Curriculum
MODULE 4 - Social Competencies
Unit 1 - Co-creation | co-design | co-working
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Unit 2 - Leadership in social enterprises
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Unit 3 - Self-confidence
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Unit 4 - Achieve Change as a Social Entrepreneur
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Case Study
Any entrepreneur, regardless of which country they come from, none of them could have started or succeed in their business without self-confidence. The same is true in the case of social enterprises, and in the case studies from the SAGA project, it’s hard to choose one, which best illustrates the importance of self-confidence.
The case of the Zsigmond Malom Panzió differs from the other cases which were collected in Romania, both of the owners had university diploma which could have provided comfortable living for them. The husband is a physical education teacher, the wife is a pharmacist and both professions are quite well paid in the country. The owner tried himself in the tour guiding role even before it became popular as an occupation or the region was attractive from touristic point of view. His first experiences might have given him the necessary boost to continue on this road and become an entrepreneur, more precisely a social entrepreneur. The early success had a positive effect on the owner’s self-confidence, and not only gave him the satisfaction of showing around the region he was in love with, but the feedback received from his clients/guest also reassured him that this is something he should be considering on the long run. After starting their enterprise the owners had to face the fact, that the number of returning guests increased, some of them returned regularly, this „phenomenon” can also serve as a source of self-confidence. Since the start they always managed to keep their head above water. The narrow market and the constantly changing conditions improved their adaptation ability and helped them to build a healthy self-confidence too, since so far they managed to cope with all the difficulties.
The importance of self-confidence is embedded in the origin story of the Zsigmond Malom Panzió, if the owner wouldn’t be as adroit as he is, he might have never gain enough self-confidence to start such an enterprise. We should also mention the support of his wife and the whole family who are active contributors to the success of this business. Both of the owners have found a new passion for themselves, in which they developed and perfected themselves. Based on their story, continuous learning might be a key element to build healthy self-confidence.