Recently the topic of social enterprise came up in class. One of the main examples of a social enterprise that we were provided with was Save on Meats, a Vancouver based business on the Downtown Eastside. Save on Meats is defined as an invaluable asset for the City of Vancouver as it provides jobs for many people who struggle with employment barriers. Save on meats helps the community in which it operates not only by providing people with jobs, but also providing a meal service for 450+ people every day.
Save on Meats is a business that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in the social well being of the people on the DTES. It is not a business that is purely concerned with maximizing profit, and therefore it is in fact a social enterprise.
Throughout my life I have always been conscious about the less fortunate and I believe that starting a social enterprise would be a fantastic way to better the lives of the those who aren’t as lucky as us.