Social Enterprise

A292 OCR GCSE BUSINESS STUDIESWritten by SHilton

What is social enterprise?

• Social enterprises are businesses trading for social and environmental purposes. – (Learn that bit)

• Many commercial businesses would consider themselves to have social objectives, but social enterprises are distinctive because their social and/or environmental purpose is absolutely central to what they do. – their profits are reinvested to sustain and further their

mission for positive change.

How do I know if I am a social enterprise?

• Does your company have social and/or environmental aims?

• Does your company have its own constitution and governing body?

• Are at least 50% of your company profits spent on socially beneficial purposes?

• Does your company earn at least 50% of its income from trading?

• Can your company demonstrate that social/environmental aims are being achieved?

• If your company ceased trading, remaining assets would be distributed for social/environmental purposes?

Where is this? Have you ever been there? Why is it a Social Enterprise?

Eden Project – social enterprise• The Eden Project in Cornwall has been

built in a disused clay mine, transforming it into a rich, global garden where people can learn about nature and get inspiration about the world around them.

• Eden is an educational charity and social enterprise and much of their energy goes into:

– Running social and environmental projects in Cornwall and around the world

– creating unforgettable learning experiences for students

– putting on fantastic arts, theatre and music events

– creating stunning gardens as well as doing valuable research into plants and conservation

– making sure we run our operations in the greenest possible way.

What do you think of the Big Issue?

Have you ever read it?

Did you know it was a social enterprise?

Why is it a social enterprise and not a charity?

• The Big Issue is a business solution to a social problem, demonstrating that an organisation can succeed whilst being simultaneously driven by commercial aims and social objectives.

• It has helped thousands of individuals to regain control of their lives and has simultaneously altered public perceptions of homeless people.

Big Issue – social enterprise• The Big Issue Foundation is

a registered charity which exists to link vendors with the vital support which will help them address the issues which have led to their homelessness.

• The organisation currently supports over 2900 homeless and vulnerably housed people across the country. The magazine is read by over 670,000 people every week throughout the UK.

• The Big Issue exists to offer homeless and vulnerably housed people the opportunity to earn a legitimate income.

• They produce a weekly entertainment and current affairs magazine which vendors buy from them for £1 and sell to the public for £2, keeping £1 for themselves.

• They believe in offering ‘a hand up, not a hand out’, but they also recognise that earning an income is the first step on the journey away from homelessness.

Divine Chocolate – a social enterprise

What do you think social enterprise is NOW?

Write it on your show me board