There are oodles of articles in the related press about the purpose of social enterprise. Each one confuses me afresh and I’ve decided that my conclusion is to sit on the fence. There’s no doubt that we’ve got to be at least solvent to exist. And we’ve got to exist if we’re going to have social impact. It’s making social impact pay that’s the hard bit. I increasingly wonder if the broad spectrum of social enterprises is being reflected in these articles. I have maintained for a while that like every sector, social enterprises are a broad church. Some, like ours, sell services mostly to local government (cash-strapped) customers. Others, like Innocent Smoothies, sell healthy drinks to the general public. Which of us most depends on profit? Personally I struggle with the concept of ‘social enterprise’ and having shareholders. Is it ever transparent to have a proportion of your profit going to private individuals? Here at Your Own Place 100% of our profit goes back into adding value and opportunities to our interventions. Will that be the case when we grow? You’ll have to wait and see.
