Social Entrepreneurship

What Is Social Entrepreneurship?

 Nonprofits making money
 For-profits doing things to show they are not evil
 Process of creating value by bringing together a unique package of resources to exploit an
opportunity, in pursuit of high social returns

The only big difference between commercial and social entrepreneurship:

 Denomination of the returns

Social Entrepreneurship Defined

 A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial
principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change….rather than
bringing a concept to market to address a consumer problem, social entrepreneurs attempt to
bring a concept to market to address a public problem.

(Alex Nicholls, Oxford University’s Skoll Centre)

 Social entrepreneurship takes many forms, but at it’s core is characterized by a leaders’ sense of
social consciousness and a desire to make a positive impact on society

 Social entrepreneurship is the activity of establishing new business ventures to achieve social
change. The business utilises creativity and innovation to bring social, financial, service,
educational or other community benefits.

(Talbot, Tregilgas & Harrison, 2002)

 Social enterprises are not charities or welfare agencies. They are private businesses established
by entrepreneurs with an emphasis on human values rather than just profit. These businesses
focus on working with and enhancing the social capital within the community by encouraging
participation, inclusion and utilising a bottom-up approach to achieve social change

…adapted from an ancient Chinese proverb

 Philanthropy/Charity

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day…”

 The NGO/Government Model

“…teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”

 Social Entrepreneurship
 “Provide him access to capital to create a sustainable fishing business at a fair rate of
return and change the world”

Characteristics of a Social Entrepreneur

Social and commercial entrepreneurship have most of the same characteristics

 Not bound by sector norms or traditions

 Not confined by barriers that stand in the way of their goals

 Develop new models and pioneer new approaches to enable them to overcome obstacles

 Take innovative approaches to solve social issues

 Transform communities through strategic partnerships

Social entrepreneurs
“… a path breaker with a powerful idea, who combines visionary and real world problem-solving
creativity, has a strong ethical fibre..”

“ ..combines street pragmatism with professional skills..”

“ they see opportunities where others only see empty buildings, unemployable people and unvalued
resources”

“..Radical thinking is what makes social entrepreneurs different from simply ‘good’ people.”

“they make markets work for people, not the other way around, and gain strength from a wide network of
alliances”

“they can ‘boundary ride’ between the various political rhetoric and social paradigms to enthuse all sectors
of society”

Business and Social Entrepreneurs

Share Common Traits

_ Strategic thinkers: Like business entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs act upon what others miss
_ Mission driven: Work hard to generate value
_ Focused: Both entrepreneurs are intensely focused and hard-driving in their pursuit of a social
vision
_ Resourceful: They are skilled at mobilizing and motivating resources
_ Results oriented: Driven to produce tangible results
_ Challenge Seekers: Tackle major issues, opportunities or challenges
_ Perseverance: Continue efforts despite obstacles

Elements of Social Enterprise

  Three core elements:

 Created to provide benefits for a community

 Creates opportunities so people can help themselves as well as others

 Utilises sound commercial business practices to ensure its sustainability i.e. the business
will naturally uphold and encourage environmental sustainability as well as ethical
considerations

The Process of Social Entrepreneurship

1. Find an opportunity

2. Develop a business concept

3. Figure out what success means and how to measure it

4. Acquire the right resources

5. Launch and grow

6. Attain goals

The Main Difficulty: Measurement

 What is profit?

 How do we count it?

 What is “social return o n investment” for venture philanthropists?

 Can we compare investments?