Are you an ethically minded entrepreneur motivated by a strong social mission? Starting a social enterprise gives you a more flexibility than a charity, but the reassurance that your values come first…
The three main characteristics most social enterprises have in common are: a viable business that trades services or products, social aims, and social ownership.
Importantly, community ownership and investment means that some or all of the profits of the business go towards its social, or environmental, mission. Most social enterprises do not have shareholders so their social aims are not at risk of being superceded by commercial greed.
However, the actual definition of social enterprise is ‘hotly debated’, says Dan Lehner, Head of Business Development at UnLtdWorld, a social network for linking social entrepreneurs and investors.
The heart of what makes a social enterprise is ‘businesses driven by social or environmental purposes,’ according to the Social Enterprise Coalition… Read the full article at The Ecologist.org