What Is Social Entrepreneurship?

Social entrepreneurship grows fueled by technological advances, the same ones that have shaped the ever-changing ecosystem we inhabit.

In this new context, skills — previously not so high — have acquired a fundamental weight in our society. Thus, organizations, companies, media, boys and girls emerged that embraced a new way of accelerating changes towards a fairer world.

Thus arises the social enterprise, which starts from the same business model as a capitalist company, but with the main objective of combating a social problem.

Following this reasoning, we will address the keys to social entrepreneurship, and we will do so because they explain why this concept is taking root in the current system.

Definition of social entrepreneur

A social entrepreneur is a person with a project that creates social value. In other words, it is a person who, through a company, employs strategies that generate social benefits.

Therefore, the  ultimate goal of a social entrepreneur is to create a fairer society through the sale of goods and services.

Thus, we find social entrepreneurs working in various sectors: financing social programs, designing educational tools and improving health management.

In fact,  in the European Union, more than 11 million citizens hold jobs related to social entrepreneurship. This represents 6% of total employment in the region.

Importance of social entrepreneurship

At first glance, the fact that a company has as its main objective the solution of a social problem  may seem utopian. Here, we must keep in mind that social enterprise is not synonymous with non-profit organization.

Social enterprise subsists thanks to the benefits it produces, although social entrepreneurs focus their activity beyond this profitability.

Thus, we see that its importance lies in the fact that society is increasingly interested in moving towards a more sustainable world. According to a report by Forética, in 2015 almost 60% of consumers said they chose products based on ethical criteria.

Consumers are increasingly demanding and companies need to adapt to these needs. Therefore, social entrepreneurship currently plays a fundamental role in the business structure.

Benefits of Social Entrepreneurship: Why is it in vogue?

When it comes to understanding the life of a social project, we must  take into account the market niche it occupies. The following factors explain what motivates social entrepreneurship:

• The need to respond to crises and face austerity policies. With the failure of the current model, consumers began to feel that businesses were not meeting human needs and not working for the common good.
• The emergence of influential publications that propelled such organizations. The dissemination of social values ​​in companies created a favorable climate for social entrepreneurship.
• Creation of workshops, guides and university courses in social entrepreneurship that formed and educated future entrepreneurs in social values.

• Technological innovation, which has simplified the creation of new business models and opened up a whole new range of possibilities to improve people’s lives.
• The weight of “responsible consumers”, who base their purchase on ethical values ​​and who are willing to pay more for this product with social value. Worldwide, 46% of consumers would pay more for products linked to programs that generate social benefits.

So, after analyzing the current system, we see that the key to social entrepreneurship lies  in its way of redefining the success and benefit of a company. Today, both concepts are often linked to social responsibility, philanthropy and transformation.

In the end, the future of a company starts to involve responsible behavior ​​with its customers, workers and suppliers.

Hence the attractiveness of these companies that are striving to prioritize or combine solving social problems in order to get other types of return for its commercial activity.