social entrepreneurship: for profit or non profit or both?

[Karishma Kiri]

i'm very curious to understand what folks think regarding the "definition of social entrepreneurship" in the sense that it currently encompasses both for profit and non profit organisations. is there a need to delineate more clearly for-profit and non profit-based models (i.e. call them diff "things" vs. aggregate them all into social entrepreneurship)? currently, in the industry, there seems to be a lot of confusion on what social entrepreneurship means, which could undermine the great work being done across the models.

[Shahid Uddin Akbar]

Thanks Karishma for bring this very interesting discussion. From practices we consider the entrepreneurships which operate for pofit but also consider serving the community through offering non-profitable services we call social entrepreneurships. Improved version of socially responsible business. For example, In Bangladesh we design Business Model for Telecenters (Entrepreneurship lead), and key strategy is 'Bundling of Services' where few services are purely for making money and some are purely for the community, like advisory services for farmers or education facility for the students. The telecenters are now earning profit as well as serving the community. For this kind of initiative, some investment comes from public sources like donor money.

Lets hear from others on the concept.

Regards,
Shahid
Bangladesh

[Shipra Sharma]

As Shahid mentioned, 'social entrepreneurship' means combining business with community development. Since it is a business, profit making is inherent to the concept; it can't be a non profit enterprise. The beauty of the concept lies in its focus on serving the community along with providing a sustainable livelohood for the 'social entrepreneur'. I consider telecentres as a good example of social entrepreneurship. Profit making is crucial for the very survival of any social entrepreneurship because it can't suatain itself on public funds or donor money for long.

[Dr. Barbara Fedock]

Shipra,

You noted that "The beauty of the concept lies in...." Your use of the word "beauty" caught my attention, as I felt the "beauty" of what you wrote. "Profit" is like rain on an arid field. Rain germinates the seeds for growth and helps seeds spout into new wonders of nature. Serving the community is the fruit of a carefully garden.

Barbara Fedock

[Dean Mulozi]

Dear Karishma, Shipra. Shahid and others,
Surely this is a very interesting discussion. I think that Social entrepreneuship like any other concepts shouid evolve to meet the challenges of the future. The concept and its applications should be interpereted to meet both social and economic needs of the future of telecenters. In this direction, we take into account existing environment in the area telecenters are operatitng.
Social enterprise is a concept that should be accomodated by telecenters in all regions as this isd what makes it a difference between Cybercafe. Social needs are critical to development so as economic needs.

Social Enterprise models are common in development organisations and projects and may not be termed the same in business.

[Karishma Kiri]

hi everyone, thank you for your thoughts so far! this is great.

the question i have more specifically is though that is there a need to further sub-segment the space and dilineate by the underlying business model. i think most people are excited about the broader potential and promise of social enterprise. that said, i sense confusion in private and public sector on how social enterprises fit into the framework of "enterprises" and should they be treated as businesses, or social organizations, or both? i guess i'm trying to understand at another level of granularity on whether focus within the definition is needed to reduce the confusion, numerous definitions, etc.

[Vignesh Sornamohan]

Hi Karishma,

I do agree with you that social enterprise is a confusing concept. Most of these telecentres are trying to develop its own business, though it offers some social good.

Having said that, I would also like to take us to a broader discussion of what is a social good? Why do a government has to invest on a social good. Take for example, 'X' government is investing on Education and Health, expecting that a healthier and knowledged citizens will bring-in more economic activities to the nation. So, there is a hidden agenda behind a social good?

From the above case, if we agree that, what government does as a social good (with a hidden agenda of increasing the economic activity), then why can't telecentres be called as a social enterprise?

Look forward to your thoughts on this.

Vignesh

[Dean Mulozi]

Hi Karishma,
Really true, there is a need to define social entrepreneurship in its true sense. But Shahid added important comments "consider serving the community through offering non-profitable services we call social entrepreneurships. Improved version of socially responsible business"

I will add to the definition of social enterpreneurship models as an enterprise running. Some references comment on Social enterprise businesses as those that often use blended value business models that combine a revenue-generating business with a social-value-generating structure or component. Many commercial businesses would consider themselves to have social objectives, but social enterprises are distinctive because their social or environmental purpose is central to what they do"

I would refer to social enterprise as businesses that focus on achieving both social and economic objectives of an entity without necessarily expecting immediate profit. In a telecenter environment, social enterprise offer a "business flavour or blend" that operate and offer services to local communities in areas of social sectors such as Health, education, agriculture etc. The business value of social enterprise provide long term benefits such as achievements of MDGs, achievements of Country Visions and long term plans.

And therefore telecenters should adopt Social enterprise models.

But what could be helpful is to analyse the challenges and benefits of social enterprise models in rural ICTs or telecenters.

Thanks

Dean
SATNET,
Lusaka.