Go Green Textiles: A Case of Social Entrepreneurship in India

Abstract

This case outlines the journey of this new-age young social entrepreneur, Akhilesh Taparia, whose mantra has been social welfare coupled with organisational success. The case traces how he fought against all odds to take his enterprise to greater heights and deliberates around these questions: What did he do to achieve success in such a short period of time? What was his thought process? How did he grow? What were the main elements of his strategy to have a sustainable enterprise? What were his main hurdles? The case attempts to identify the challenges of social entrepreneurs in emerging economies like India, especially when the required resources are not easily available. Being an entrepreneur and resolving problems can be tough but being in the social space can be even more hard. Nonetheless at a time when the textile industry was caught amongst stiff competition, Go Green created a niche for itself as a textile supplier of organic fabrics. A personal interview of Akhilesh Taparia and a personal visit to his factory gave the authors a complete understanding of the manufacturing and packing process. The primary objective of this case is to understand concepts related to social entrepreneurship and deliberate upon Taparia’s entrepreneurial characteristics, motivations, expertise and effectiveness, and how these supported his company’s growth.