Social Enterprises are business models that meet social needs while generating economic profit. In contrast to corporate social responsibility actions, where companies try to add some social value to their business activities in order to make themselves look better, social enterprises focus on and only come to exist because of the real positive impact they have on society.
A social business idea starts with thinking about the needs of its’ target market, what their resources are, and how these two factors could fit into a business model that creates profit. Human and physical resources must be identified and used in the most economic way possible. Doing so, social enterprises are able to give their stakeholders opportunities otherwise not accessible to them. They generate new jobs and therefore creating sustainable livelihoods and preserving cultural and environmental heritage. Using untapped resources social entrepreneurship can create real economic as well as social value. It fills the gap between social needs and market demands by either implementing innovative ideas or reviving well-proven but abandoned traditional ways and using already existing resources.
On the surface, many social enterprises seem to be traditional businesses. They produce goods and services for the market. But looking more deeply, one discovers the defining characteristic of the social enterprise: the ideal mission is the centre of business. Beyond the monetary benefit, it is the social capital that matters.
To get a deeper impression on what social enterprises can look like and how much is possible with the right portion of innovation, ambition and belief in the good cause, check out RACI’s projects below.
