what is a social entrepreneur 
a social entrepreneur is a person who pursues novel applications that have the potential to solve community based problems these individuals are willing to take on the risk and effort to create positive changes in society through their initiatives social entrepreneurs may believe that this practice is a way to connect you to your life s purpose help others find theirs and make a difference in the world all while eking out a living widespread use of ethical practices such as impact investing conscious consumerism and corporate social responsibility programs facilitates the success of social entrepreneurs investopedia nono floresunderstanding social entrepreneurswhile most entrepreneurs are motivated by the potential to earn a profit the profit motive does not prevent the ordinary entrepreneur from having a positive impact on society in his book the wealth of nations the economist adam smith explained it is not from the benevolence of the butcher the brewer or the baker that we expect our dinner but from their regard to their own self interest 1smith believed that when individuals pursued their own best interests they would be guided toward decisions that benefited others the baker for example wants to earn a living to support their family to accomplish this they produce a product bread which feeds and nourishes hundreds of people 2a social entrepreneur might also seek to address imbalances in such availability the root causes behind such social problems or the social stigma associated with being a resident of such communities the main goal of a social entrepreneur is not to earn a profit rather a social entrepreneur seeks to implement widespread improvements in society however a social entrepreneur must still be financially savvy to succeed in their cause types of social entrepreneursa community social entrepreneur prioritizes the needs of a small geographical region usually the community they live in this type of social entrepreneur is less concerned about the specific nature of their endeavor the primary purpose of their entrepreneurship is to benefit their local area this type of social entrepreneur often builds strong relationships in their community taking advantage of relationships to leverage how resources flow within their town community members local organizations and the community social entrepreneur work together to make sure the needs of the community are met and partnerships that make sense are created non profit social entrepreneurs are the more common type of social entrepreneur where the entity has a broadly stated goal that benefits someone but not necessarily their direct community with the introduction of remote or online social entrepreneurship it is now easier to create entities with broader mission driven purposes non profit social enterprises usually operate very similarly to a business the primary difference is that the net profits of the non profit enterprise are often returned back to the entity for further development of the program instead of there being investors to make money a non profit social entrepreneur strives to spend as much money as it can towards its mission as a start up non profit social enterprise grows it often shifts into becoming a transformational social entrepreneur as local non profits grow so can their mission a transformational social entrepreneur looks to scale an operation from a single program to benefit various areas for example consider the broad reach of goodwill what started as a small non profit social enterprise transformed into a much richer broader entity with many more rules and regulations sometimes social entrepreneur endeavors aren t limited by borders or geography sometimes people may try to solve overarching social concepts such as poverty depression or lack of living conditions usually the social entrepreneur may try to solve an issue in a specific region however these deep rooted issues are often not specific to a region many of the solutions discovered in one area may be attributable to another these types of organizations easily have the greatest reach for example consider the breadth of the bill melinda gates foundation their endeavors to find vaccinations for various diseases impacting those around the world are a clear example of global social enterprises social entrepreneurship continually evolves what may be a local communal non profit one year may model into a global social enterprise the next 6 p s of social entrepreneurial enterprisesas social entrepreneurs embark on turning their ideas into successes they often work through the following six areas each of these categories has different resources roadblocks or stages a social entrepreneur must often encounter most social entrepreneurs start their endeavors by identifying what people they want to benefit sometimes this is the people in their specific geographical region other times this is people within a certain demographic i e people with low income without a clear definition of who the social entrepreneur wants to serve they will face difficulty in appropriately defining the scope of their enterprise this puts the yet to be created entity at risk of not having a clear vision social entrepreneurs try to fix problems more specifically social entrepreneurs identify a problem that the people in the previous section face usually during the brainstorming phase of an entity the social entrepreneur will link the two together for example social entrepreneurs may try to defeat homelessness in their region a social entrepreneur in this situation tries to help certain people low income individuals with a problem lack of available housing with the people and problems identified a social entrepreneur must devise a plan to solve the problem social entrepreneurs not only strive to create a business plan to operate an entity but they must also determine how this type of entity will receive funding and remain financially sustainable the social entrepreneur must also evaluate how external parties can help it achieve its social goals one of the largest challenges for a social entrepreneur is a lack of available resources to tackle the problem they wish to solve whether that means not enough money not enough specialized knowledge or external forces that cannot be controlled social entrepreneurs face many constraints this means they must prioritize what they try to solve how they go about operating and what expansion looks like because resources are limited social entrepreneurs often test out solutions in small markets before expanding this means creating prototype products services or processes it also tests out how different funding and resources can help it achieve its goals though this stage may not foster trust in those who have provided an upfront investment with the social entrepreneur other upfront investors may appreciate seeing a minimum viable product or prototype with the test case down social entrepreneurs identify what went well and what didn t go well it often surveys those who helped put the solution together as well as those receiving the benefit this last step closes the full loop of activity though a social entrepreneur should periodically evaluate each aspect and continually monitor for ways to better make their social change social entrepreneur vs other social conceptssocial entrepreneurship is related to socially responsible investing sri and environmental social and governance esg investing sri is the practice of investing money in companies and funds that have positive social impacts sri has also grown in popularity in recent years socially responsible investors will often eschew investments in companies that produce or sell addictive substances like alcohol gambling and tobacco they may also seek out companies that are engaged in social justice environmental sustainability and alternative energy or clean technology efforts socially conscious investors screen potential new investments for environmental social and governance esg criteria this set of standards considers how a company performs as a steward of nature how it manages relationships with employees suppliers customers and the communities where it operates and how it treats its company s leadership compensates its executives and approaches audits internal controls and shareholder rights according to ziprecruiter the average annual salary as of may 2024 for a social entrepreneur was just above 40 000 per year 3examples of social entrepreneurshipthe introduction of freshwater services through the construction of new wells is another example of social entrepreneurship a social entrepreneur may have the goal of providing access to communities that lack stable utilities of their own in the modern era social entrepreneurship is often combined with technology assets for example bringing high speed internet connectivity to remote communities so that school age children have more access to information and knowledge resources another example is microfinance institutions that provide banking services to unemployed or low income individuals or groups who otherwise would have no other access to financial services the development of mobile apps that speak to the needs of a particular community is another way social entrepreneurship is expressed this can include giving individuals ways to alert their city administrations to problems such as burst water mains downed power lines or patterns of repeated traffic accidents there are also apps created to report infractions committed by city officials or even law enforcement that can help give a voice to the community through technology other examples of social entrepreneurship include educational programs and helping children orphaned by epidemic disease all of these efforts are intended to address unmet needs within communities that have been overlooked or not granted access to services products or basic essentials available in more developed communities 