What is social entrepreneurship

What does social entrepreneurship mean?

Entrepreneurship means building a business. In other words, entrepreneurship is an activity during which a business is created with the aim of profitability, change in the world and job independence. Social entrepreneurship is also one of the examples of entrepreneurship; The goal of social entrepreneurship is not profitability in the absolute economic sense. The first thing social entrepreneurs do is recognize an unfair balance. For example, marginalization is apparently a balance, those with lower income live on the outskirts of the city; A social entrepreneur tries to change this unfair balance.

Social entrepreneurs adopt a strategy to create and maintain social values, recognize and continuously pursue new opportunities to advance their strategy, participate in the innovation process, adapt and learn continuously and not be limited to the resources they currently have. They play an important role in creating social changes.

Why is social entrepreneurship important?

Social entrepreneurship allows entrepreneurs to give direction and purpose and meaning to their lives. There is a saying that if you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life; For the social entrepreneur, their career is their life’s purpose.

On the other hand, social entrepreneurs are role models and inspiration for other people who may be looking for purpose and meaning in what they do. On the other hand, social entrepreneurs create jobs, generate income, and establish a complete network of business partners. , suppliers, transport companies, lenders and service companies contribute to the economic renewal of the region or country in which they live.

Social entrepreneurs also create social value; The public desire to change the world and create a better future and inspire social entrepreneurs is one of their most important achievements. Also, social entrepreneurship creates unique opportunities; They can change people’s behavior with their actions and initiatives; Because in their quest for a better world, they often come up with simple, workable solutions that change or improve people’s behavior.

What are the characteristics of a social entrepreneur?

1. Tip: The feature of optimal use of potential and resources is available to you and is an essential feature for social entrepreneurs. A social entrepreneur must have a plan to use the existing potential in the best way.

2. Curiosity: A social entrepreneur cannot find suitable solutions for people’s problems without curiosity. Exploration is the first tool of a social entrepreneur to be able to use the best idea to solve the problem he is facing.

3. Pragmatism: The obvious difference between a social entrepreneur and ordinary people is the potential ability of these people to turn their ideas into reality. Idea generation may be one of the most important parts of problem solving, but its implementation is the most important part.

4. Flexibility: For a social entrepreneur, sticking to old methods and strategies is not always desirable. A social entrepreneur works with an open mind and knows that he has to adapt and come up with new solutions to solve new problems.

5. Willingness to work together: Social entrepreneurs need all the help they can get to realize their vision.

6. Inspirational: Social entrepreneurs’ enthusiasm and interest in the work and the goal they are pursuing is a model for others.

Types of social entrepreneurs
When it comes to creating change through social entrepreneurship, there are many definitions. These people and companies represent a large part of what they are trying to accomplish with their businesses. They also differ in their strategies and goals for creating social change.

The Community Social Entrepreneur
This entrepreneur seeks to meet the social needs of a community in a small geographical area. These entrepreneurial initiatives can be anything from creating job opportunities for marginalized members to creating a community center. Social entrepreneurs on this scale are usually individuals or small organizations. Microfinance loans are one example – providing financial solutions to local people without access to a bank.

These entrepreneurs work directly with community members. This means more benefits and a slower decision-making process, but with the advantage of long-term solutions. Both community members and local organizations are likely to sustainably continue the project even without the direct involvement of the entrepreneur.

You can see the results of such social entrepreneurship almost immediately and talk to the people you help directly. All you need to do to start this type of effort is to find a local social problem.

The Non-Profit Social Entrepreneur
These entrepreneurs are focused on social rather than material benefits, meaning they prioritize social welfare over traditional business needs. They reinvest any profits back into the business to facilitate further expansion of the service.

For-profit social entrepreneurs are usually companies and organizations that decide to use their power for social good.

These entrepreneurs are usually more likely to achieve their stated goals due to the availability of funds. However, they also depend on its successful generation for social good.

This path is usually taken by savvy entrepreneurs who want to use their skills to make a difference. While the results often take longer to manifest, they can have an impact on a larger scale.

The Transformational Social Entrepreneur
These people are focused on creating businesses that can meet social needs that governments and other businesses are not currently meeting. The transformational category is often what nonprofits become with enough time and growth. They evolve into larger organizations with rules and regulations – sometimes to the point of working with or merging with government bodies.

Accelerators like The Social Innovation Warehouse are good examples of this type of social entrepreneur. They specifically empower other impact entrepreneurs to create positive change. It then creates a system of interconnected businesses with a focus on social benefits.

Such organizations usually attract and nurture their own talent. If you’re applying for a job or volunteer position and you demonstrate social entrepreneurship skills, they’ll likely help you enroll in a mentoring program and facilitate your growth from there.

The Global Social Entrepreneur
These entrepreneurs seek to completely transform social systems to meet major social needs globally. They often go down this path when large corporations realize their social responsibility and begin to focus on positive change rather than mere profit. It is also home to the largest charitable organizations, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The global need in question can be anything from free access to education to clean water. It is usually a lofty goal that spans continents and connects many organizations and interests.

Social entrepreneurship in the world

Currently, there are 582 million entrepreneurs worldwide. In April 2020, the Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship was formed. It has since become the largest multilateral development coalition hosted by an international organization.

Below are two examples of international companies that do social entrepreneurship:

TOMS

TOMS may be the world’s top social entrepreneurship outlet. TOMS is a one-for-one social entrepreneurship model where for every pair of shoes sold, a pair of shoes is given to a child in need. Today, TOMS has given more than 95 million shoes to people in need and has expanded its giving model to include access to safe drinking water, eye surgery and safe childbirth.

Love Your Melon

Love Your Melon clothing brand supports and helps non-profit organizations dedicated to fighting childhood cancer. 50% of net profits from all products help create therapeutic experiences and create charitable programming initiatives for families affected by childhood cancer.

Belu

Belu is a UK-based, eco-conscious organization that supplies low-carbon water to hotels, restaurants and similar businesses. 100% of its net profits are donated to WaterAid – a business that provides clean water solutions for disadvantaged communities.

Social entrepreneurship in Iran:

Among the famous Iranian social entrepreneurship, we can mention Firouz Company, as one of the largest producers of health products, about 92% of its employees are disabled people.

Zeyton Arshia Industrial Factories Group is also considered as one of the top social entrepreneurs that hires only people with bad backgrounds, female heads of households and drug addicts.