Ever thought that entrepreneurship isn’t for you because your primary interest is not making (lots of) money? In this review we focus on resources that aim to stimulate researchers to consider social entrepreneurship as an outlet for their skills and qualities. Maybe running a social enterprise will hold a promising career for you?
Social enterprises come in various shapes and sizes, but share a common purpose of adding social or environmental value. They reinvest the profits instead of trying to maximise profit for the owners. The reviewed resources are accessible via Vitae’s website, but are an outcome of collaborative work between this organisation and the University of the West of England. Dr Paul Spencer (Researcher Skills Development Officer, University of the West of England) describes the commonality between social entrepreneurs and academic researchers as follows: ‘… the people behind social enterprises are passionate about solving problems and making a difference to society. It is this that drives them to succeed rather than being motivated by generating personal wealth and researchers tend to share this same motivation.’
The collaboration has produced several types of resources, including videos of interviews with successful social entrepreneurs. These come in two series: a broad overview that includes interviews of entrepreneurs talking about their work and motivations; and a more detailed case study of the social enterprise producing a product named Ketso. One of the more general videos, “What is Social Enterprise” can be found in this post [below] the rest are available here.
The more general interviews could be interesting for PGR students unfamiliar with social entrepreneurship. The Ketso case study is more suitable for those considering starting a social enterprise and looking to see which issues they might have to take into account. One of the strengths of the videos in general, and of the Ketso footage in particular, is that the relationship between the skills you acquire as an academic researcher and those qualities that may be needed to succeed as a successful social entrepreneur is addressed explicitly.
On the down side, I’m afraid that the resources do not suffice as a main source of information for those looking into practical advice about setting up a social enterprise. Many interviewees make remarks about things you should do, like acquiring specific skills or finding funding, but they are not explicit about how you could do this. A relatively easy solution to this issue would have been to add a few external links – for example the ones at the end of this article – to the webpage. However, on the whole I find the production of these resources by Vitae and the University of the West of England a welcome initiative that certainly holds some useful information and inspiration for PGR students.
Review by Ellen Van Reuler
Useful Links:
Vitae Social Enterprise webpage
Business Link on how to set up a social enterprise
Setas (Social Enterprise Training and Support)
Filed under: Issue 21 Tagged: | Beyond the PhD, development, enterprise, entrepreneurial skills, Vitae
[...] editor Ellen Van Reuler reviewed resources available to those interested in Social Enterpriserather than big [...]