Social Entrepreneurship - An idea whose time has come.

The Schwab Foundation defines social entrepreneurs as “founders of non-profit, hybrid or for-profit organisations who innovatively address a social or environmental problem, with a focus on low-income, marginalised or vulnerable populations.”

In a world where social issues are exploding, where governments and countries are looking inward instead of outward and where geographic boundaries are becoming blurred, the role of the social entrepreneur has never been more vital.?Young social entrepreneurs (or “socents”) are playing essential roles in their communities as part of the “build back broader” movement.

The striking fact is that our younger generations understand social entrepreneurs’ success is not solely measured by financial success and are starting to follow this career path in droves. People who choose to take a stand for social issues and solve problems relating to culture, environment and society through their enterprises are equally, and perhaps increasingly more valuable to society.

Around the world social entrepreneurs have been unparalleled catalysts for driving social change. They deploy creative market-driven strategies to tackle critical social issues in new ways. ?Promoting a broad range of solutions focused on sustainable development, decades before they were called ‘SDGs’.

The real power of social entrepreneurs is their talent and empathy for identifying market failures holding humanity back and their skill in tailoring and implementing practical solutions. These can include diverse areas such as providing access to clean water or renewable energy, financial inclusion, high-quality educational resources or critical knowledge that allows life-giving agriculture to flourish.

Take for example, local toilet paper company Who gives a crap? ?This Australian profit-for-purpose company was established after its founders learned 2.4 billion people did not have access to a toilet.?Coming off a bumper year of toilet paper sales, they have secured their first major funding round for $42M.? Their cult-like consumer following appreciate not only the sustainable and premium quality toilet paper delivered to the door monthly, but also the fact that 50% of the profits go towards ensuring everyone has access to clean water and a toilet.

Globally social entrepreneurs have vast reach.?According to the COVID Response Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs report (launched in April 2020) the members of this alliance collectively support over 50,000 social entrepreneurs across the world. These entrepreneurs, in turn, have a direct or indirect impact on the lives of nearly 1 billion people - providing access to employment, food, affordable energy and other critical services.

Social entrepreneurs are a vital social safety net for our systemic inequalities and market failures. They are the “system change leaders” whose track record and ingenuity to face immediate problems on the ground are vital to our collective ability to weather the crisis today and shape a new tomorrow.

They are uniquely positioned to represent a new benchmark for leadership in the 21st century. Their knowledge, experience and existing on-the-ground infrastructure can play a vital role in revitalising the sustainable development agenda and building more inclusive, shockproof and resilient markets and societies.

However, against the contrast of the "Who gives a crap" shining success story, many other social enterprises face significant and immediate operational and viability challenges, especially in light of the continuing lockdown conditions across the country.?

According to a World Economic Forum survey in 2019, social entrepreneurs pay a heavy price for their commitment to do good,

• 75% reporting use of personal funds to support their social enterprise
• 75% revealing personal financial hardships from earning a lower-than-private sector salary
• 63% saying they had no time for hobbies or interests

In addition to social entrepreneurs struggling with burnout, key obstacles are hindering progress include the lack of consistent access to capital and a sector structure that does not promote innovation.?In the corporate world, experimentation is called fail fast and fail often.?For social entrepreneurs it is simply called failure.

There is much that works in the corporate world that could be embedded systemically into the social sector to address these challenges and conversely much that the corporate sector could learn from social entrepreneurs.??

For leaders who have already committed to purpose-driven stakeholder capitalism, this is the time to deepen and widen your social entrepreneur footprint.?Take advantage of this step-change moment to commit to sustainable sourcing practices, building local “shock resilient” ecosystems with social entrepreneurs and their communities at the centre.?

For example, B Corp Danone, has allocated €300 million in financial support to 15,000 small businesses in its global ecosystem (farmers, suppliers, service providers) and entrepreneurs in its Manifesto Ventures portfolio, as well as to the Danone Ecosystem Fund projects.

As consumers, find out who your local social enterprises are and support them with your wallet and advocacy.?

We all need to create the enabling conditions for the social enterprise ecosystem to survive, thrive and hold everyone accountable to raise the bar on what is currently an economic model that our planet cannot sustain.