Social enterprises create social value through their operations. Social value is the final output of the operational processes of social enterprises.
Similarly, in the case of companies, the value generated represents a solution that meets customers’ needs, which can be a product or a service. However, the difference is that in the case of social enterprises, besides the paying customer, there is also a beneficiary who is the actual and direct user of the value.
Why is the generated value socially significant? Because it has social benefits. It responds to social challenges and addresses the problems of social groups by providing possible alternative solutions.
It is important that the social entrepreneur keeps in mind the dual objective, meaning that they should have appropriate financial goals alongside the social objectives, which will enable the organization to finance social solutions.
This value can take many forms; consider products or services in various sectors. For example, in healthcare, it could be a tool or book that helps develop disadvantaged youth. It could be a restaurant that employs people with disabilities. In education, it could be a service that promotes the socialization of state-cared youth through sports.
After creating social value, it is worth defining the social impacts we aim to achieve with it. After determining the impacts, they also need to be measured to receive feedback on the organization’s operations.
When defining outputs, it is advisable to also define the direct and indirect social impacts, both short-term and long-term, associated with the outputs, as well as the risk factors that may affect the creation of these outputs. It is important to have a management plan for potential risks.
If, for example, we produce a book, what impact might it have on the target group and the stakeholders associated with the target group? How significant is this impact, and how can it be measured? What does this mean for a portion of society or even for society as a whole?
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The goal of the Envienta Peer School series is to showcase social actors working towards regenerative development goals.
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