This is an exciting time to be an entrepreneur, a time when both the structure and purpose of business are being radically reinvented.

As more women are not only entering the workforce but leading it, old paradigms for the workday are being re-evaluated. It simply doesn’t fit the needs of a family for one or both parents to be gone from home eight to ten hours a day, five or more days a week. Technology is keeping step with this re-evalutaion of our priorities, allowing flex time and telecommuting to become viable options.

We are also seeing a breakdown of the dichotomy between business and social good. Society is no longer looking primarily to the not-for-profit and charitable world to solve problems. I believe business may be better poised than traditional nonprofits to solve the greatest injustices of our time.

Consumers are waking up to the power they hold in their pocketbooks, using their purchases to make a statement about their values. Companies who structure their business around supporting the needs of their employees will not only have better luck retaining top talent, but will also earn the business of their socially conscious customers. When going head to head with a traditionally minded competitor, entrepreneurs who have dreamed up products and services that not only provide value to their customers but also to society will win out every time.