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Is Social Enterprise the New Buzz Word?
Social Enterprise is the new buzz word? All over the web, in the media, people are pre-occupied with starting businesses that have a mission: social enterprises. Currently, there are 55,000 social enterprises in the UK, employing 650,000 people and contributing £8.4 billion to the economy annually. Brown considers them to have a global role for the recovery of the economy. And banks are happy to support them, such as with the Awards of Bank of Scotland.
Were in the past those type of business started as non-for-profits or without a vision for high-growth, currently there is no taboo anymore in starting ‘a business with a conscience’ for a profit and be very ambitious about it, albeit that profit is invested back in the company. Smarta, Horsesmouth, and Worldeka are examples of ambitious social enterprises which have started in the last couple of months. Questions of course come up as to How effective is a social enterprise, and when one crosses the line of thinking too much about profit.
The definition of a social enterprise is:
‘a social enterprise is a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners.’
Only next week 7 seminars are held in and around London which deal with Social Enterprise:
The largest being the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, (the Davos of Social Entrepreneurship) on March 25-27, 2009 at the Said Business School, Oxford University. Nearly 800 delegates from more than 60 countries convene for this premier gathering of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs, with an impressive speakers and attendees list, including Sir Ronald Cohen, Yvette Alberdingk Thijm and Charles Leadbeater.
Also, on March 24 and 25, 2009 -fully booked -seminars of the Social Enterprise Agency of the City of London on Introduction to Social Enterprise and Marketing, branding and selling the Social Enterprise,
Places are still available on Tuesday evening March 24, 2009, when the City Library in conjunction with Prevista holds a free seminar with a focus on:
- Social Enterprises.
- The benefits of being green
- Funding options for social enterprises
Booking can be done via: cbl@cityoflondon.gov.uk
Furthermore, starting entrepreneurs can pitch their social enterprise on Wednesday evening March 25, 2009, when Freshideas Events is holding an event: Make A Difference in Business. Speakers include Karen Darby of Simply Switch and Skye Heller of Bridge Ventures. Tickets via Freshideas Event.
Finally, On March 30, 2009, the Social Enterprise Agency of the City of London, which has set up a membership community of Social Enterprises (with a database of 900 social enterprises) is holding a free event called Social Enterprise Supplies.
So, if you want to make sure you are up to date on the new buzz word Social Enterprise, you might want to come along to one of these events.
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3 Responses to “Is Social Enterprise the New Buzz Word?”
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Interesting article – I think social enterprise also springs up when times are difficult. We become more aware of the struggles in the world and it seems to spark a newofund interest in people to get involved and make a difference.
I also think that many women entrepreneurs have a nurturing aspect that comes through in their business ethos and lends itself to establishing more social enterprises.
Very interesting!
As editor in chief of http://www.sociaalondernemen.nu , a Dutch online platform for social entrepreneurs, I feel the excitment when it comes to social entrepreneurs. Yes, more and more you hear and read about it. It certainly is a buzzword, although we social entrepreneurs exist for over decades already. This film of the Skoll Foundation http://tinyurl.com/cjd5r6 shows you a bit of our history. For years nobody would listen to our story. But since perseverance is a major quality of social entrepreneurs, we are heard by much more people nowadays. Considering all the crises we face at fhis moment, it was almost predictable that we would be heard sooner or later. Social entrepreneurs are the answer to all the greed that led us to the crises the world is suffering from right now. Our main goal is to achieve social change, we want to create and add value, not money. This article in the New York Times http://tinyurl.com/d7amw6 has a good description of what it is about. You can also read why social entrepreneurship is different than a non-profit organisation and what the difference is between social entrepreneurship corporate social responsibility.
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