Entrepreneurship isn't about selling things -- it's about finding innovative ways to improve people's lives. Until recently, most people in business focused on products and services that would appeal to consumers, and this resulted in the creation of many great companies and a lot of jobs. But attitudes are changing. A new generation of entrepreneurs is using approaches from the commercial world and employing technology to tackle social and environmental problems -- these areas used to be the exclusive territory of government agencies and charitable organizations.

The British Cabinet Office says that there are 70,000 social enterprises helping people, communities and the environment in this country alone. These businesses and organizations contributed more than 54.9 billion pounds to the economy in 2012 and they employ almost 1 million people, yet we have only scratched the surface.

To read the original article: Richard Branson on Social Entrepreneurship | Entrepreneur.com