February 2, 2009

What opportunities exist for responsible leadership and entrepreneurship? What is required to start up a social entrepreneurship venture? What opportunities exist for responsible leadership in developing countries? What does a best-case practice look like?

Mr Kamal Quadir, founder of CellBazaar Inc., addressed these topics on the second day of the Responsible Leadership Summit at IMD. Based in Bangladesh, CellBazaar Inc. is a cell-phone based market place that was created to give farmers opportunities to bargain the prices for their produce. Farmers would send text messages offering produce, which buyers could search using their cell phones. The idea quickly grew.

“Our idea was to create a marketplace for basic commodities, but people just took it and transformed it into an online multi-platform,” Mr Quadir said.

Students posted offers for tutoring, micro-markets emerged and people created business opportunities.

“Entrepreneurs also gathered market information so they can make smart decisions to grow their businesses,” he explained.

Mr Quadir achieved this from three years of work, with three basics: the right intention, the right attitude and the right resources. Surprisingly, they had little capital.

“Capital is not a problem; it’s having the right kind of people, right kind of ideas. With a little bit of out of the box thinking, you realize there are tremendous opportunities out there.”

Mr Quadir encouraged the potential and opportunities for the developing world with examples.

“Seventy percent of Bangladesh doesn’t have access to power - close to 90 million people. If you can create an idea about providing power, then you have plenty of opportunity.”

So how did it start up? Mr Quadir won a business plan competition, and the business was later registered with the assistance of a law firm. He then searched for money and partners, but chose selectively. Today, CellBazaar Inc. is looking to expand to India and Africa.