What is a Social Enterprise?
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These are businesses that aim not only to make money, but also to have a positive effect on the communities in which they operate, the people with whom they work and their own employees.  Financial success is still important.  For them to achieve their aims they need to be secure financially, and to grow - it's just that income generated by the business is used to achieve its social goals, rather than being an end in itself.  Social enterprises exist and compete in all sectors of the economy, and they are a growing force.  They take many different forms but share the common purpose of social and economic success.  Different types of social enterprises might be:

 •   Community businesses (run by and for a particular community) for example a community business might provide a much-needed facility such as a shop, social centre, or nursery.
 •   Co-operatives (businesses that are owned and run by a group of people for the benefit of their members) - co-ops operate across all commercial activity sectors and range from several thousand members to fewer than ten.
 •   Development Trusts (community based and owned regeneration enterprises) - these organisations develop physical assets such as buildings or open spaces and run them for community benefit.
 •   Social Firms (businesses that have a significant number of employees with a disability) - these can provide a good alternative option for people who would find it difficult to enter the general employment market.

Whilst many social enterprises have a single stated social purpose, they also tend to bring wider benefits such as creating local good quality employment, keeping money in the local community, and providing an alternative business model.  What they have in common are the values, which underpin them.  They exist not just to make a profit, but to make a difference, in the way that they are managed, in the way they work with their community and in the way that they do business.

For further information see: http://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_enterprise