Community Entrepreneurship: The Example of Babadağlılar Bazaar in Denizli

Abstract

Community entrepreneurship is a kind of entrepreneurial activity for common utilities that is carried out in cooperation with members of that community. Both entrepreneur and enterprise function together for the well being of community members in this kind of entrepreneurship sense since the main aim of community entrepreneurship is contribution to regional economy and social growth. Nevertheless, existence of community entrepreneurship can be possible in the light of an entrepreneurial leader rising from the community. Community entrepreneurship is seen as more essential for developing countries as rising of such countries is possible from below to top. Since entrepreneurs, who has intention to community entrepreneurship, obtain required capital in a different way than the traditional understanding of entrepreneurship. In this way, local people who normally do not prefer to invest in a private enterprise, are convinced to invest in a community enterprise. There are many examples of community entrepreneurship with established businesses in the context of people's sector in Denizli. Babadaglılar Office Block was organized as a model form of community entrepreneurship with the leadership of Kazım Kaynak in 1976. Even though, that was founded in order to market commodities of producers and sellers from Babadag, today, it is an office block in which sellers from Denizli come together to sell textile products usually made in Denizli. Within this scope, interview method is preferred as a research methodology. Interviews were done with Kazım Kaynak’s son and Office Block manager. They told how Babadag Office Block emerged and how still operated.