Some ways to get started as a social entrepreneur

23.06.11

"I feel that the recession has actually resulted in more people taking interest in investing in companies that do the right thing from the start," said Wes Selke, director of investment capital good, a social impact venture capital firm in San Francisco. As one indicator, at least three social impact of the funds have raised more than $ 100 million over the last two years: IGNIA Fund, and Leapfrog Investments MicroVest.

Marrying the mission and money in a business can be tricky.This guide focuses on commercial, profit-oriented enterprises and entrepreneurs who want to build autonomous social enterprises, a term that includes non-profits and for-profit and some new types of hybrid legal, as an L3C, which guarantees low-profit limited liability company. These companies are generally regarded as the businesses that serve a so-called triple bottom line: people, planet and profits.

At a social enterprise, social mission should be at least as important as the mission of the money-making.For example, the tobacco giant Philip Morris does not pass the test, even if it gives generously to artistic and social causes. But a company that meets challenging socio-economic or environmental in its DNA - for example by selling low-cost solar lanterns in villages without electricity - would be considered a social enterprise , according to Deb Nelson, executive director of Social Venture Network, an organization of some 500 officers, company founders, executives and investors, non-profit.

For those seeking to launch such projects, social entrepreneurs and offer investors the following pointers.

It's OK to MAKE MONEY If you choose the model for profit, stick to it - no excuses. A few years ago, Assaf Shafran founded a nonprofit that has offered Israel a smartphone based on sending first responders such as firefighters and emergency medical technicians.

Source: Spartanburg Herald Journal