 16.

At the end of the workshops, which will examine examples of social entrepreneurship in the country, the impact map to be revealed will be reported and shared with the public. In addition, the report will be submitted to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and a proposal will be made for the enactment of a law on “Social Entrepreneurship”.

“They will understand social entrepreneurship”
Project Coordinator and social entrepreneur Ismail Hilmi Adiguzel told AA correspondent that the project aims to create an inventory of social entrepreneurs in Turkey.

Defining social entrepreneurship as “transferring resources to solve an identified problem”, Adiguzel stated that this concept is not known and that young people who are social entrepreneurs are not aware of themselves.

Stating that they want to show how many social entrepreneurs there are in the country with the project they will carry out with the support of AIESEC Turkey, Adiguzel emphasized that young social entrepreneurs from different countries will also participate in the program.

Adiguzel stated that they will organize many workshops between July 20 and September 2 within the scope of the project and said, “Young people from 20 countries will come here. We will also invite young entrepreneurs from 20 universities in Turkey. We will pair our friends from each country with university students and make them into a team. For 6 weeks, they will help our friends from abroad, understand social entrepreneurship, improve their foreign languages and get to know different cultures.”

Adiguzel said that they will announce the final report at the summit they will organize at the end of the workshops, and that they will also reward successful social entrepreneurs.

Emphasizing that social entrepreneurship is very common in small businesses in Anatolia, Adiguzel said:

“When I go to Anatolia for seminars at universities, I see this a lot with the businesses and initiatives I encounter. For example, a young friend of ours in Hakkari has young girls knit various products and sells them over the internet, contributing to local development. She not only gives the girls there the opportunity to work from home, but also bridges the distance that we see as a disadvantage over the internet. She produces and sells those bags with local motifs. Hatay Yayladag District Governorship had established a shoe workshop in the refugee camp with Syrian refugees. There, they provide serious support for the rehabilitation of refugees and also produce shoes and provide added value to the country. Social entrepreneurship is one of them.”

“We will understand whether you are a social entrepreneur with survey questions”
Stating that they will create an impact map of social entrepreneurship in Turkey at the end of the project, Adiguzel continued as follows:

“We are in talks with KOSGEB. If it gives its approval, a letter will be sent to all provincial directorates in Turkey thanks to KOSGEB. In this way, that information will be received. We will also open a forum on the internet on ‘sosyalgirişim.net’. We will try to reach more people by using social media. We will reach as many people as possible and get more people to fill out this survey form. With the survey questions, we will understand whether they are social entrepreneurs or not. First of all, we will ask which problem they are working on. We will find out what kind of a road map they follow to solve this problem, what their income model is. Because one of the most important factors of social entrepreneurship is to have a revenue model. This is much more than a charity campaign, you need to be earning and you need to have an income to solve that problem. We will ask them to answer questions such as ‘How many jobs do you provide?’, ‘How much balance sheet do you have?’, ‘What is your social benefit balance sheet?”

Ismail Hilmi Adiguzel reminded that there are procedures for establishing companies such as “sole proprietorship”, “limited liability” and “joint stock” in the Turkish Commercial Code, and stated that some companies have the concept of “social company” between sole proprietorship and limited liability company.

Emphasizing that the state provides some advantages to social companies, Adiguzel said:

“It actually offers the money that KOSGEB gives at the beginning as an advantage. What is it doing? It makes some reductions in VAT or makes the state’s facilities available with some advantages. And the state says, ‘Be a social company. Work on a problem, take the burden off me, but at the end of the month, give your commercial balance sheet to the tax office and your social benefit balance sheet to the directorate of associations.’ In other words, a model that will work like both an association and a company. Associations will not work separately, companies will not work separately, they will meet and work in a common structure. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an initiative, an existing company can also turn into a social company.”

“We want to be a pioneer in passing the law”
Underlining that the project will have many gains, Adiguzel made the following evaluations:

“First of all, we will bring social entrepreneurship to the agenda of young people. When you say ‘enterprise’, we will show that money can be earned and business can be done not only with technological and scientific projects, but also with projects that produce social benefits. Maybe we will not be able to reach many structures because it is the first year of the project, but if we can continue this in the coming years, we will reach more people and create a solid inventory, and as a result of this inventory, we will ensure that those people, even those who say ‘I am a social entrepreneur’, will mention this to their tradesmen friends and friends and encourage them to work in the same way.”

Project Coordinator Adiguzel stated that after starting the project, they realized that some countries have social entrepreneurship laws.

Stating that this project is a step towards the enactment of a social entrepreneurship law in Turkey, Adiguzel said, “We have requested an appointment with Mustafa Sentop, the Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, and Berat Albayrak, the Minister of Treasury and Finance. I hope we can get a return as soon as possible. We will inform them about the final report of our achievements and we will demand the enactment of a law on social entrepreneurship. Because this creates an opportunity for both the state and young people. This is practiced in many countries. We want to be a pioneer in its implementation in Turkey.”

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/turkiye/turkiyenin-sosyal-girisimcilik-etki-haritasi-cikartilacak/1526753#