In class we had also been talking not just about entrepreneurs, but also a lot about social entrepreneurship. Many are still coming to terms as to what social entrepreneurship is. It has actually existed for a long time, even though people may not call it entrepreneurship (e.g. woman’s movement, civil rights movement etc). A Social Entrepreneur always has a social mission (to be motivated by something, to fix something that is not being met by other forces in the market, whether it be the private sector, the government etc). For a social entrepreneur there exists, constantly, a sense of social purpose. The function itself is an interesting space. The function tries to address the social issue by using market forces but they have their own middle space, so they have a little difficulty in running their businesses. However, there are certain difficulties associated with this.

These difficulties are:

– struggle with the financial side
– difficult to measure the value yielded/impact through social entrepreneurship, others can measure it by looking at profit but social entrepreneurs do not look at profit
– this is because it doesn’t happen now, or next year, it’s a long-term solution

Along with these difficulties, social entrepreneurs such as Mack McCarter (a social entrepreneur who is the founder of Community Renewal International, or CRI, which focuses on connecting ‘at-risk’ communities to resources, health care, and education) are some who definitely face these risks as funding is a big issue and profit (money coming in) is not the most prioritized need.

Along with such difficulties, social entrepreneurs such as Mack McCarter also have certain necessities to operate under this system of “looking for profit”.
Key Needs:

– More volunteers and staff
– New financial services
– More government involvement
– Better business skills

However, given the will and having a high need to make change in society, I believe this should be enough for people like McCarter to overcome these difficulties (by raising voice and hopefully attracting volunteers, some investors, and other necessary support). This is probably the reason why social entrepreneurship isn’t extinct, and is expanding amongst individuals more than ever before, because of the better platform these days, on which people can raise voice and execute effective change in reality.

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“Mack McCarter – The guy with the change.” CRI. Web. 25 Nov 2010.