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1. What is a Social Enterprise? The Different Types of Social enterprise ExplainedThe terms Social entrepreneurship and social enterprise can be used to describe two different things: (Press each button to reveal each meaning)
For the purposes of this course we will use the strictly commercial interpretation of social entrepreneurship and social enterprise, focusing on trading, that is:
Social enterprises usually sell goods or services in response to local needs, providing goods, services, training and employment that are not always available in the community. There are many different types of social enterprise with different social goals e.g. community training and employment; community health; environmental conservation. The work the organisations do towards these social goals can be financially supported from profits derived from social enterprises such as cafes, decorating and gardening services, craft services, leisure facilities and so on. Social Enterprises can take different legal forms, depending on how they operate and what type of business they will be operating. This is explained further in Module 4 - The Legalities . Although the organisational ethos and objectives may differ, the process of entrepreneurship i.e. starting a new business is similar in both realms although traditionally less structured support existed for social organisations and entrepreneurs. Similarly, the contextual and decisional factors for social and private sector entrepreneurs wishing to expand their enterprises are similar, but available support has traditionally not been as abundant for social enterprises.
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