What is a social enterprenuer?
A social entrepreneur creates a business that has some kind of social purpose. There is motivation other than making profit. Profit is important because a business is no good to its customers if it is not profitable, but profit is not primary. The drivers for the business are more about creating social change in some way, working to improve lives.
To be a social entrepreneur is really just the way I do business. I don’t think “I’m going to change lives today” but I do think about how my work has an impact on the world around me. My employees, the environment, my clients, all these are affected by the work that we do and it is important that our impact is positive.
We recently did some work on our core purpose. All the staff quickly came to the same notion: Our core purpose is “to make a positive difference”. This is why we work with not-for-profit organisations, because we know that we can use our expertise to make a positive difference to their organisations, and therefore to the people they serve.
Why did I become a social entrepreneur?
That makes it sound like a deliberate decision. 7 years ago it wasn’t a popular term so I didn’t think about it then. I wanted to have a go at creating a business, I needed a new challenge, and there seemed an opportunity to use my experience with not-for-profits.
It was about filling a niche, creating a business and working with the kinds of organisations that inspire me and the kinds of people I feel good about being around.
It isn’t easy, there are a lot of unexpected barriers being a business and approaching the not-for-profit sector. But there are rewards in seeing an organisation inspired to innovate with technology and watch them improve their operation and their service delivery.
Lisa is CEO of Energetica which offers IT services and consulting that make a positive difference to organisations. They deliver innovative and high value services for the not-for-profit sector.
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