The term “social entrepreneurship” has grown in popularity recently, but what exactly does it mean? What are the key values of social entrepreneurship? And how can you turn your civic passion into a social entrepreneurship career? Let’s break it down.
What Is Social Entrepreneurship?
Social entrepreneurship occurs when a person (or “social entrepreneur”) uses entrepreneurial principles to create a business that impacts a key societal or environmental challenge.
These people are driven by a passion to do social good and make a difference in their community.
Social entrepreneurship isn’t limited to charities and not-for-profits, though. These organizations typically exist to make a profit while positively impacting their chosen issue. For example, the issue could relate to climate change, pollution, human rights, education, activism, accessibility for marginalized groups, physical or mental health, citizenship, or governance.
Whatever the mission, social entrepreneurs have a dual purpose: to create a viable business and reinvest profits back into the business while influencing social change.
If you’re exploring the idea of a social entrepreneurship career, it’s essential to understand some core values you’d need to adhere to. See if they line up with your own values.
Core Values Of Social Entrepreneurship
Innovation
Out-of-the-box, creative thinking is essential to running a successful social entrepreneurship business. You have to find unique and different ways of solving problems that traditional companies have been unable to solve. Where others have failed, you innovate and progress boldly.
Risk-taking
A few risks are involved in becoming a social entrepreneur; you must accept them and become resilient if they arise. Risks may be financial, with the potential to lose your initial investment and your business not becoming financially viable. Risks may be economic – how susceptible is your business to economic fluctuations in your chosen market? Risks may be reputational – social entrepreneurs are held to a higher standard than traditional entrepreneurs.
Purpose
At the heart of every social entrepreneur is a driving purpose and passion for their chosen cause. If you have a strong passion and desire to improve the lives of others, you’re well on your way to becoming a successful social entrepreneur.
What Are Social Entrepreneurship Success Stories?
d.Light
d.light, founded by Ned Tozun, provides affordable and accessible solar-powered lighting products to low-income and/or off-grid people all around the world, with a goal to transform 1 billion lives. By focusing on improving people’s lives and utilizing clean energy, they’re a great example of people, planet, and profit.
Lush
While Lush is a for-profit global beauty retailer, it’s focused on the ethical and Fair Trade sourcing of ingredients, sustainable packaging, zero-waste initiatives, and cruelty-free practices with no animal testing at any point of the production line. Lush shows that you can create a profitable social entrepreneurship business without compromising on product quality, leaving the world “lusher than we found it”.
What Do You Need To Start A Social Entrepreneurship Career?
While there are certainly challenges to starting and running a profitable social entrepreneurship business, there are many successful ones all around the world. In fact, research found that there are around 10 million social enterprises globally, generating $2 trillion in annual revenue and creating 200 million jobs. Here’s what you need to start a career in this field:
- A problem: What societal and/or environmental problem would you like to solve?
- Passion and purpose: Do you have a passion to help your fellow citizens and to make your community a better place? Do you have a purpose or goal that gets you out of bed each day? Here’s how you can build purpose into your mission.
- Business fundamentals: Understand how you set up and operate a business in your specific state or region, and the legalities of registering a business.
- Resources: It goes without saying that funds are critical to getting your social enterprise set up. If you cannot fund it out of your own pocket, you could explore crowdfunding, initial investors, or grants.
- Expertise: If you don’t have in-depth knowledge of your chosen mission, find someone who does. When you start a business, it’s a good idea to surround yourself with a network of experts in areas such as finance, accounting, law, marketing, and tech.
- Education: While it’s not necessary to have studied social entrepreneurship at university level, if you’re academically inclined, some institutions do provide relevant qualifications or courses, such as Stanford, Harvard, and NYU.
- Mindset: Last but not least, an entrepreneurial and resilient mindset is critical for turning your passion into a successful social enterprise.
Mission-driven Business Ideas For Aspiring Entrepreneurs
If you’re an aspiring social entrepreneur, here are a few ideas to get you thinking:
- Sustainable fashion: Create a new slow-fashion line that uses upcycled or recycled materials.
- Address period poverty: Create an environmentally friendly line of menstrual products for low-income communities and utilize a buy-one-give-one model.
- Jobs for marginalized groups: Create a career marketplace for groups such as refugees, older adults, or veterans.
- Urban farming: Teach your community about food production and self-sufficiency through an urban farm.
- Digital literacy: Create workshops for older adults, teaching them how to use technology such as smartphones, laptops, and social media.
While there are many factors to consider before starting a social entrepreneurship career, making a difference in a community can be highly fulfilling and rewarding. If you have a civic passion that you can’t stop thinking about, why not explore the possibility of creating a business? Surround yourself with doers, changemakers, and those with entrepreneurial mindsets, and you, too, can turn your passion into a successful and profitable social enterprise.
Souce: Forbes
