Cambridge Cluster

A guest post from Marilyn Tippett:

The 5th UK conference for social enterprise is in February this year; go to www.socialenterprise.org.uk for more information.

Social enterprise has been a big part of American business life for  many years now, and is beginning to make an impact in the U.K.  A social enterprise (SE) is similar to  conventional business; both are out to make a profit and deliver a product or service.  Social enterprises, however,  are set up to ensure that all profits (surplus) go back to fund the project or business.  There are no shareholders and no individual will take a profit from the business, although, of course, salaries are paid as with any other business.

Many people will already have heard of SEs without realising that this is what they are: heard of The Big Issue? Jamie Oliver‘s 15 restaurants? Divine Chocolate? All examples of successful SEs.  That  said, most SEs are smaller and more local, and grow directly from the communities in which they are placed.  So there are companies offering nursery and after school provision, counselling and mental health services, art programmes and running local shops.

Social entrepreneurs have been called a curious mixture between the conventional entrepreneur (hard-headed, go-getting) and the socially-motivated community worker ( working close to communities, ethically-motivated). They are often very driven individuals, can be idealistic, but always have great “stickability”; it is usually many times harder to get a social enterprise off the ground than a conventional business.

For more information on social entrepreneurs & their businesses, take a look at the following websites:

www.sse.org.uk

www.SE-Alliance.org

socialenterprise.co.uk

sbs.ox.ac.uk/skoll