Many people look at the problems, but our team looks at the solutions and how we can do better. For one, when we opened our doors in 2012, not many people understood the meaning of Social entrepreneurship. We often got puzzled looks. At that time, people didn’t fully understand or appreciate that social entrepreneurship combines business with a social purpose. In effect, it creates a company with social responsibility as a core value.
Flash forward over a decade, and the public is pushing for companies to become genuinely socially responsible and take a stand on social issues. For example, our business continues to thrive now that people and organizations realize and understand that they can raise funds for their favorite causes—and significantly improve the collective carbon footprints in their communities.
In recent years, social entrepreneurship has become increasingly popular. The reason for it is simple. The idea has captured the imagination of the public and organizations because they realize that profit and social accountability don’t have to be mutually exclusive. So, let’s explore how social enterprises are changing things, including how they create jobs and opportunities, develop innovative solutions, and promote action.
Creating jobs and economic opportunities
One of the things our social enterprise and our partner brand, Sneakers4Good, is very proud of is that we’re helping create jobs and economic opportunities in underserved communities. For example, our social enterprises are the leaders in helping to raise funds or paying people and organizations to repurpose shoes and sneakers. In turn, that merchandise gets transported to nearly two dozen developing countries.
But we’re not the social enterprise that’s creating jobs and economic opportunities for Americans and others worldwide. For example, Divine Chocolate is a social enterprise of cocoa farmers in Ghana who became social entrepreneurs and marketed their products to the UK and American markets. Unfortunately, the cocoa industry is notorious for exploitation, and these farmers decided to band together and do something about it.
Developing innovative solutions with social entrepreneurship
As you can imagine, many considering social entrepreneurship have a deep sense of purpose. Moreover, these entrepreneurs seek to create positive changes within their communities. So, that motivates them to think out of the box, as our founder and other social entrepreneurs did. In effect, these social enterprise leaders develop new ideas, products, and services as solutions to unmet needs and to improve the lives of people.
For example, Bombas is a social enterprise that provides fresh and clean clothing to people. They realized that wearing fresh, comfortable clothing each day was a straightforward idea to most, but it was a struggle for others. So, they created a solution. They decided to design awesome t-shirts, socks, and underpants for customers to purchase. And every time someone makes a purchase through their Giving Partners program, someone homeless gets the same item purchased.
Fostering collaboration and collective action through social enterprise
Social entrepreneurship is a game-changer. And it promotes opportunities for fostering collaboration and collective action. We see it often within Sneakers4Good as athletes, gym members, and whole communities band together to recycle running shoes. By working together, these groups pool their resources and help support more effective and sustainable solutions within their communities.
Another example is the American business, Warby Parker. Over 1 billion people worldwide, including in the United States, can’t afford to buy a pair of glasses. As anyone who wears eyeglasses knows, getting a pair of the proper eyeglasses with the correct lenses is expensive. Warby Parker is a social enterprise that promotes its Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program. By doing so, it shows how businesses can help to drive positive change.
A powerful force to change the world
The fact is, as our team and partners know, social entrepreneurship has the potential to fix some of the most pressing issues people worldwide face, including poverty, access to education, and climate change. So, by combining business with social responsibility, entrepreneurs can create sustainable and impactful solutions. The rise of social entrepreneurship is something that everyone should want to support.
Still, social entrepreneurship has to continue to expand and meet its challenges, such as access to funding, awareness, and any regulatory barriers. As a result, business entrepreneurs, governments, institutions, and the public need to foster an environment for social entrepreneurship to thrive. Ultimately, social enterprises serve not only entrepreneurs but society, and that’s what we call a win/win.
Interested in learning about social good success? Check out our webinars, ebooks, YouTube, or Facebook to promote social impact.
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