Social entrepreneurship, the process of starting a company that will bring change to a societal issue, whether it be environmental, social, or cultural, is a movement heavily popularized by today’s generation but dates back to the 19th century. Unlike other entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs do not define success by profit margins but rather through the ability to improve their community and the lives of others. As Jean Philippe Courtois, the Executive Vice President of Microsoft, says, “Social entrepreneurs are people who have amazing passion to do good.”
While social entrepreneurs have similar goals and can be grouped into one broad category, there are four types of businesses: cooperatives, social firms, socially responsible companies, and for-profit businesses with social impact. A cooperative is a business that aids citizens with their social, cultural, and economic needs. One example of a cooperative business is Sunkist. Sunkist is helping individuals, in the United States, with financial needs by shipping fruit to their households. Social Firms are businesses that help disadvantaged people in the market find employment. For example, Badala.org, an eCommerce site founded by high school student Joella McNamara, creates jobs for African American women by selling their products. Another category of social entrepreneurship is socially responsible companies. Socially responsible companies are companies that conduct day-to-day operations in line with a social mission. A strong example of a company within this category is Patagonia, a clothing company that markets and sells outdoor clothing that raises awareness of environmental issues. Lastly, for-profit businesses with social impact are businesses that support various social causes through fundraising and awareness. Google and Microsoft are both organizations that provide financial support and resources to charities around the world.
One of the most successful and well-known entrepreneurs is Elon Musk. Musk graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in physics and economics. After college, he launched Zip2, a company that provides map guides to newspapers such as The New York Times. Zip2 is a social entrepreneurship company because it gives navigation to citizens, a solution to the societal issue of getting lost due to a lack of direction. Musk also launched the well-known enterprises PayPal, SpaceX, and Tesla Motors. He is one of the many famous social entrepreneurs, including Bill Drayton, Rachel Brathen, Shiza Shahid, Blake Mycoskie, Scott Harrison, Jeffrey Hollender.
Starting a business can be a long process, but every social enterprise begins by identifying a societal issue. Once a problem is identified, a social entrepreneur must create a business plan: How can I solve this problem? Will I create an app or a website? Once a rough idea of the plan is in place, details must be sorted out: How can I fund it? What demographic should I target? Does the company need to be sustainable over the long term? What about over the short-term? How much profit would the company gain? Blake Mycoskie, the founder of Tom Shoes, says, “Make sure to give your business a background, a mission, and a story. That might be the most important part of any venture.” Before launching a business, there should be test trials: test the product to see if there is a high demand and if it is being marketed properly. Additional areas of feedback can come from investors or other leaders in the field. Building a business is not an easy mission, but once these planning steps are completed, the fun comes in: marketing, social media, advertising, events.
Social entrepreneurship is a popularized growing movement that has changed the landscape of the world. Identify a problem and come up with a solution, and you may become the next Elon Musk.