Social entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a variety of organizations with different sizes, aims, and beliefs.

Concept

Social entrepreneurship typically attempts to further broad social, cultural, and environmental goals often associated with the voluntary sector in areas such as poverty alleviation, health care and community development. At times, profit-making social enterprises may be established to support the social or cultural goals of the organization but not as an end in itself.

Characteristics

Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent — tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change. Rather than leaving societal needs for the government or business sectors to address, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to move in different directions.

Types of Social Entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurship can be categorized into the following types:

• Non-profit ventures: These are organizations that direct surplus in order to achieve its mission. This is the most common form of social entrepreneurship, as profit is not the primary goal.

• Hybrid Non-profit: These are organizations that are a mix of non-profit and for-profit ventures. They make profits to sustain their goals, but do not look for long-term profit maximization.

• Social business ventures: These are organizations that are both social and profit-making. They aim to make a profit and invest these profits in a socially responsible manner.

Challenges

Social entrepreneurs face unique challenges in delivering the social value, social returns or profits for which they are striving. These obstacles include a lack of clear-cut paths to understanding market dynamics and the need for a double bottom line, a blend of financial and social values.

See also

• Entrepreneurship
• Non-profit organization
• Social enterprise
• Social innovation

References

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