Sunday 26 May 2019

The difference between social and sustainable entrepreneurship: a note

What is the difference between social and sustainable entrepreneurship? Via some Internet searching, I find this explanation on the question acceptable:

Quote [begin]: 
"“Is a venture that offers dry-cleaning services using environmentally friendly processes and cleaning products a social venture?”

The answer lies in this enterprise’s mission. If this dry cleaner is “green” because she has recognized a market niche catering to people who value the environment and her goal is profit, then hers is not a social enterprise; although, it may be a sustainable business. If, on the other hand, the entrepreneur is focused on environmental sustainability, and profit is secondary and a means to growing and sustaining that mission, this business is a social enterprise.

Quote [end].



Basic definitions of terms:

On social entrepreneurship: "Social entrepreneurship is, at its most basic level, doing business for a social cause. It might also be referred to as altruistic entrepreneurship.
Social entrepreneurs combine commerce and social issues in a way that improves the lives of people connected to the cause. They don’t measure their success in terms of profit alone – success to social entrepreneurs means that they have improved the world, however they define that" (source: https://www.shopify.com/encyclopedia/social-entrepreneurship).

On sustainable entrepreneurship: "Sustainable entrepreneurship refers to the discovery, creation, and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities that contribute to sustainability by generating social and environmental gains for others in society (Hockerts and Wüstenhagen, 2010; Pacheco et al., 2010; Shepherd and Patzelt, 2011)" (source: https://www.rug.nl/cf/pdfs/cse/wps6_angela.pdf).

On sustainability: "Sustainability is the process of people maintaining change in a balanced environment, in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations.[1] For many in the field, sustainability is defined through the following interconnected domains or pillars: environment, economic and social, which according to Fritjof Capra[2] is based on the principles of Systems Thinking" (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability).

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