From Traditional to Social Business: New Possibilities for Entrepreneurs in Rural Areas

Abstract

In many EU countries economic and social development stagnates. The reasons are various and depends on the country. Some countries are still leaders (Germany, Great Britain, France), but depending on political events and complicated issues in each of them common EU internal market is kept as rather passive and not expanding in terms of consumption and investments. Especially it is related to countries suffering their internal business problems. The research problem of this paper is related to the issues how to provide some innovative solutions to traditional enterprises in Lithuania and Poland for their prosperous development. The aim of the paper is to analyse the situation and problems of traditional business in rural areas of Lithuania and Poland and propose development possibilities applying social initiatives and becoming social enterprises. The research object of the paper is traditional and social enterprises in rural areas. The main tasks are: to analyse the situation of traditional business in Lithuania and Poland focusing on rural areas; to present and explain possibilities and advantages of diversified activity becoming social entrepreneurs; to propose concrete step plan for traditional enterprise how to become social enterprise in legal, economic and social environment depending on the country: Lithuania and Poland.