FAQ: What’s the Definition of Social Entrepreneurship?

This is a blog series dedicated to the frequently asked questions we get during the Ask Me Anything About Social Enterprise (AMAASE) sessions. One frequently asked question we get asked is “what is the definition of social enterprise?”

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Prizes of $270,000 celebrate all stages of social enterprises across Canada

At its core, social entrepreneurship uses business models/ markets to solve social problems. Regardless of whether it’s an individual or an organization, regardless of their choice of incorporation- non-profit or for-profit, these elements are the driving and amplifying force.

We support social entrepreneurship.

We are a private foundation that believes in supporting social entrepreneurship through programmatic, grant making, and partnership approaches. We take a systems view to every decision we make and foster social entrepreneurship by supporting the ecosystem and providing social entrepreneurs with capacity building resources.

We are entrepreneurial.

We believe in making social entrepreneurship mainstream. We know we can’t do it alone. Which is why we don’t just fund organizations; we work with them and learn with them to move the sector forward, taking risks along the way.

At Trico Foundation we often talk to groups about their goals for their social enterprise and discuss what their venture will look like when it has reached its desired steady state (here we are talking about down the road when you have reached your financial and social impact goals—please note that we previously referred to this as your five-year goals/ fifth year of operating, however each venture and industry will have a different indicators for stability and it is important to work with the desired goals/ markers that you have set out to indicate that your venture has reached its steady state).

This blog is an opportunity for us to introduce a number of groups and types of stakeholders that you may come in contact with/ have to respond to as develop or grow your social enterprise.

Now it’s time to shift gears and think of your end game – that is, what you want this venture to accomplish when it is up and running (from now on we will refer to this as your stable state). Ultimately, the art of being a start-up or expanding on your existing social enterprise is figuring out how to secure your ‘early adopter’ customer and then build up to your end game with the least amount of risk and the highest chance of success.

There are a growing number of events connected to social entrepreneurship. Many of them happen in our home city, demonstrating what an incredible hub of activity Calgary is. The Trico Foundation team is pleased to attend many of them and wish we could attend more.

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