Skip to content
Social Entrepreneurship

Social Entrepreneurship:

Where Commerce Meets Community

 

Sam Viggiani cares about his business.

I could hear it in the tone of his voice. When talking about his landscaping business, Sam was confident and self-assured. He knew the business, his customers, and his employees well. While physically demanding the work they did had a visible impact on the community.

He’s passionate also. About helping those in need.

His tone shifted when he spoke about giving 5% of his topline revenue to help a local non-profit dedicated to serving school age students in need (The Spot). And he has plans to help more. He has even gone so far as to legally bind his company to include this type of giving.

This is the mindset of a Social Entrepreneur.

A Social Entrepreneur, as defined by Oxford Languages, is “a person who establishes an enterprise with the aim of solving social problems or effecting social change.

Some of these ventures are based completely around solving social issues, such as a for profit company providing banking and financing in emerging economies. Others, such as Sam’s landscaping company, Uber Lawn & Landscape, are regular businesses which have taken on a cause and made the support of it a part of their business.

We often think of Non-Profits as the darlings of social and societal support. Most non-profits are heavily reliant on outside funding and grants to sustain themselves.

Social Entrepreneurship sheds many of these limitations as the amount that they can pour back into the community is directly related to how well they can provide tangible commercial value to the community. By doing business well, they can make a bigger impact.

A famous example of this is the shoe brand Toms. For every pair of shoes sold, they donate a pair to someone in need. This not only has a net positive impact on the world, but it has a positive impact on the person purchasing the product. The buyer gets to feel like they were a part of something bigger than themselves.

That’s an intangible and hard to measure benefit that social entrepreneurship provides. The people that buy a product or service feel like they are making the world a better place, not adding a fifth motor to a CEO’s mega-yacht.

Many businesses today support charities in their local communities. What separates this type of giving from social entrepreneurship is purpose and marketing.

Having a deeper purpose, particularly one that aligns with your product offering, helps to build two brands - yours and that of the recipient organization. The story that ties it all together is the marketing.

When I asked how other business owners can help, Sam gave this parting advice: “Start small. [You] don’t have to write large checks to be giving back and making a difference.”

We can all make a difference. Give a small cash donation, a share of your time, or mobilize your employees to help in areas of need.

Your community, your customers, your employees, and your business will be all the better for it.

 

-AB

Virtual Meetings Done Well

By Andrew Biernat | April 7, 2022

Virtual Meetings Done Well Zoom fatigue. It’s become a real thing. I can remember a Simpsons episode from my childhood where Homer got a new fangled wall phone that had a video screen in it. At the time I thought it was preposterous and that there was no way we’d ever be able to talk…

Emergency Rebrand

By Andrew Biernat | March 17, 2022

Emergency Rebrand Six weeks. That’s how long it took to bring two businesses together and create a new brand. One of our Board members, Abbey Friend-Vienna from the Friend Team, said “If you can pull this off in six weeks, you need to open a marketing company!” While we won’t be creating a marketing company,…

Benefits of the Black Death

By Andrew Biernat | February 17, 2022

Benefits of the Black Death This article is not about Covid-19. This is about the bacteria Yersinia Pestis, also known as the Plague/Black Death and its effect on wages, rights, and innovation. In 14th century Europe, the majority of the population was made up of peasants. Many were relegated to working as tenant farmers, or…

The Grit Myth

By Andrew Biernat | January 24, 2022

The Grit Myth At a glance you can tell certain people have a strong personal brand. With shined shoes, a crisp bowtie, and a smile worthy of a toothpaste commercial, it’s obvious Michael Mills has put thought and time into his presentation. And he makes it look effortless. That’s exactly the feeling you want to…

Remote, or Not Remote, is That Even the Right Question?

By Andrew Biernat | December 14, 2021

Remote, or Not Remote, is That Even the Right Question?   I opened a letter recently that looked like a routine address update. The following line caught my attention: Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past year and a half, you’ve undoubtedly been inundated with news articles, data, and rampant speculation about the…

Networking Doesn’t Have to Be Hard!

By Andrew Biernat | December 2, 2021

Networking Doesn’t Have to be Hard!   “It’s all about who you know.”    ∙   “Your network is your net worth.”    ∙   “Six degrees of separation.”     We recognize that people who are well connected tend to have better opportunities than those who are not. We understand that relationships are at the core of the…

The Real MVP of Business

By Andrew Biernat | November 16, 2021

The Real MVP of Business In sports, the term MVP refers to a team or organization’s “Most Valuable Player.” That person of unique talent and ability that helps to elevate the team and can be counted on when the game is on the line. Whether you’re new to business or a seasoned veteran, having a…

Something Old, Something New

By Andrew Biernat | November 2, 2021

Something Old, Something New Dark, dingy, and crowded. Overworked managers attempted to navigate a deluge of tasks with a skeleton crew. In these neighborhoods it was wise to make myself scarce after sunset. That was my life as I went from back room to back room, a salesman slinging soda. I remember meeting a chain…

Where Have All the Workers Gone?!

Where Have All the Workers Gone?!

By Andrew Biernat | October 18, 2021

Our People Where Have All the Workers Gone?! Colleen Stalker’s exasperation echoed through the phone and joined the nationwide refrain: As the Branch Manager of the Canandaigua Adecco, Colleen has felt the absence of workers more acutely than most. She connects employees to employers. In any given week she has less than fifteen qualified employees…

Scroll To Top