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Mirakle
Social Entrepreneurship

Mirakle for Deaf

Mirakle for Deaf

Abhishek Bhati Research Associate Indian Institute of Management- Bangalore Bangalore – 560076 bhati.nawab@gmail.com

©ICER-BRIC International Conference

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, 8-10th Dec 2011

Page 1 of 11

Social Entrepreneurship

Mirakle for Deaf

Mirakle for Deaf

Abstract

‘Mirakle Couriers’ is privately run, for-profit social enterprise, started by Dhruv Lakra an Oxford graduate in 2008, that employs only hearing impaired people. The company hires young deaf men and women from the underprivileged sections, trains them and puts them on a prosperous career path. The company is run like any other business venture which provides competitive salaries along with every right that a blue-or white-collar employee deserves. Today, Mirakle Couriers employs 65 hearing-impaired people who work in various departments including pick-up, delivery and back-end operations and delivery roughly 65,000 shipments in a month. The case discusses the journey of Mirakle Couriers from the stage of an idea to growing it into a profitable social business venture. The case also highlights the various problems and bottlenecks faced by social entrepreneurs and how they find innovative ideas to turn limitations into opportunities. Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship, Innovative Ideas, Problems and opportunities

©ICER-BRIC International Conference

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, 8-10th Dec 2011

Page 2 of 11

Social Entrepreneurship

Mirakle for Deaf

Mirakle for Deaf

Background

In 2005, World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated about 278 million people all over the globe suffers from moderate to profound hearing impairment and majority of them live in the poor countries. Today, this figure would have easily crossed 300 million people mark. The poor suffer more from hearing impairment since they cannot afford the preventive and routine care to avoid hearing



References: Echoing Green – Funding agency - http://www.echoinggreen.org/fellows/dhruv-lakra NSS Data on Disabled available in: NSS data 58th round page 35 Mirakle Couriers website: www.miraklecouriers.com Mirakle Couriers Blog: www.miraklecouriers.wordpress.com Mirakle Workers, article in Frontline bi-monthly magazine by Hindu, available at: http://www.frontline.in/fl2803/stories/20110211280308500.htm Springwise, US Business magazine, profit_social_cause/miraklecouriers/ available at: http://www.springwise.com/non- Unltd India- Funding agency, available at: http://unltdindia.posterous.com/mirakle-courier-winscnn-ibn-young-leader-awa WHO Facts about Disabled population Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs300/en/index.html ©ICER-BRIC International Conference Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, 8-10th Dec 2011 Page 11 of 11

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