A young member of a large Turkish family business observes:
“My grandpa is an impact investor, but he doesn’t know it!”
For many years, his grandfather has given seed capital, business mentorship, and referrals to employees whose families want to start a new business. For example, he helped the wife of one of his employees to start a biscuit distribution business by giving her the seed money. He also put her on his list of distributors so that others would know he trusted her and, in turn, give her business. In addition, he gave micro-loans without interest to employees and their children for further education. He doesn’t know anything about Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank, but he has operated with similar principles.
His grandfather came from a poor family; he managed to break the vicious cycle of poverty through his entrepreneurial efforts. He didn’t want to just give the families cash money but rather make sure that the people around him were able to learn and grow with his help. For many years, he has given quietly, but then he worried about how his work can continue after his death. He created a cooperative community enterprise to secure his legacy for employees of the family business.
Without knowing that he has engaged with impact investing, in turn he has gained trust and reputation in the eyes of his employees and the market, and then has gained more clients over the years. The children of his employees have had a good education, and have opted to work for the company although they could have picked better-paid jobs somewhere else; they have brought innovative solutions that eventually helped the company increase its profit.
His grandfather has not only invested financially in the company, but he also has managed to do a social investment and has created “social impact”.
The company is now run by the third generation. It is not only one of the market leaders in its sector but is also one of the groups of companies that invests in social causes the most.
