Member Article

Social Entrepreneurs call for Greater Recognition

• Global Entrepreneurship Week sees UnLtd launch strategy
• Mainstream enterprise support agencies recognise need to support social ventures

More than nine in 10 (94%)[1] people running a social venture feel they should be recognised as serious businesses for good, according to a new poll from UnLtd, the foundation for social entrepreneurs, as the organisation unveils a new strategic direction.

In the survey of entrepreneurs running a social venture, just one in seven (15%) felt that the public could identify social entrepreneurs in their community. More than eight in ten (87%) felt social entrepreneurship needed to be better understood by the public. Six in ten (63%) felt the barriers they face undermined their potential to do good.

Specific challenges cited by social entrepreneurs include finding sustainable revenue streams (71%), getting access to the right kind of finance (60%) and making a living from their social venture (71%).

Mainstream enterprise support agencies are recognising the need to provide support for social ventures. Research conducted by UnLtd in partnership with the National Enterprise Network reported that 27% of their clients were starting or already running a business with a social, environmental or community objective. In London it was as high as 43%.

Director of Strategy Katharine Danton explains,

“We are seeing a surge in the number of people stepping up with entrepreneurial solutions to social problems. But the reality is it’s still very difficult for social entrepreneurs to maximise their social impact.

“Social entrepreneurs need customers, staff, buyers, lawyers, parents, indeed people from every corner of society to back them – they need to go mainstream. Our new strategy is focused on using all of our insight into what works to break down the barriers faced by social entrepreneurs.

“We believe that by Going Mainstream, many more social entrepreneurs will be able to reach their potential to create serious social impact.”

UnLtd, which offers support and funding to early-stage social entrepreneurs, today unveiled its new strategy ‘Going mainstream: how can social entrepreneurship break through?’, which will see it increase its focus finding ways to break down the barriers faced by social entrepreneurs, helping them to become a valued and vibrant part of society.

By helping them to break through into the mainstream, UnLtd believes many more social entrepreneurs will be able to reach their potential to create serious social impact, for the benefit of all.

To read UnLtd’s new strategy in full, visit http://unltd.org.uk/strategy

[1] UnLtd Research Opinion1 Poll November 2015 Base: 443 social entrepreneurs

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by UnLtd .