An example of social entrepreneurship is FIGS, a company that makes scrubs for medical professionals. While they are primarily a business, they make sure to source all fabrics ethically. The company also has a program called ‘threads for threads’ which they have been operating since their company was founded. The program donates its scrubs and other medical apparel to medical professionals in underprivileged countries to show their support and offset costs for resource-poor hospitals. FIGS was founded as a business that strives for profit, yet its donation program is a separate undertaking by the company that is solely to benefit society and does not increase profit.

Goodwill Industries, a non-profit organization, is an example of a social enterprise because its main goal is contributing to the community. Goodwill’s business model consists of the thousands of second-hand clothing stores they own around the world. Clothes are donated to these stores and are then sold for a discounted price to those who cannot afford new clothes. Goodwill also employs people with disabilities and felons, who have trouble finding jobs due to their circumstances. Goodwill’s revenue goes to paying its employees.

Social entrepreneurship is the most intriguing to me because it means companies that were founded with the goal of making a profit decide to spend to better the community. Companies occasionally use this as a tactic to brand themselves to potential customers who care about their causes. As a marketing major, that is very interesting to me.