Abstract

Social entrepreneurship is the use of the techniques by startup companies and other entrepreneurs to develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a variety of organizations with different sizes, aims, and beliefs. For-profit entrepreneurs typically measure performance using business metrics like profit, revenues and increases in stock prices, but social entrepreneurs are either non-profits or blend for-profit goals with generating a positive "return to society" and therefore must use different metrics. Social entrepreneurship typically attempts to further broad social, cultural, and environmental goals often associated with the voluntary sector in areas such as poverty alleviation, health care and community development. This article builds on the literature to define social entrepreneurship, discusses the boundaries of sociallyoriented entrepreneurial activities, and positions the social entrepreneur in the spectrum of entrepreneurship.

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