An entrepreneur is someone who starts a company, business or organisation and then continues to actively run it. So this is very different from being an investor. Investors often do not have an active operational role in the venture. Investors are fund givers of the venture. There is a significant difference between an entrepreneur (traditional entrepreneur ) and a social entrepreneur. The latter will be the focus of this blog article.
A Social entrepreneur is active
To be an entrepreneur, there is no specific or profound process. Generally, you need to launch the idea or project, create a structural framework around it and operate it either as a small business, scalable startup business, large company/organisation or as a social entrepreneur, all designed to make a profit. As a social entrepreneur, you also are actively involved in operating your enterprise and making profit is a result of the value you create, not the purpose.
CSR is not social entrepreneurship
First of all, I want you to understand that every single business venture or organisational activity, be it a very small project idea, they all have an impact on our world. The impact is most felt within the frameworks of the idea. For example every business affects the areas or communities they operate from or to. Many affect the nature’s environment they interact with either through their logistic/supply chain or manufacturing operations. Others affect the employees, freelancers and even their customers’ welfare. One way or the other entrepreneurship has always been a very crucial part of our interaction with our ecosystem. For this simple reason, it is important to introduce a more sustainable concept.
Since the impact can be negative, positive or both, many businesses are obliged to create Green schemes, green washing or sincere “Corporate Social Responsibility”, CSR. CSR is however not social entrepreneurship. CSR is not the core mission, vision and objective outfits creating an organisation, so therefore the CSR is not in the DNA makeup of the organisation. For social enterprise, the definition approach explained beneath is the DNA of the enterprise.
What makes a Social Entrepreneur or enterprise?
Social entrepreneurship however is different. Your core reason for idealisation or existence is to solve a community problem and create positive impact. Which means your sole mission is to create some kind of positive social change. Money and profits is solely the instrument you use and results you get respectively. You have a purpose and a WHY! Your engagement in trade or business is more than the bottomline.
Joadre’s definition of social entrepreneurship
According to our practical understanding, we have worked out some very key elements to embody the wholeness of a social entrepreneur. We define social entrepreneurs as follows: A Social Entrepreneur engages regularly in consistent activities that generate community value, social welfare and the financial resources to evolve its ecosystem in relation to enhancing a circular economy, without deprivation and exploitation of other forms of resources in the means of engagement.
Remodelling to become a better social entreprise
With this definition, it is more about the process, the means, the relationship to one’s ecosystem. When our founder, Joana decided to start the Joadre fashion project, she quickly realised that, though it had a strong social component to empower the local tailors in Africa, the model of producing cheaper from Africa to sell in Europe will not grow in relation to generate the financial resources needed, neither will it contribute to a circular economy. Even when many other elements were all present, it is still emergent to continue to remodel to make the fashion project better.
Screen & remodel – Use these 5 key elements of social entrepreneurship
Already existing enterprises can begin to transform their businesses towards a social enterprise. Contact us as our team is glad to assist you. These elements can be used to screen your current business or project. In another blog article, we will explore each of these elements.
- Occurs regularly & consistent
- Produces community value
- Creates social welfare
- Generates the financial resources to evolve
- Promote a circular economy
- Does not deprive
- Does not exploit other resources
This was our first blog introducing our approach to social entrepreneurship. We will release more blog articles and even more YouTube videos on our Youtube channel. To stay connected and know when we post something new on this topic, kindly subscribe to our newsletter. We are releasing an app as an effort to develop the first of its kind ecosystem where social entrepreneurs interested in the African market can grow and connect. To get on our tribe list and have access to the app platform when it is ready, sign up here – Joadre App.