What is a social enterprise?
FAQs answered

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We know that the world of social enterprise can be a little confusing sometimes, and you may have already purchased from one without even being aware of it! But this is where we can help. It is our mission here at Social Stories Club to raise awareness about social enterprise and share the amazing stories of our social venture partners, and so in this blog post, we take a look at some of the top FAQs on the subject and break it down for you. 

What is a social enterprise?

Simply put, social enterprises are businesses that are led by their social impact and are changing the world for the better. Similar to a traditional business they aim to make a profit by selling goods or services but it’s how they work and what they do with their profits that sets social enterprises apart. 

How do they work?

Social enterprises use their profits to change people’s lives by tackling social problems, improving communities or the environment. They can do this in many different ways such as creating jobs for those with barriers to employment, reinvesting in community projects, protecting the environment or reducing waste from their business practices and product creation.

What's the difference between a social enterprise vs a non-profit?

Both nonprofits and social enterprises share an objective – to make a positive impact to a particular cause. However, the key difference between the two is that nonprofits often fund their work through donations and fundraising whereas social enterprises sell products or services in order to reinvest their profits.

What is a social enterprise example?

Social enterprises operate in a wide range of industries – from consumer goods to healthcare and each will have their own social or environmental mission. Some well-known examples of social enterprise include The Big Issue, The Eden Project, Divine Chocolate and not forgetting yours truly Social Stories Club! Social Stories Club are a sustainable corporate gifting company make sustainable gift hampers for corporates.

Did you know? There are currently over 100,000 social enterprises across the UK contributing £60 billion to the economy and employing 2 million people.

What is the Social Stories Club mission?

Our mission through our sustainable corporate gifts is to introduce you to the world of social enterprises and their amazing stories through our gift boxes. Each of the amazing products inside a Social Stories Club gift box is made by a social venture business and supports a different social cause.

To date, we have supported over 30 social ventures, invested £390,000 in the social enterprise economy and provided over 5,500 hours of employment to individuals with barriers to employment. But we are not stopping there, we have big goals here at Social Stories Club, we envision a future where every single purchase benefits a social cause. 

How can I as a consumer make a difference?

The biggest impact you can make as a consumer is to buy from these wonderful social enterprises whenever you can. We can also highly recommend Social Enterprise UK and their Buy Social campaign as a fantastic resource for learning more about social ventures and the positive impact they can have on our planet. By gifting a Social Stories Club sustainable gift box you are introducing someone to the world of social enterprise where they can read the social stories behind each of the products. 

We hope you found this blog post on social enterprise helpful but if you have any more questions please do reach out to us at info@socialstoriesclub.com You can also read more about Social Stories Club impact through our Impact Report on our website.

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