Astitva: An Unsustainable Social Entrepreneurship Journey

Abstract

Astitva was founded as a not-for-profit organization by Anamika Yaduvanshi, in 2013. The objective of the non-governmental organization (NGO) was to make a visible difference in the lives of disadvantaged sections of the society. Within a short period since its inception, the NGO had positively impacted the lives of individuals and families living in the Wazirpur area. The case helps to understand that even after venturing into vast philanthropic activities, Anamika could not create sustainable livelihoods for the disadvantaged sections of Wazirpur. Is it because of lack of focus on surplus management? The case also helps in understanding the challenges faced by NGOs at ground level. Research questions/Objective: The aim of this study is to explore the nuances of social entrepreneurship. It explores that there should be a balanced approach between social activities that are mostly provided free and generation of surplus to sustain them. The research questions answered are: Has Astitva created a long-term sustainable impact on the lives of marginalized women and children at Wazirpur? Does the business model of Astitva places even stresses on the social activities to engage the participants and generation of financial surplus to sustain the operation? Links to theory: The study is based on the business model canvas of Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010). The model explains that social enterprises should maintain a balance between philanthropy and commercial sense to be productive or else their sustainability is at a risk. Phenomenon studied: Anamika started Astitva with an aim of social transformation. She wanted to make a concrete difference in the lives of disadvantaged sections of the society as well as contribute in their integration with the mainstream society. Case context: The case can be discussed from the angle of business model of a sustainable entrepreneurship and what may go wrong in making a social enterprise successful. Since Anamika had not prepared any blueprint of plan of action, she faced several challenges. Findings: An entrepreneur driven by community spirit should not start working without creating a road map of generation of funds to support the social activities. Working model of Astitva is laden with lack of planning and absence of long-term vision that failed to create a sustainable livelihood generation for the marginalized women and children. Discussions: The case provokes students to study the need to start a sustainable social enterprise driven by community spirit to uplift the lives of a marginalized section of women and children. Further, the case challenges students to identify the streams of revenue generation and deployment in a business model of a social enterprise to make it sustainable.