@dreamerdoers

entrepreneur

Boundary of Freedom!

We all come across many Freedom Fighters like the ones below – within ourselves and/or around us

“I would like to start my own business, because I want Freedom!” – standard reply from dreaming entrepreneur enthusiasts!

“I do not want to leave my job and start a business because I will not have any Freedom from work!” – standard excuse from cubical emperors!

“I would like to take a break in my career because, I want to experience Freedom!” –

“I do not like to marry, because I want to retain my Freedom!” – standard response from dreaming singles!

‘I would like to rent an apartment in place of buying one, because I would like to retain the Freedom!”

What is this Freedom? Is this just an immunity from an obligation or duty?

Is this freedom “from” or freedom “for” or both? Irrespective of the reason, result will be a new “boundary!” – a greatest possible degree of something one can do!

Some of us feel that freedom is being boundary less! But, Freedom & Boundary go together.That’s the paradox of life!

Freedom of a country from slavery v/s Freedom for a country to be self ruled!

Freedom from cube v/s Freedom for experimenting in open!

Freedom from loneliness v/s Freedom for leading a self directed lifestyle!

Freedom for creating a social impact like new job creation v/s Freedom from 9-5 labor!

Everything comes with own boundaries! Passion defines the drive and shifts the pivot between “from” and “for”. One anchored in the past and the other driven towards future!

Though these are just “Perspectives”, they change the impact and the drive within an individual to move/expand the boundary for a greater cause or benefit.

Future shifters and Dreamer Doers always considered Freedom “for” as the right perspective than just “from”.

Freedom comes at a price and if it is “for”, expands the boundary as well!

Year end review and plan for the next year should cover the aspect of improving the Boundary of Freedom for another successful run!

fencesitting

Time to get down and run “for” something than “from” it!

Power of non-conformance!

We conform to common usage because we find it convenient and safe. Once we have conformed, we like those who come after us to conform to it too, so that we can continue to feel comfortable and safe in their company!

Follow the current, do as all do and think what all think. Be one with the crowd, and you will see what the crowd sees and reach where the crowd reaches. This is good enough for most people in easy acquiescence, but will leave unsatisfied the eyes that can see more and the feet that are eager to walk farther.

Most people’s journey through life is a conducted tour! They look where they are told to look and they see what they are told to see. They go where they are taken and they stay there while they are kept there. Willful obedience to a pre-arranged & time tested routine. Follow your guide and you will be safe. Look at his little flag and you will not be lost…Never mind if you miss the thrill of discovery and the personal experience of the wonder of life. You will be safely back at scheduled place on the scheduled time!Mount_Kenya_guides[1]

Convenient, no doubt. Prepaid, programmed, guaranteed. But for the same reason, uninspiring and commonplace! The picture postcard are the same for every tourist, the souvenirs cheap and repeated. However marvelous the country may be, there is hardly a knowledge of a new land, any contact with new people when one has travelled in the insured isolation of a conducted tour! 

Fortunately, the door is still open and the way is cleared for those who want to explore life on their own, travel unusual paths and let themselves be surprised by the turns of the mind, the skylines of the spirit and the landscapes of the soul.

They are ready to travel alone, to risk danger and brave hardships; they love adventure and trust their heart in the bewildering maze that life on earth is. They are perpetual pioneers who, while respecting the group and recognizing the advantages of a common trip, choose for themselves the legitimate privilege of a personal search.

They like to experience the feel of new soil under bare feet, they love to breathe new air and taste new food, they welcome the gentle panic of getting lost for a while in an alien land. Tourism on a shoestring budget. Hitchhiking on the roads that lead to heaven. The days of the great explorers are not over yet!

Social Entrepreneurs are one such class of explorers – with a deep rooted passion to act as change catalysts! Bootstrapping is their business model, society is their resource pool, service is their product; sustainability and inclusive growth – their mission! They make full use of the power of non-conformance in the business world!

Interestingly, any dreamer doer in the crowd – be part of an organization as an employee or an employer can be an explorer for good! Then the boundary – the conformance setup will become organic – one that expands as the organization expands! This helps in ensuring sustainability of any organization!

You may like this video: It’s all in the game! from Vacha

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Sustainable Innovation in action!

Social Innovation is not just another buzz word for action oriented dreamer doers! Just came across  Movirtu – a true example of a social enterprise which has entire elements of social innovation in action!

This company is bringing “personal cloud phone service” for rural users without a handset! Movirtu’s MXShare service enables people who cannot afford a phone or SIM card to own a virtual “Cloud Phone” account with their own telephone number.

No special handsets, SIM cards or additional client software are required. All information is transmitted between the handset and the MXShare server using secure channels, thereby eliminating the potential privacy issues associated with borrowing a handset. The system also manages the subscriber’s offline activity, tracking missed calls and sending notification alerts to friends or nearby village phone operators. Those with phones to lend, meanwhile, get rewarded with one-off fixed amounts or a percentage of the cost of the call or transaction as an incentive to share their handset. An example of “Frugal Luxury”!

Sustainable Innovation is successful- only when the focus is on all four circles –

      • Process Innovation = Efficiency – More for Less!
      • Product Innovation = Effectiveness – A winning Portfolio for the segment targeted – More for All!
      • Technology Innovation = Extension – More for All!
      • Business Model Innovation = Expansion – All for All!

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This company has worked on all these elements remarkably well to ensure that the value is created and utilized at the user level! Just check the manifesto:

Purpose:

Innovative mobile technology and business models to wireless telecommunication service providers servicing rural poor communities in Sub-Sahara Africa and South Asia to help them realize shared access to basic mobile phone services at a much lower cost than has been achieved before.

Movirtu is committed to delivering technology and innovation that can enable basic phone services for these people at the ‘Base of the Pyramid’. We do this by delivering solutions to mobile operators that allow them to launch new products and business models specifically for this segment at a lower cost base to the mobile operator than could be reached before.

To the end user, by working with the network providers, we are creating the conditions that allow them the opportunity to use a mobile phone. We are making access affordable. We are connecting the unconnected. We are enabling people to have a phone number and participate in the economic system. We are helping people access jobs, raise incomes, access displaced family members and, increasingly, we are acting as an enabler to send and receive remittances over the mobile phone network.

The developed world model of phone ownership and usage is not applicable in this market. Low income subscribers use phones in far different ways than you could imagine. This market cannot be satisfied by diluted down, low cost versions of traditional technology, it must be addressed by the most advanced technologies creatively combined with the existing infrastructure. This is where we come in, Movirtu provides the technology, the business model innovation and market knowledge to make this happen.

Solutions:

MXShare is a platform which when installed in the core of a mobile network enables people who cannot afford to buy a handset to have a fully functioning Cloud Phone which they access using other people’s shared phones.

MXPay enables mobile operators to deploy existing mobile payment systems to those people living on less than $2 a day without the need for the user to own a phone or SIM card, thus drastically reducing the cost of entry for these services.

MXInfo is a mobile network infrastructure platform which enables Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and welfare organizations to provide personalized information services through the mobile operator to people living on less than $2 a day without the need for them to own their own mobile phone or SIM card. These services include healthcare, agriculture and educational information.

A very good working example of a social enterprise built around sustainable innovation – a must follow model for all enterprises!

 

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7153836&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0

BoP Mobile Life in Kenya from Movirtu on Vimeo.

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