What is a Social Business

Social enterprise 

A business with primarily social objectives. Profit is mostly reinvested in the business or in the community, rather than maximising profit for shareholders and owners. A Community Enterprise is also a type of social enterprise company owned and run by a geographical community or a community of shared interest. 

Co-operative business

An autonomous association of persons united in a jointly-owned and democratically controlled enterprise (International Co-operative Alliance definition). They work voluntarily to meet common economic, social and cultural needs. A co-operative business can be split in many sub-categories:

• Worker co-operatives are owned and run by their workers
• Housing co-operatives are owned and run by their tenants
• Consumer co-operatives are owned and run by its customers
• Co-operative consortia are owned and run by other businesses using the services of the enterprise
• Multi-stakeholder co-operatives can be a mixture of any or all of the above

Other types of social enterprises

Community Land Trust - an organisation created to hold land as an asset for community use.
Credit Union - a non-profit financial institution owned and operated entirely by its members.
Development Trust – a community-based enterprise that secures and manages community assets.
Social Firm – a business committed to creating employment and training opportunities for people furthest from the labour market.

Once you are confident that you have a viable business proposition and the people needed to execute it, you are in a position to start your social business.

The next stage is to begin putting together your business plan.  This master plan will outline the structure and governance of your enterprise in clear, concise terms while also showcasing the social purpose or social return as an additional feature.



Your business plan will also include financial projections and proposed options for start-up finance, as well as an outline of how you plan to manage both projects and employee relations.

Once you’ve completed your business plan, you will be ready to run a social business.