Difference between a Social entrepreneur and Business entrepreneur

Having knowing what is a social enterprise, perhaps some of us in BZSE will feel more inspired to want to set up a social enterprise, to do their part for the community. But what if our idea of a social enterprise isn't what a social entrepreneur is? Exploring the difference between a social entrepreneur and a business entrepreneur can enlighten us and gives us a better understand between the two.

These are really basic, that we should know by now. But yet, many people are confused with the terms, and some even abused it. Some people make use of the term "social enterprise" to gain the trust and even sympathy of the public, using government's funding, and other benefits. 

A social entrepreneur, like a normal business entrepreneur, values profit. But unlike a business entrepreneur whose aim is to generate profits and is accountable for the shareholder, a social entrepreneur aim is to create a social benefit for the community or even a transformation in the community that may lack in a few things, such as resources or aids. 

Social entrepreneur would usually want their business to be non-profit. Don't be mistaken. This merely means that the business owner will not be taking back any profit that the business earned, nor will it be given to shareholders (most social enterprise do not issue shares). The profits will either go to improvement of the business or to help the community. For businesses who wishes to move towards the for-profit route, they can use the profits and plough it towards a cause that they believe in. An example would be NIKA water, where they sell bottled water. They are a for-profit company, but 100% of their profit goes towards supporting clean water projects in Uganda, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua.

With a strong beliefs and passion to make a change, social entrepreneur are indeed hard to come by. As mentioned in the previous post, some people abuse the name "social enterprise" and even bring a bad name to it. Although I may not have an answer, I do think it's an issue to address. A possible method is to do annual check, to ensure that the fund being used is not just for the improvement of the business, but rather, to help the community. All these are for the greater good of the community. A small criteria can also help a long way, such as the beneficiaries have to make up 30% of the company's employees, or that the profit plough back has to be at least 30%.

These can, hopefully, lessen the number of bogus social enterprises in Singapore or even push aspiring social entrepreneur to think of a better way to help the community.

Article: Difference Between Social Entrepreneurs & Business Entrepreneurs - Daria Kelly Uhlig

What's a Social Enterprise?

There has been many definition of a social enterprise. A social enterprise is still a relatively new in  Singapore. It is, however, much more established in other countries such as the United Kingdom (UK).

In Singapore, there are a few factors that contributes to being known as a social enterprise. The factors are:

1. Create job opportunity for their beneficiaries.
2. Plow back the the profits to helping the beneficiaries.
3. Giving subsidies to the beneficiaries
4. Meeting a certain social need, such a community bonding

At the end of the day, as long as they follow any of these model, regardless of the amount of impact they may be making. Thus, any business can easily call themselves a social enterprise, as long as they make even a slight impact on society. Business owner are free to keep the profits that they earn too. Plus, they can get grants from the government.

However, unlike the UK, all the profit have to be plow back to the beneficiaries. Business owner will not be entitled to any profit that the business earn. Plus, should there be shareholders, they will not receive the dividends.

Some say that the UK is adopting the right model and that Singapore has a very vague definition of a social enterprise. Some argue that Singapore should follow the UK examples, some don't.

Looking at one side of the coin, adopting such a method may and will deter many aspiring social entrepreneur from setting up their social enterprise., which could be a possible reason why Singapore does not want to adopt the UK method. However, it can lead to the abuse of the name social enterprise and there may be more "bogus" social enterprise.

What's my take on this? Hopefully, throughout my last semester in Business and Social Enterprise, I'll be able to get an answer.

Article: What makes a social enterprise? - The Straits Times (Published February 16, 2013)