My entire experience in Washington D.C. was amazing and
absolutely unique. Apart from getting to know the university and the city, the
course Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship taught me a lot as I had the
opportunity to get acquainted with the other students and work with them, as
well as gain a better insight into the world of business.
One of our field trips was to 1776, an incubator where
entrepreneurs are provided with knowledge, advice from experts and capital to
start and develop their business. They have space to work and interact with
other ambitious individuals like themselves, and there’s also an online
platform for their global network. What was most impressive was the range of
ages of the people there: from young adults to older people, proving that there
is no “right” time in someone’s life to start their own business; as long as
they are dedicated to their work, genuinely believe in their cause and have the
necessary resources, they can succeed.
We ourselves got a taste of setting up a social venture too,
as we had to work on a project and pitch our ideas on the last day. Through
lectures and discussions in class, we learned that there are several key
factors that play part in the success of a social enterprise. These include
commitment, since research and planning need to be done, and timing, so that
the product or service is launched when it is most needed by society. The ones
we discovered first-hand and were crucial to achieve were patience and good
communication between team members, because, naturally, they are essential for
a group to manage to work together efficiently and reach their common goal. Our
hard work on the project really paid off in the end, as evident from the
effective delivery of the presentations.
Helena
Helena
