Social Enterprise works primarily to support local communities grow and flourish, and often starts with a desire to make the community a better place to live. It comes in a variety of legal forms: charitiy, public sector or profit-making, but all have in common a social or environmental mission. The aim is to improve people's lives by creating jobs, offering education and training, selling needed goods, cleaning and protecting the environment, or giving advice about civil rights.

 

Their leaders need to be commercially smart and profit-focused regardless of legal form. This enables them to survive long-term and make enough money to reinvest in the business as well as pay its regular bills. These owners further gain by producing income, having pride of ownership, and working for themselves.

 

Vision in Practice Ltd is a member of Social Enterprise UK, the national membership body for business with a social or environmental mission. Our focus is financial inclusion and we believe this is a basic right. Our social enterprise activities include teaching the basics of starting a business, advising mainstream bankers and insurers about creating value through microfinance, and encouraging the very poor to have an empowered mindset.

 

Money talks and its owners have a voice.
 
Additional resources and information is available from Social Enterprise UK.