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Social Entrepreneurs

Many social enterprises are lead by social entrepreneurs, and the model is proving popular amongst people who have a passion for a particular purpose as it brings together commercial and nonprofit activity into a new hybrid model.

Traditional entrepreneurship is the process of pursuing opportunity and leveraging resources to create value. A social entrepreneur is someone who works in an entrepreneurial way, but for public or social benefit, rather than to make profit for themselves. While entrepreneurs in the business sector identify untapped commercial markets and gather together resources to break into those markets for profit, social entrepreneurs use the same skills and mind-set to pursue different outcomes. For social entrepreneurs, untapped markets are people or communities in need, who haven’t been reached by other initiatives.

Social entrepreneurs are particularly skilled at finding new uses for derelict spaces, second-hand materials, and disengaged people; as well as squeezing money out of the commercial and public sectors. The most successful embody a curious mixture of idealism and pragmatism - high-mindedness wedded to hard-headedness.

Social entrepreneurs work in every sector, and increasingly are establishing social enterprises as the vehicle for realising their goals. In practice, and particularly during the start-up phase, social enterprises operate like many small-medium enterprises (SME’s), but they have an added layer of activity and responsibility as they work towards their social, environmental and/or cultural purpose. This makes it challenging, but very rewarding, work.

Parramatta City Council seeks to support social entrepreneurs interested in working in the local area. We also recommend the School for Social Entrepreneurs – www.sse.org.au
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