Launching a business has always been tough. Growing one that is both profitable and achieves sustainable social impact is even tougher. Yet innovative social enterprises that successfully combine the know-how of commerce with the philanthropic benefits of charities are increasingly seen by policymakers around the world as offering viable solutions to some of our most pressing social problems.
While there has been no shortage of excellent ideas, few social enterprises have been able to work at vast scale and their innovations have been slow to spread. There is no single reason for this, but lack of entrepreneurial skills, funds and networks certainly play a part.
At the end of November, the British Council brought together a panel of leading UK and Canadian thought leaders, from organisations such as Ashoka, UnLtd, the University of Northampton and University of British Columbia to discuss how higher education can support the growth of the social enterprise sector during a one-day summit in Vancouver, Canada.
The social enterprise sector has yet to produce game-changing innovators like Apple or Google, but there are initiatives transforming their communities for the better. Perhaps the most striking example is Grameen Bank, the Bangladeshi microfinance lender founded in 1983 by Nobel Prize-winning economist Muhammed Yunus. It provides small loans to rural farmers, believing small-scale loans are better than charity to interrupt the cycle of poverty.
Another example is Goodwill Solutions, a Northampton-based UK logistics firm with clients including Asda and Amazon. Unlike other warehouse companies, they employ workers with a history of homelessness, substance abuse, or run-ins with the law. Professor Simon Denny of the University of Northampton estimated the company saves the UK taxpayer more than £3.5m over a two-year period. In his keynote address, Denny explained that: "The owner runs it to reduce homelessness, crimes etc. An example is Seamus, who two years ago was sleeping rough on the streets of Northampton; he is now a supervisor in one of their warehouses, with a partner, a house and most importantly, he is a taxpayer."
One of the event panelists, Hamoon Ekhtiari, director of Studio Y at the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto, takes a different view. He said: "If we woke up tomorrow morning and had one thousand new social enterprises, the world wouldn't necessarily be a better place." Instead Studio Y operates a broader view by taking on 25 'high-potential' young people from across Ontario and nurturing them to become 'systems change leaders' in the belief that it is people rather than institutions that can make a difference.
Another issue that generated considerable debate is how universities can help social enterprise to achieve scale. Canadian and British institutions are now incorporating social enterprise hubs into campuses and nearly half of all British universities have a social enterprise programme.
One such institution is the University of British Columbia, which launched the ISIS Research Centre in September 2010. Jana Svedova, their manager of Social Economy and Innovation explained that their goal is to, "take in social ventures from the community and provide the support and resources that we have access to, to help them grow and get to the next stage." She believes that higher education can play a critical role in helping social enterprises survive past a level where many fail. In her words: "We help them get through that stage where there is a very high failure rate."
In the UK, the University of Northampton is recognised as the country's leading educational institution for social enterprise. It is supported by UnLtd, the world's largest start-up programme, supporting more than 8,000 social entrepreneurs. UnLtd's director of Programmes and Development, Zulfiqar Ahmed said: "We are not looking for people who have lots of charisma and a great business plan and large network of contacts. We are looking for people who have got potential, passion and a willingness to create social change combined with an entrepreneurial spirit."
Professor Simon Denny thinks social enterprises should be as ambitious as possible: "If we are going to do social enterprise as business, I think we have got to have scale; big is much better. If you are going to be a social enterprise, let's go for economies of scale – it's an opportunity to do lots of really good stuff, but in a way that is affordable."
This approach has struck a chord with politicians in the UK. An obvious reason is the rapid deterioration in public finances after the global financial crisis. Professor Denny said the rationale was that: "We've run out of money in many parts of the world and now realise that the welfare state is becoming unaffordable because of declining fertility rates and longer lifespans. Our public services (in Britain) tend to deal with symptoms rather than causes, and I'm arguing that many are not really fit for purpose."
As the event concluded, there was unanimous agreement that social entrepreneurs benefit hugely through the continued support and expertise that universities and innovation hubs provide Yet there were also considerably different philosophies and approaches as to the role of social entrepreneurs on both sides of the Atlantic. Does this matter? Perhaps not, in the words of Enterprising Non-Profits director, David LePage: "Social enterprise is a verb, not a noun."
Event speakers:
Zulfiqar Ahmed, director of programmes & development at UnLtd
Kevin van Cauter, higher education advisor, British Council
Simon Denny, holder of The Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion, director of enterprise, development and social Impact, University of Northampton
Hamoon Ekhtiari, director, Studio Y, MaRS Discovery District
David LePage, principal with Accelerating Social Impact CCC, Ltd, Program Adjunct to the Sandermoen School of Business MBA in Social Enterprise Leadership
Rupert Potter, consul general of the United Kingdom in Vancouver
Jana Svedova, manager, Social Economy and Innovation, ISIS Research Centre, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia
Charles Tsai, director of Learning Networks for Ashoka Canada
Shawn Smith, Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University
Contact the British Council at social.enterprise@britishcouncil.org
More from the British Council partnerzone:
• Canada draws on UK experience to scale up social investment
• Slovenia, the UK, and the future of social enterprise in Europe
• Social Investment in Germany: context and contestation
Content on this page is paid for and provided by the British Council, sponsor of the International hub
