The world of business and trade is ever-changing due to constant demands from society. Businessmen and entrepreneurs around the world are constantly looking for ways to get ahead of the competition and earn the extra dollar. But among this rat race, there are a group of entrepreneurs who want more than just providing goods and services. They want to bring social change through their business and not limit it as a means to earn profits. Thus, the term “Social Entrepreneurs” was born. But if you think a social entrepreneur is someone who does social activism, you couldn't be more wrong. It’s okay to be mistaken though because the term in itself is so new that even some high-level business managers and executives might not fully understand it.
If you too are new to this concept and want to know what is social entrepreneurship and how a socialpreneur is different from an entrepreneur, you’re at the right place.
In this post, we’ll discuss what is social entrepreneurship, outline how it’s different from entrepreneurship, and give you social entrepreneurship examples that will surely motivate you to start your own.
What is Social Entrepreneurship?
Well to understand what exactly is social entrepreneurship, you need to be sure that you know what an entrepreneur is. An entrepreneur is a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to earn profits from the business.
A social entrepreneur does all this and is also aware of the impact of his/her business on the society as a whole. This isn’t the same as how some organisations conduct corporate social responsibility which is more of an obligation in the current world. A socialpreneur launches the business with a primary motive of bringing about social change while simultaneously generating profits to sustain the business. Though such businesses may be built on a for-profit, non-profit, or hybrid model, the funds generated are usually cycled back into the business and further the cause of their business.
What is Social Entrepreneurship?
Well to understand what exactly is social entrepreneurship, you need to be sure that you know what an entrepreneur is. An entrepreneur is a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to earn profits from the business.
A social entrepreneur does all this and is also aware of the impact of his/her business on the society as a whole. This isn’t the same as how some organisations conduct corporate social responsibility which is more of an obligation in the current world. A socialpreneur launches the business with a primary motive of bringing about social change while simultaneously generating profits to sustain the business. Though such businesses may be built on a for-profit, non-profit, or hybrid model, the funds generated are usually cycled back into the business and further the cause of their business.
Image taken from Strikingly’s user website
How to Become a Social Entrepreneur?
It’s not enough that you know what is social entrepreneurship as that’s just the first step in realizing your goal of becoming a social entrepreneur. To make the process easier, we have put together a list of easy to comprehend points that will guide you in your journey towards social entrepreneurship.
1. Identify Your Purpose
The first thing you need to start your journey is the purpose behind the business. Your business plan needs to be built around a social issue and address questions like, what pain points are your social entrepreneur business particularly tackling and how it will make a difference to the existing situation. A good place to start is to identify the pain points of your target group. Then you can describe how you’d like to solve these pain points for this demographic through your business service or product.
Focus on your strengths, core competencies, professional skills, and also consider the resources you will need to fulfill your mission.
Image taken from Strikingly’s user website
2. Research the Field
Once you identify your purpose and target group, you need to conduct extensive research about the social business landscape you want to work in. Check out who the major players are and how they’re changing the world.
Inspiration is good for your business. You don’t need to be shy to use contemporary ideas and enrich them with your social philosophy. In short, you can draw ideas from other social entrepreneurs and apply your own distinctly different purpose-driven offering.
This is where Google comes in. Search for those who you might consider competitors or collaborators. Consider researching trade associations specific to social entrepreneurship. The Social Enterprise Alliance, with its 16 chapters throughout the U.S., is a great place to start to understand who you can reach out to. Get to know the members of this group, their interests, and the types of social enterprises they operate.
Once you know what is social entrepreneurship, this should be rather easy. This is where you define social entrepreneur cause and tell investors and shareholders how your business offers something different than what others are already offering. Be clear with the action plan and try to make it as unique as possible.
3. Gather Support and Feedback
You cannot build your idea alone. Especially as you’re looking to tackle a social issue, who better to get inputs from than the people who are actively participating in social activism or are integral parts of NGOs. You will need all the inputs you can get, so don’t hesitate to approach anyone, even if they may be your competition.
Also, along the way, try to gather people who believe in your idea. These might be collaborators you came across when researching the field, or members of relevant trade associations that you looked into, or even like-minded souls who want to make a difference. These people can be vital to help you out in different stages of your social business.
You can collect feedback about your mission statement by describing it to these people and simply see what they think about it. Be ready to embrace positive and negative criticism in the same light. You never know what tip can be valuable to make your business a success.
4. Develop your Business Model
In order to establish your business, you need a roadmap of how your enterprise is going to make money. This is your business model. This is the part where you consider the practicalities of your business. Where do you see your services and/or products reach? How many employees will you need to carry out your business plan? What part of the total population do you intend to cover with your business?
You will need to address these questions and decide the amount of money the social enterprise needs to generate in order to support your mission, pay for itself, pay you, and anyone you might hire, and perhaps eventually expand. You will also need to decide the specific type of business model that will lead to generating your desired revenue.
You will also need to look at the financial situation from the stakeholders' point of view and see to it that you are able to maintain their stake value in the market. There are many business models to choose from like the one-for-one model or the microfinance model.
Image taken from Strikingly’s user site
5. Identify Initial Funding Sources
If you think you can just learn what is social entrepreneurship and begin your business with a great idea, well, you might want to consider one major step - getting the funding for your business. So do your homework thoroughly to find out where you’ll source seed funding from, where will you obtain the funding you need to launch and what do you need to do to get it?
There are many options available even if you are not able to find a sponsor. You can seek a traditional business loan or impact investing groups, which exclusively funds purpose-driven companies. You can even opt to crowdfund your social enterprise. In case you have already garnered some fame and success as a startup social venture and have a large mailing list or e-newsletter subscriber base you can broadcast your crowdfunding campaigns to.
6. Write an Action Plan
Getting to know what is social entrepreneurship and understanding the technicalities needed to set up your business is just one side of the story. An action plan is not the same as a business plan as it lays out the to-do tasks and action items you need to commit to and by when. It gives you a timeline to work out the exact date you want to launch your social venture and how long it will take you to get there.
Though it might seem unnecessary, an action plan helps you sort your schedule. By building it around your annual, monthly, weekly, daily, and even hourly entrepreneurial goals you will know where your business is heading and how it’s doing. This is particularly important when you’re starting up from scratch and you don’t have outside accountability to anyone. It can keep you on track and help you achieve your goals on time.
Image taken from Strikingly’s user website
While you got to know what is social entrepreneurship, do you know how it is different from an entrepreneur? Well though the terms may overlap quite a bit, they are rather distinct. Understanding the difference between the two can help you distinguish your business and show what is social entrepreneurship good for.
So you’ve understood the difference between the two and have learned in-depth about what is social entrepreneurship. Now it's time you saw some socialpreneurs in action.
5 Social Entrepreneurship Examples to Inspire You
Here are 5 social entrepreneurship examples that give you the right idea of what is social entrepreneurship. Check out their amazing work and take inspiration from their marvellous work.
1. TranSanta
Among the social entrepreneurship examples shown here, TranSanta is a unique community-led social entrepreneurship venture that runs an Instagram account featuring stories from transgender youth in dire need. The beneficiaries organization creates target wish-lists of items that they need, and interested community members can anonymously purchase and send them what they need.
Image taken from TranSanta
2. Books to Prisoners
If the name wasn’t obvious enough, Books to Prisoners is a traditional non-profit organization in Seattle, Washington, that aims to end the cycle of recidivism in the prison system. They accept book donations from community members and established bookstores that are then re-packaged and sent to incarcerated individuals. Money generated from the business is used to support operational costs, like renting office space, and purchasing supplies necessary to mail books.
Image taken from Books to Prisoners
3. Cracked It
Cracked is a London-based smartphone repair business that is staffed by ‘at risk’ and formerly incarcerated youth. Their aim is to teach life skills and provide employment and income opportunities to community members that are generally looked down upon and dismissed by greater society.
Image taken from Cracked It
4. Mark & Trina Ramsey Foundation
The Mark & Trina Ramsey Foundation was established to inspire those in need by addressing fundamental health & wellness, education and life skills development around the globe. They conduct programs that help local communities by building wells and assisting with food, clothing, schools, supplies, formal education and sustainable life skills training for children & adults.
Image taken from Strikingly’s user website
5. Nomad
Started in 2016, NOMAD is a social venture that provides greater opportunities to rural artisans in Asia, like those in Roopsi Village, to empower themselves. Their model is built on a sustainable platform that allows them to market the goods they produce to a wider audience, putting themselves in a better position to improve the lives of those they care about. A part of the proceeds from the product sale is also used to support a local school that provides education for underprivileged children within the community.
Image taken from Strikingly’s user website
Now that you completely understand what is social entrepreneurship and have seen what you need to do to become one, all you need to do is build a social entrepreneur website and take the world by storm. If you’re worried that you’re not quite sure how to do that, relax! Strikingly’s got your back. We can help you build a sleek social entrepreneur website like the ones you just saw from our social entrepreneurship examples. You don’t need to do a lot to build a website on Strikingly, as there are pre-built website templates that give you a basic layout. Your job is to select the one that you feel is the best representation of your personality on the web. We will handle all your website building needs while you can focus on making a difference with your social entrepreneur business.
By understanding what is social entrepreneurship, you have now climbed the first step on the path to becoming a social entrepreneur. This article should have given you a clear idea of how you go about and the things you need if you're going to build a successful business that deals with an important issue in society. With Strikingly by your side, it’s time to be the change!
