July 24, 2022- Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise

The social entrepreneurship that I am focusing on is Straightforward Consulting founded by Leigh Solomon Pugliano. The company works to create improved working conditions in organizations by increasing productivity and overall health of the organization. They are devoted to using different tactics such as strategic planning, leadership development, and community engagement to improve in creating great places to work. A big advantage of this company is their work is universal for all businesses. Their work can be applied in all organizations looking to create a better workplace, not just in one specific target market such as a finance company or a restaurant. Their opportunity of expansion is high in the aspect of potential clients because that includes every type of organization where there are employees. A disadvantage of the company is that their income is project based. At some points they may receive business from a multitude of organizations, but since the service is a start and stop the company needs to be constantly looking for other organizations. The service is not an ongoing activity, so there isn’t a constant stream of revenue. The incentive to come back after they maximized all their services in your organization seems small. 

One of the most interesting examples of a social enterprise that I have found is the One World Football Project. The organization will donate a soccer ball to people that live in harsh conditions that don’t always have durable toys for every soccer ball that is purchased. The soccer ball is meant to be able to be indestructible, making it very useful for those in impoverished places where regular soccer balls would pop instantly. The organization creates value by allowing customers to purchase a soccer ball for their own recreational use, and they have a great social mission of donating a soccer ball to children without toys. The children are able to use a real soccer ball to play instead of being forced to make their own soccer ball out of anything they find, such as trash, like many of them do. The big disadvantage for this company is the price that is being charged for these soccer balls. On their website it only gives an option to buy in bulk. The bulk amount starts at 2,200 soccer balls at $19 per which is approximately $42,000, an unrealistic price for the everyday buyer. The balls are available on Amazon for $65, very expensive for a soccer ball for the everyday user. On Amazon they also don’t promise to donate a ball for every purchase, but instead say they will donate a fraction of the cost to donating play equipment to kids in need. The clear advantage of the organization is that they are giving back to communities in need through every purchase. This promotes people to give back while also receiving value of their own from the organization in the form of a unique indestructible soccer ball. 

I think social enterprise is the more interesting and relevant model. The idea of sharing value with the customers, and creating a social mission is very important in a developing world. It allows people with money/buying power to support people that they otherwise would not support if an item or service was not offered at the time. The finance aspect of the social enterprise is also very interesting because you have to allocate for 2 products in your sales because in most models you are giving one product away and selling one to the customer. Making a sustainable profit and keeping wages and other expenses would be interesting to manage in those organizations.