Social Entrepreneurship Ideas – Profits and Purpose

Social entrepreneurship has become a buzzword in terms of many industries lately. As entrepreneurs and organizations realize that profit and purpose are not mutually exclusive, but in fact, mutually beneficial, hopefully this form of business will become the norm for most organizations and industries. The bottom line is that social enterprises are born from the same basic needs as ordinary businesses and organizations. An entrepreneur is adept at spotting a need and finding solutions to those needs and almost all needs have social origin or purpose as their root cause.

What sets a social entrepreneur apart is the ability to balance profit and purpose in a way that allows the profit to support the purpose. If you are interested in the concept of social entrepreneurship, enroll in the Social Entrepreneurship: An Introduction course. This course offers twenty-eight lectures that will help you understand what social entrepreneurship is. It will teach you the skill sets and frameworks you need to become a change agent. It will help you strengthen the evaluation and planning skills necessary to become a social entrepreneur and organizational leader. You will improve your practical knowledge about social innovation and enterprise leadership, and you will join a global community of instructors and students who are all learning to change the world.

Here are ideas that use profits to grow your business and make a difference:

·         Social Entrepreneurship Ideas in Education

·         Social Entrepreneurship Ideas in Food

·         Social Entrepreneurship Ideas Based on Technology

Social Entrepreneurship Ideas in Education

We often take education and books for granted. There are a number of social entrepreneurship ideas that revolve around sharing books in an attempt to share education and knowledge. The best way to start a social venture is to look at your environment and your community. What does your community need and how can you meet this need?

In this day and age it is hard to believe that there are children that don’t have books but the truth is that there are still places where hundreds children share a single book. Starting a venture to collect children’s books from parents whose children have grown up, could be just what your community needs and a way to help. Creating a children’s library or book club and supporting it through donations or other community based projects may be the seed you need for your social venture. A prime example of social entrepreneurship in action for children’s books is First Book. They have managed to donate over 115 million books to less fortunate children by collaborating with authors and raising donations for books.

College students all over the country have started college recycling type social ventures that collect textbooks at the end of the year. These textbooks are sold to students the following year at a discount and the profits from the venture are then used to sponsor students in less fortunate countries. The cost of the venture is covered by the profits as well. A great example of this type of venture is Textbooks for Change. They have managed to donate over fifteen thousand textbooks to less fortunate students.

Social Entrepreneurship Ideas in Food

Food is probably one of the resources we squander most on this planet. The amount of food that ends up in the garbage is staggering. Organic compost and organic food prices have also soared in the past decade so it is no wonder that there are literally hundreds of social entrepreneurship ideas just waiting to be discovered and put into practice relating to food.

Move for Hunger is a prime example of people turning food wastage into a profitable social venture. Move for Hunger was the brainchild of Adam Lowy who spotted the opportunity when he realized that when people move, they tend to throw away a lot of food. By connecting moving companies to food banks all over the country, Move for Hunger has managed to deliver just under three million meals to people all around America by linking over 612 moving companies across the country.

Another great example of turning a passion for good food into a social entrepreneurship venture is Revolutions Foods, who saw a need for healthy, nutritious food for students. This company had modest beginnings but now supplies twenty thousand lunches to schools and they currently employ over a hundred and twenty people in their company.

Social entrepreneurship ideas based on food are all around you. Speak to your local restaurants and communities to help you link business with the communities. Think about the opportunities offered by organic gardens and all of the public gardens around us. A communal vegetable garden producing organic vegetables for sale and for the use of the participants and a section for creating natural compost could be a great place to start. We all need healthy food and so many of us are throwing away food at the end of a busy week.

Another social entrepreneurship idea involving food involves creating a community based vegetable store. Providing goods close to their expiry dates, arranging with local farmers to supply produce that may not be fit for top stores but that is still fit for sale, can provide an opportunity to supply your local community with fresh fruit and vegetables and other foodstuff at affordable costs. Creating a local or communal kitchen to raise profits from communal baking or cooking projects can also help to support the community, employ people and fill a need for a healthier community through better nutrition.

Do you have a passion for cooking or baking? Home baking or cooking for profit and purpose could be another great place to find inspiration for your social entrepreneurship ideas. Baking for profit and supporting a local cause using some of the profits, can be a great way to garner support for your work and provide support for your community.

If you are looking for ideas and inspiration, check out the Part-Time Entrepreneurship & Startups course. This course offers over eighty lectures that will help you generate and validate ideas. It will teach you how to maximize the profits and minimize the risks associated with your chosen venture. You will learn how to use WordPress to jumpstart your venture and how to leverage technology to make your venture grow. The course teaches you how to market your business online. Learn to how to launch your startup with less time and money and how to grow your startup into a valuable venture.

Social Entrepreneurship Ideas Based on Technology

The power of technology is that it brings people together with the same aims, goals and ambitions. That is why networks like Facebook and Twitter have the power to bring people together to fight a common cause.

If you have a way with words and a heart for a cause, then social entrepreneurship ideas abound all around you. Creating a blog for your cause and using social media like Facebook can help you launch awareness about what you are passionate about. Turning your passion into an innovative product like locally made crafts that support your cause can link your entrepreneurial spirit with your drive to make a difference.

Technology has the power to change the world. Solar power, the generation of electricity, clean water supply are all projects that are desperately needed in the developing world. If you have the ability to problem solve and to bring like minds together, then you will be inspired by the right social entrepreneurship idea to use technology to change the world.

If you would like to learn more about using technology to change the world, the Social Media for Social Change course can get you on your way. This course will teach you how the top change makers use social media for social good. The course offers eighteen lectures that will teach you the five key social media strategies that are being used and how they are used for maximum impact. The course contains examples of new media techniques that are being used by successful social entrepreneurs to inspire change. The course also outlines the various pros and cons of using different social media strategies and how to select the best strategy for your campaign. Finally, the course teaches you how to create viral messages and build genuine engagement online to ensure lasting change.

Change Your Life. Change Your World

Social entrepreneurship ideas are all around you. Just follow your passion and you will find a way to allow profits to flow to support your cause.  Don’t be afraid to start small. Start with your own community and allow the project to grow organically. Reach out via social media and reach out to your local community. You may be amazed at how many people are passionate about your cause and who are willing to help. You may be working longer hours at first, but at the end of the day, where there is a will there is a way and with opportunities like causes and crowd funding your idea will soon multiply, grow wings and fly.