Michael AvilaWhat is a social enterprise, one might ask. Queen’s University’s Management School showcased this innovative business model at its “Social enterprises in Northern Ireland: Promoting business for social good” event last week as part of the Economic and Social Research Council’s 2019 Festival of Social Science.
According to Social Enterprise NI, whose staff were present on the day and helped students to explore ideas for ‘the social enterprises of the future’, a social enterprise is:
“like any other business in that it works to deliver goods and services to make a profit. The difference is that they are driven by their social and environmental purposes and any profit made is reinvested towards achieving these purposes.”
In other words, a portion of a social enterprise’s profits are reinvested back into the business and/or community and used for charitable services that seek to benefit wider society. Dr. Martin Kelly who chaired the QUB event, summed up his perspective perfectly: “Business should serve society, not the other way around.”
For me, I think the best way to look at social enterprise is as a bridge between the private, public and voluntary sectors, helping each to collaborate cohesively with one another. It’s a ‘missing link’ that could assist us in addressing socioeconomic issues of the day in a sustainable way, providing what’s been termed as ‘social value’.
Social enterprises have certainly found success in Northern Ireland over the last several years, contributing £625 million to the local economy in 2019 and £60 billion to the UK-wide economy each year. As of 2018, they now employ over 24,800 people across NI.
Often organisations will run a social enterprise and charity simultaneously, allowing it to help finance the charity and its services. Quite a few such social enterprises were present on the day, including:
– Orchardville: Through its coffee shop, Orchard Café, Business Centre, and Industrial Solutions site, Orchardville provides paid work opportunities to people with disabilities.
– High Rise: Recently launched by Employers for Childcare in Lisburn, it provides an indoor adventure centre for kids. It’s designed to be inclusive and accessible for individuals and families with additional needs.
– Queen’s University’s Enterprise and Innovation Programmes: QUB, now recognised as the UK’s leading university in the research commercialisation, laid out how it reinvests the university’s profits back into Enterprise Students’ Union (SU), which provides business advice and entrepreneurial direction for students and recent graduates.
Making a social impact
With a focus on stakeholders and not just shareholders, social enterprises show that profit isn’t a bad thing – it’s what you do with it that matters. If you’re in a job or working at an organisation which doesn’t consider beyond its ‘bottom line’, imagine how much better it’d be to start your working day knowing and seeing that what you do makes a tangible difference to the world around you? We can always use a bit more of that! Gradually, more corporate businesses are starting to think more socially. Here’s hoping it won’t be long until ‘social enterprise’ is just ‘enterprise’.
If you’re interested in finding out more about social enterprises or indeed starting your own, you may find the links below helpful:
British Council – Social Enterprise
