Television Reviews : ‘Growing a Business’

“If you love people and want to help them, don’t join the Peace Corps or the Red Cross--start a business. All businesses are about people serving people, and those who serve best, succeed.”

You don’t have to be Adam Smith to see the obvious but often forgotten truth contained in that dandy little quote from Paul Hawken, the softly speaking philosopher-host of the bright new 10-part PBS series, “Growing a Business.” It debuts Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on Channels 28 and 15.

Based on Hawken’s upcoming book of the same title, the series is not some boring how-to program. It’s an inspiring visit with a diverse bunch of ordinary Joes and Janes who explain how they started up nine successful small businesses as different as tiny Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream in Vermont, a community bank in Palo Alto and giant Esprit sportswear of San Francisco.

Hawken himself is a successful entrepreneur who has started 13 companies. He provides the macro-ideas about how valuable entrepreneurs are to economic growth and how entrepreneurs see society and culture changing and create a product or service that converges with people’s new needs.

The nine entrepreneurs--spirited and full of common sense and good will--detail how they did it. How little they knew when they started. How experts tried to dissuade them. How hard they worked and how much they learned on the job.

As a group, says Hawken, what’s common to these entrepreneurs is that each has created a company that’s true to themselves, a company that’s an extension of who they want to be. Each is different but each seems to prove Hawken’s belief that “Being a good human being is good business. And like no other endeavor in our lives, business impels us into the society at large, with prospects of betterment for all concerned.”

Based on the first two half-hours, “Growing a Business” is a treat. Produced by Bruce Franchini, it’s intelligent, honest and upbeat without being unrealistic about the risks of starting your own business. It’s also refreshing to see a program that isn’t afraid to deal with some of society’s winners.