SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR

Accelerate your business with these expert tips on "Social Entrepreneurship".

Analyse and discover this TIP!

A social entrepreneur is one that pursues undertake with the objective of solving a social problem.

"A social enterprise is an operator in the social economy whose aim is to generate social (and environmental) impact, rather than profit for its owners and shareholders".

The social entrepreneurship is a business model that combines innovation, resources and the opportunity to address critical social and environmental issues. A as opposed to the traditional business approachwhich places a strong emphasis on cost-effectiveness, social entrepreneurship prioritises social impact without neglecting financial sustainability.

Characteristics of Social Entrepreneurs:

• Primary Social Impact: The main metric of success is the degree of social and/or environmental impact.
• Financial sustainability: Although the primary objective is not financial profit, a social enterprise needs to be financially sustainable in order to continue to operate and generate impact.
• Innovation: Social entrepreneurs are often innovators, developing new and effective solutions to social or environmental problems.
• Accountability and Transparency: Governance is transparent and often includes the participation of the stakeholders served.
• Scalability and Replicability: The business model must be such that it can grow and/or be replicated to increase impact.

Social Entrepreneurship in Spain:

The overview of social entrepreneurship in Spain is diverse and growing. According to the European Social Enterprise Monitor 2021-2022 reportthe Most of them are SMEs and there is a diversity of legal forms which includes Limited companies, partnerships, associations, foundations and cooperatives. In addition, there is a significant representation of women in foundational and leadership rolesThis is encouraging.

With the optimism in the sector and with financial supportor as the MicroBank's social loan, the opportunities for social entrepreneurs in Spain are promising.

In a nutshell, the social entrepreneur is a agent of change which uses the business to solve social and environmental problems. With its unique combination of entrepreneurial audacity, concern for social impact and the ability to innovate, social entrepreneurs are at the forefront of the at the forefront of improving human well-being and the environment.

Practical examples of social entrepreneurship that illustrate the diversity and scope of such initiatives:

1. Tom's Shoes
   Sector: Fashion/Footwear
   Social Impact: For every pair of shoes purchased, another pair is donated to a child in need.
   Business Model: Retail sale of footwear.
   Sustainability: Self-sufficient through sales.
2. Grameen Bank
   Sector: Finance
   Social Impact: Provides microcredit to low-income people without collateral.
   Business Model: Microcredit bank.
   Sustainability: Loans are repaid at low interest rates, making the model sustainable.
3. Fairphone
   Sector: Technology
   Social Impact: Promotes ethical and sustainable smartphone manufacturing.
   Business Model: Sale of smartphones.
   Sustainability: Sales and strategic partnerships.
4. Sanergy
   Sector: Sanitation
   Social Impact: Provides accessible and affordable sanitation facilities in informal settlements.
   Business Model: Sanitation franchise; waste collection and processing.
   Sustainability: Income from sales of by-products (such as fertilisers).
5. Khan Academy
   Sector: Education
   Social Impact: Provides free, high quality education for everyone, everywhere.
   Business Model: E-learning platform.
   Sustainability: Funded by donations and grants.
6. Vicente Ferrer Foundation
   Sector: Community Development
   Social Impact: Improvement of living conditions in disadvantaged communities in India.
   Business Model: NGO that carries out development projects.
   Sustainability: Funding through donations and grants.
7. AUARA
   Sector: Water and Sustainability
   Social Impact: Sells bottles of water in Spain to finance projects for access to drinking water in developing countries.
   Business Model: Sale of bottled water.
   Sustainability: Sales and partnerships with companies.

These examples show how social entrepreneurship can address a range of social and environmental problemsfrom poverty and education through to sustainability and sanitation. They also demonstrate the feasibility of combining a social mission with a sustainable business model.

What is a social entrepreneur?

According to the European Commissionsocial enterprise is "a social economy operator whose main objective is to generate a social impactThe majority of these profits are held by the company itself, rather than by its owners or shareholders; that it has most of these profits at its disposal. benefits to achieve their social objectives, and that it manages in an accountable, transparent and innovative way, involving its workers, customers and shareholders involved in their business activity".

Thus, the social entrepreneur is the person who runs one of these companies which are characterised in particular by its non-economic objectivesi.e. by their eagerness to provoke a particular social impact.

The non-economic objective of the social entrepreneur

The main objective of a company is usually of economic nature, for example, achieving a a certain benefit in the future. However, the social entrepreneur has as its main goal on social welfare. Where appropriate, economic profit is a secondary goal that you will make it possible to carry out the first. That is to say, a lever for change.

In this way, the social entrepreneur not only strives to obtain economic benefits, but also seeks to promoting progress and the improvement of the quality of life in society.

In fact, they often the economic benefits generated by the social entrepreneur through his or her project. end up in the hands of a disadvantaged group or social project. It is quite common for social enterprises donate capital to various causes or form part of broader projects that act as an umbrella for social sectors. It is also that they establish mutual aid relations.