Social Enterprise

A Social Enterpriseis the most common form of a "not-for-profit" enterprise.

The clue in the phrase "not-for-profit" tells you much about the aims and objectives of Social Enterprises, however it is important to note that a social enterprise is not a charity.

Social Enterprises are defined as:

• "Businesses with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners'.

A Social Enterprise is a proper business that makes its money in a socially responsible way, but these ventures are not necessarily formed to reinvest all profit into the communities. This means that social entrepreneurs can make good profit for themselves, but their business models are still designed to benefit others.

Social Enterprises compete alongside other businesses in the same marketplace, but use business principles to achieve social aims.

A few things all Social Enterprises have in common are:

• They are directly involved in producing goods or providing services.
• They have social aims and ethical values.
• They are self-sustaining, and do not rely on donations to survive(i.e. they are not charities)

Well known examples of Social Enterprises include Divine Chocolate(a fair trade organisation that shares its profit with the cocoa farmers), the Eden Project, who reinvests their profit into educational projects, and the fair-trade coffee company Cafedirect.