Half of businesses people are as driven by a desire to improve society as by profit, says a new report.
And, according to the report compiled by Delta Economics and IFF Research, the number of social enterprises – those whose primary goal is to be an ethical business and whose profits are reinvested towards achieving that aim rather than given to shareholders or owners – in the UK could be four times higher than official figures indicate.
The government classes only 61,800 of the country’s 4.5 million businesses as social enterprises, but the report found that one in five (21%) of companies it interviewed could be classified as such, meaning that there could be 232,000 social enterprises operating in the UK.
Half of entrepreneurs questioned in the survey said improving society was a primary motivation.
Rebecca Harding, managing director of Delta Economics, believes that, contrary to what many think, the pursuit of profit and a desire to help people and society do not have to be mutually exclusive goals.
“Hidden Social Enterprises have wealth and value creation potential that is similar to mainstream businesses – there is no need to compromise growth or profitability for the sake of doing something to make a difference,” she insists. “Entrepreneurs really are the world’s change agents.”
