What is a Social Enterprise?

A social enterprise is a business driven by a social or environmental purpose.

As with any business, a social enterprise competes to deliver goods and services to customers in the marketplace.  However, social enterprises differ from traditional businesses in that profits are re-invested to achieve, sustain and further its social or environmental purpose while still ensuring financial viability.

Some key characteristics of a social enterprise are:

• Innovation driven – Highly entrepreneurial, flexible and innovative. Able to test, adapt, and refine creative solutions for specific uses of benefit to the social enterprise.

• Focused on impact – Possessing clearly defined mission goals and accountable for social or environmental impacts as well as profits to a broad base of stakeholders; employing new tools and metrics.

• Sustainable – Achieving sustainability through revenue generation using only limited public and philanthropic investments.

• Collaborative – Often employing cross-sectoral partnerships and relying on non-profit sector collaboration.