Social enterprise

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A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners.

Social enterprises have business, environmental and social goals. As a result, their social goals are embedded in their objective, which differentiates them from other organisations and companies.^[1] A social enterprise's main purpose is to promote, encourage, and make social change.^[2] Social enterprises are businesses created to further a social purpose in a financially sustainable way. Social enterprises can provide income generation opportunities that meet the basic needs of people who live in poverty. They are sustainable, and earned income from sales is reinvested in their mission. They do not depend on philanthropy and can sustain themselves over the long term. Attempting a comprehensive definition, social enterprises are market-oriented entities that aim to create social value while making a profit to sustain their activities. They uniquely combine financial goals with a mission for social impact.^[3] Their models can be expanded or replicated to other communities to generate more impact.

A social enterprise can be more sustainable than a nonprofit organisation that may solely rely on grant money, donations or government policies alone.^[4]