Guide
What is a social enterprise?
While definitions of social enterprise are given below, for Firstport, what matters is what you do and put simply we note:
Social – not individually motivated but with a wider benefit.
Enterprise – a new idea or initiative seeking to be financially sustainable.
The example we use to help people understand social enterprise is The Big Issue. Driven by a desire to help the homeless it does this by producing and selling a magazine and using money made to deliver social benefit.
Firstport works with individuals who are looking to establish initiatives that will have direct social/environmental benefit and will trade and sell a product or service to enable this to happen. This may include:
- Providing employment opportunities to those often excluded from a mainstream workforce e.g. work for people with mental health difficulties, long term unemployed etc.
- Providing services to those who may not receive a service without a new initiative e.g. – health and care, youth services, support for the elderly, young mothers etc.
- Providing services in a geographical area that otherwise would not receive it, e.g. access to transport, local shop
- It may be more mainstream business that aims to then divert profits to community causes e.g a restaurant, shop or product sales
- Products and services you have identified a social need for based on your own experience
Definitions
Scottish Social Enterprise Strategy, 2007
What is social enterprise?
Social enterprise is a way of doing business. Social enterprises are run to generate profits that are used to provide social, community or environmental benefits. Sometimes this is referred to as 'more than profit'. The most commonly used definition is that "… social enterprises are businesses 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 or owners" (DTI, 2002).
Characteristics of social enterprises:
- Social, community or environmental purpose.
- Delivery of social purpose mainly through trading, whether through direct sales to the public or under contract to public or private organisations.
- Profit-making, but this is primarily invested in the business or the community, not distributed to shareholders.
Scottish Social Enterprise Coalition
“Social enterprises are dynamic businesses with a social purpose. They have social aims, trade in competitive markets and reinvest their profits for community benefit. DTI research in 2005 indicated there are at least 1,100 social enterprises in Scotland, employing 30,000 people and adding £1.25bn to the national economy. More recent local and national studies suggest the true figure could be more than 3,000”