Is it possible to design a business that is good for society AND makes a profit?

Allan Szymczyk and Jan Verwijs met during an MBA programme in a class on Corporate Social Responsibility and decided to see if they could design a profit making business that benefits society and not just shareholders.
They have created Agora which is a democratic company, community led, where anyone who joins can take part in the decision making process and benefit from the profits that are created.

So far the community has decided on a constitution  and a product - a flavoured water branded “99% Guiltless”. When the beverage is in production, community members who nominate independent retailers who agree to stock the product will benefit from the profits from those sales.

Listen as Allan and Jan explain their vision and how it is working so far;

My Agora has a Facebook Page  a Linkedin Page   a Twitter Account @OwlAtAgora  and its own YouTube Channel where some of the decision making processes are demonstrated.

While this is a big experiment in business, Allan and Jan are using social channels to connect with people who are interested in joining in the experiment and bringing them into the forum where they can help to make the decisions.

It’s a fascinating story and one I’m sure we’ll revisit but in the meantime, we hope you’ll join the experiment and tell us your experiences!