Member Article

Ben & Jerry's co-founder's top social responsibility tips

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield has shared his top tips, based on decades of experience, for entrepreneurial success to coincide with this year’s Join Our Core competition. The contest to find Europe’s finest young social entrepreneurs took place earlier this month in London. Jerry Greenfields’s Top Tips:

1. Don’t be afraid to chase your dream! Life is about seizing moments, so don’t have any regrets about something you ‘should have done’.

2. Be brave and don’t be afraid to take risks. Nobody has all answers to every problem and you won’t know if you can do something until you try.

3. Surround yourself with good people and ask for help when you need it… Just like we did bringing in Ashoka to the Join Our Core completion! When we started Ben & Jerry’s, we relied on our friends and used the promise of free ice cream for many favors. It takes lots of skills to set up a successful business and you won’t have them all yourself.

4. Make it about more than just work and love what you do! Make sure you have a real passion for your business. It’s rewarding running a company that gives something back but it’ll require a deeper dedication to overcome all the obstacles you’ll face.

5. Reward your customers and be generous. It’s not about giving away lots of free stuff, but having the consciousness that we’re all part of a larger community. My partner Ben stated early on that “business has a responsibility to give back to the community;” a pledge that we’ve continue to work at every day.

6. Stick to your principles and values. It can be difficult, and we’ve faced many challenges over the last 35 years when it’s easier to make a quick buck, but who wants to make a profit at the expense at somebody else?

7. If you don’t like something, change it! Ben’s friend gave him that advice to challenge the status quo of being a business. So we did, and you can too. You’re the boss, so if it’s not working, try something else until it does.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jerry Greenfield .