This discussion site suggests that social entrepreneurs are more afraid of failure compared to traditional profit seeking entrepreneurs. I can’t say I agree with this idea, because I think social entrepreneurs face a different kind of failure. As we learned in class, social entrepreneurs do not set out to make a profit for themselves, instead they are trying to fix a problem for society. So for them, failure is not just a financial deficit. They have a lot more at stake because their success or failure can directly impact their beloved society. So it is understandable that social entrepreneurs are sometimes not as daring as traditional businesses because sometimes they simply cannot afford to fail.
When a business fails, the entrepreneur behind it can still use their remaining capital and start another business. However, it is much more difficult for a social entrepreneur to ‘restart’. They usually do not have the capital that a traditional entrepreneur has, and it is much more difficult to take on a problem in the society compared to opening a new business. Repeated failures in social enterprise leave many unsolved problems that will only get worse with time. This is why it is crucial for social entrepreneurs to get it right the first time, because unlike money, society cannot be recycled.