In defence of social enterprise

I read Iqbal Wahhab's article on the supposed death of social enterprise the other day. A piece that demands a response.

Firstly, to declare an interest, I am a director of several social enterprises and also involved in a local social enterprise network, so, clearly, I'm a flag-bearer for the idea. As I've argued many times, I think that businesses that create economic, environmental and social returns are better for the UK. 

Wahhab talks of there being no 'credible explanation' and no 'agreed definition' of the term social enterprise. Well there is clearly a credible explanation and as close as you can get to agreement on a definition. Two of the leading organizations in this debate - Social Enterprise Mark and Social Enterprise UK - have a virtually identical set of criteria to define a social enterprise. They can be found here and here. Spot the tiny difference. The Labour party is even proposing to legally define social enterprise if it wins power in 2015. Good luck with that.

Wahhab goes on to describe a failed social enterprise restaurant as if to highlight the flaws inherent in the concept of social enterprise itself. I find this a bizarre claim. Do we say that all private sector models are flawed because one business goes bust through selling a poor product or service? That is the nature of the market and social enterprises compete like any other business. I'm not sure we should decry an entire business sector because some firms make a loss or don't make huge profits. Many sectors work on tight margins.

To the 'social entrepreneur' Wahhab calls a boardroom beast: I say challenge him; ask for his socially entrepreneurial credentials. Just look at what happened when the Advertising Standards Authority investigated A4E for claiming they were a 'social purpose' organization.

Wahhab's final point, to claim that somehow social enterprises are not 'real' businesses is unnecessarily provocative. To argue that real businesses - I assume he means 'standard' private-profit making firms - can tackle society's problems lacks credibility. Are those the same real businesses that have driven the world to the brink of ecological disaster, that have screwed workers, that evade and avoid tax, that miss-sell time and time and time again?
So let us be pro-real-business. Be pro-business that achieves economic, social and environmental 'dividends'. Pro-business that treats staff fairly. Pro-business that creates wealth, prosperity and jobs for all; not a tiny minority. Pro-business that rewards success appropriately. Pro-business that makes a profit, makes it ethically and honestly and does something profoundly decent with that profit to help make the world a better place. You are more likely to find that those 'real' businesses will be social enterprises.

Don't get me wrong, there are brilliant private businesses that go further than greenwash and bolt-on CSR. However, I just do not believe that there are enough of these businesses that will 'own society's problems and fix them'.

The last five years has surely shown us that we need a new way of looking at business and how it can resolve the world's issues and yes, business can be a driving force for achieving positive change and doing great things to advance humanity.

Social Enterprise Festival November 2014

It’s that time of year again: the clocks go back, trick or treaters roam the streets, bonfire smoke gets in your eyes, and, oh yes, it’s time for Plymouth’s annual Social Enterprise Festival.

This year festivities run from 17^th to 21^st November and are held, as usual, during Global Entrepreneurship Week. The festival is hosted by Plymouth Social Enterprise Network and we are thrilled to be part of something happening all over the world where people will be celebrating the passion and inspiration behind business.

Our take on this is that we need to go a step further than ‘business as usual’. We want to see how we can harness the best of entrepreneurial thinking to tackle the world’s - and Plymouth’s - social, economic and environmental problems.

The week itself is packed full of thought-provoking and practical activities. We have secured some of the nation’s top social entrepreneurs to share their stories with us. People like Jenny Dawson of food business Rubies in the Rubble; Cecilia Crossley of children’s clothes firm From Babies with Love and Jess Smith from the ethical PR company Poached Creative. There are practical sessions on marketing and proving social impact. We will celebrate the rising stars of the social enterprise world in Plymouth. The CEO of Social Enterprise UK - Peter Holbrook - will talk to us about how the social economy is set to transform public policy. There will even be a ‘liveblog’ at Rumpus Cosy café on Derry’s Cross. This will all be served with a hearty dose of social enterprise beer, bread and chocolate.

The festival is made even more special by the fact that Plymouth is the world’s first and finest Social Enterprise City. We want to celebrate this and also to explore what’s next. We want to see how social enterprises can be more influential in the economy of our city and how they can solve the big issues of today. Let’s not forget that social enterprise in Plymouth is already big business - PSEN members have a combined turnover of half-a-billion pounds and employ 7,000 people.

This is also the last festival before the next round of political elections in May 2015. If you want to influence the people who will be shaping economic and social policy for the next five years please come along and share your opinions.

Information about all the events can be found at www.socentcity.com.