We said earlier in the video that the main objective of social enterprises is to create social value. Let's look at an example like the social enterprise Refuge Hot Chocolate. We can see that it states it exists ‘not only to make the best hot chocolate in the world, but also to help give people a brighter future through donating proceeds to Flourish — an anti-human trafficking charity.’ You can see there is both trade and a focus on their mission to stop human trafficking.

Across the globe, people are realising that they aren’t content with only making money through the work they do. They want to contribute and make a difference to the world through doing business in a more sustainable way. There are opportunities to do this because traditional business models are failing to deliver positive social and environmental change. Some traditional businesses create problems such as deforestation, and pollution, taking jobs and resources away from local communities, pushing down supply prices in an unsustainable way and depleting resources.

Often governments, corporations and other non-profits aren’t coming up with solutions to social and environmental problems either — though, in recent years, social enterprise has received growing support from governments and local councils. In 2019 the Irish government published its National Social Enterprise Policy, demonstrating that it sees social enterprise as an important and growing part of the economy. There are also dedicated staff employed at the local and Government levels who support social enterprise. In Ireland there are also an increasing number of organisations that support social enterprises to start up, grow and develop through training and funding.

A social enterprise most commonly starts as a passion project or comes from an idea that figures a better way of doing something — so they're often innovative and respond to an observed need. Many social entrepreneurs have had lived experiences of issues such as mental/physical health, abuse, addiction or marginalisation, and through their experiences, have identified a lack in service provision. 

Social enterprises are known for delivering personalised services to marginalised individuals. They consider barriers that may make services inaccessible for people considered more vulnerable within society. Because of their grassroots nature, they tend to have positive relationships with their beneficiaries.

There is also a growing desire from consumers for products and services to be created and delivered ethically and sustainably. There is a huge rise in businesses that demonstrate transparency in how their products are made and how their profits are used to benefit or add value to communities or the environment — this is known as their social impact.