Social enterprises are businesses that want to impact and improve the world. They have a clear social or environmental mission. This means that their main intention is not to make profit and keep it to themselves. They aim to make profit in the hopes of reinvesting or donating it to create a positive social change.
Social enterprises are for the people. This means they are not discriminative towards any minority, in fact, 40% of social enterprises are led by women, 31% have black asian minority ethnic directors and 40% have a director with a disability. This tells you a lot about these types of businesses and reinforces how they want to improve the world in any way they are able.
This sets them apart from corporate businesses as they have diversity in ownership and are welcoming to all types of people even those with a disability.
The Big Issue is an example of a social enterprise as it has a main mission of helping those who are homeless to earn some money. They sell their issues for a cheaper price to vendors who then go to sell them to the general public for double the price.
They aim to help the vendors through a Service Brokerage model. Service brokers are trained to identify the needs of a vendor and supply them with expert information, advice and guidance in order to address these needs.
Also, they are impacting society by giving Big Issue Vendors access to safe and secure accommodation. The business gives them continual support in order to prevent future homelessness through ongoing support.
Another way they strive to impact society is by giving vendors who need it addiction treatment. They provide them with support so they can access and remain engaged with addiction treatment programmes. This reduces the amount of addicts who will continue to buy substances with their money. The Big Issue strongly engages with their vendors which allows them to feel more positive about the change that can come their way.
They help vendors gain the opportunity to explore careers and get help recognising transferable skills. Vendors get support with updating CVs which they are then able to attend interview coaching and apply for jobs. This suggests how The Big Issue are a social enterprise as they care about their vendors and want them to move up in life. They are not concerned about retaining the people who work for them.
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