Business plan for a social enterprise. Social projects

The central link in organizing any business, as is known, is planning. According to Popov V.M., Lyapunov S.I. and Kasatkin A.A., a business plan is a document that describes the main sections of the development of an enterprise, taking into account material and personnel capabilities, the ratio of own and borrowed funds, as well as possible risks.

A business plan analyzes the problems that an enterprise may encounter and determines ways to solve them. In this sense, this document acts as a research and design work.

Who are business plans for? For internal and external users. If we are talking about a traditional commercial enterprise, potential investors or business partners need a business plan to assess financial and economic efficiency. They need to understand how long it will take to expect a return on the money invested in the project. If we are talking about a social enterprise, then an important point for investors is social efficiency. In any case, a business plan, among other things, serves as a tool for solving an important task - to attract the attention of a potential investor and arouse maximum interest in the project under consideration. Therefore, the business plan must be presented in a favorable light.

For internal users, the situation is somewhat different, since it is necessary to present not only the strengths of the project, but also the weaknesses. We understand that the business plan will be used as a management tool. Therefore, it is necessary to highlight the following important points:

1. determine the main activities of the enterprise, its target markets and target audience;
2. describe the short-term and long-term goals of the project, ways and means of achieving them, as well as appoint persons responsible for the implementation of the project at all its levels;
3. draw up a range of finished products that will be supplied to the market, estimate variable and fixed production costs, as well as commercial and administrative costs;
4. compile a list of key production workers, as well as administrative personnel;
5. compile an overview of marketing activities for creating a customer base, pricing, market and competitor analysis, sales promotion, and so on;
6. optimize the organizational management structure;
7. assess the financial position of the enterprise and the compliance of available financial and material resources to achieve its goals;
8. identify market, technological, organizational risks. Suggest measures to prevent or avoid them.

The value of a business plan lies in its ability to determine the viability of the company.

Drawing up a business plan is a creative process. Its structure is determined based on the characteristics of the planned enterprise. Thus, Lyubanova T. P., Myasoedova L. V., Gramotenko T. A. propose the following structure of a business plan:

1. resume;
2. project idea;
3. organizational plan;
4. marketing strategy;
5. production plan;
6. financial plan;
7. risk assessment;
8. assessment of project effectiveness.

What are the specifics of a social enterprise business plan? Firstly, in the structure of the business plan: it is necessary to add an assessment of the social effectiveness of the project. Secondly, in the content of the business plan sections, they are carried out with an emphasis on social aspects. As methodological recommendations when creating a business plan for a social enterprise, we relied on the instructions of the Our Future Foundation. So, the content of a social enterprise business plan is as follows:

1. Summary. The executive summary is a brief overview of the business plan and contains the main points of the entire document. Taking into account the specifics of the enterprise, it is necessary to add quantitative and qualitative indicators of the social effectiveness of the project to the standard set of brief information about the project: how many employees will be involved; how many of them are representatives of a social group; the number of people included in the target social group to whom products/services will be sold; the share of such products/services in the total sales volume of the enterprise.
2. Project idea. In this section, it is necessary to formulate the essence of the proposed business idea with an emphasis on its social aspects, uniqueness, and innovation.
3. Marketing strategy. If your social business model involves selling goods/providing services for a social group of the population, you need to pay special attention to the description of this group.
4. Production plan. It is compiled as for all other enterprises.
5. The organizational plan is no different.
6. Financial plan. It should be noted that a similar enterprise that would be engaged only in commercial activities, other things being equal, would have different cash flows.
7. Risks. Market, organizational and technical.
8. Social effect. It is necessary to describe what needs of a social group the product/service produced satisfies. Characteristics of the free products provided in quantitative terms. Estimate the number of people in a social group.
9. Economic effect.

To calculate the assessment of economic efficiency, there are methodological recommendations for assessing the effectiveness of investment projects. Let's look at important project performance indicators.

1. Net present value - NPV. The NPV calculation allows you to evaluate the effectiveness of an investment project and shows an assessment of the effect of the investment given to the present moment in time, taking into account the different time value of money. If the net present value is greater than 0, then the investment is economically efficient, and if the NPV is less than 0, then the investment is economically unprofitable.

Cash flow in t years;

Initial investment;

r- discount rate.

3. Profitability index - PI. It reflects the level of income per 1 unit of cost. The required level is greater than one. Calculated using the following formula:

4. Payback period of the investment project. As the name suggests, this is the time required to recoup the initial costs of the project. Calculated using the formula:

5. The discounted payback period is the time during which the initial costs of the project, expressed in current value, will be repaid. To calculate DPP the following formula should be used:

Now that we understand what a social enterprise is, its features, as well as the specifics of business planning for such enterprises, we can move on to the business plan itself.

Social entrepreneurship is a new direction of government support for business. Creating a business plan for social entrepreneurship has its own significant specifics. In order to understand the specifics of writing a business plan for social entrepreneurship, it is necessary to define the terms.

What is social entrepreneurship?

In the Grant Support Regulations you can find the following definition:

Social entrepreneurship is a socially oriented activity of small businesses aimed at achieving socially beneficial goals, including providing employment, providing support to the disabled, elderly citizens and people in difficult life situations.

Creating a business plan for social entrepreneurship has its own specifics. In order to write a competent business plan for social entrepreneurship that can win a grant, it is better to turn to specialists.

Examples of activities related to social entrepreneurship

A social entrepreneurship entity operates in the following areas of activity:

— assistance in vocational guidance and employment for persons belonging to socially disadvantaged groups of citizens;

— social services for persons belonging to socially vulnerable groups of citizens, conducting classes in children's and youth circles, sections, studios, activities of preschool educational organizations, provision of paid services for babysitting children and the sick;

— organization of social tourism in terms of excursion and educational tours for persons belonging to socially vulnerable groups of citizens;

— providing assistance to victims of natural disasters, refugees and internally displaced persons;

— production and sale of medical equipment, prosthetic and orthopedic products, as well as technical means that can be used exclusively for the prevention of disability or rehabilitation of disabled people;

— provision of cultural and educational activities (museums, theaters, school studios, musical institutions, creative workshops);

— provision of educational services to persons belonging to socially vulnerable groups of citizens;

— promoting the involvement in socially active activities of persons belonging to socially vulnerable groups of citizens, as well as persons released from prison for 2 years and persons suffering from drug addiction and alcoholism.

Conclusion: to put it briefly, social business is aimed at: serving the disabled, pensioners, children, people released from prison. All these groups of people belong to socially vulnerable groups of citizens.

Features of writing a business plan for social entrepreneurship

If you are applying for a social entrepreneurship grant, then the main task of the business plan is to prove that your project can be classified as social entrepreneurship.

To do this you need:

1) Justify the classification of the type of activity that you plan to engage in as social entrepreneurship. To do this, it is necessary to clearly show in your business plan that the activities of your project are aimed at providing services (assistance) to citizens belonging to socially vulnerable categories. A win-win option – services for the disabled. Also, classification as a social activity can be justified by:

— education and childcare (especially for large or disadvantaged families);

— care for pensioners;

— providing assistance to victims (those in need)

2) In a business plan, it is better to devote an entire chapter to a detailed description of the social activities. Typically, such a chapter in the structure of a business plan is placed after the description of the production part. It is also necessary to highlight a separate sub-item in the project summary. The title of the chapter can be, for example, “social orientation of the project” or “social significance of the project.”

3) The parameters of project effectiveness when writing a business plan for social entrepreneurship fade into the background. No one expects a quick payback or large cash flow from socially-oriented projects. Social significance comes first in the description.

Grant amount for social entrepreneurship projects

The amount of grant support for socially significant projects can be 2-3 times higher than grants for projects that do not have a social focus.

The maximum grant amount for social projects can start from 600.0 thousand rubles per recipient of support.

Example of a business plan summary structure for social entrepreneurship

For understanding, here is a typical structure of a business plan summary for social entrepreneurship:

— a brief description of the organization (individual entrepreneur) that initiated the business plan;

— a brief description of the product or service – with an emphasis on the social significance of the service;

— general information about market potential;

— main financial indicators of the project;

— a brief description of the business development strategy, risks;

— description of the need for investment, including sources, volumes, timing and specific areas of their use;

— payback period for spent funds and resources. Economic efficiency of the business plan;

- social significance of the project (for example, what categories of citizens will be provided with services, how will it be useful for these citizens, why do they have a problem and how will it be solved, how well will the social category of citizens become after the project is implemented...).

The typical structure of a business plan is discussed in the article: ""

An example of the structure of a chapter of a business plan dedicated to describing the social significance of the project

A typical structure of a chapter revealing the social significance of the project could be as follows:

1) Segments of consumers belonging to vulnerable segments of the population;

2) Description of goods (services) sold in the project;

3) Description of the disadvantages of the situation in the absence of goods (services) sold by the company on the market;

4) Description of the benefits received by consumers from the goods (services) sold;

5) The significance of the project for the state is assistance in achieving the goals of government programs aimed at providing assistance to vulnerable segments of the population.

A business that carries out socially oriented activities benefits society. But in order to function, it, like any other business, needs money. That is why the state has somewhat separated support for social entrepreneurship from other types of support.

You can read more about how to write a standard business plan in the article: ““.

This is manifested in particular in the fact that the business plan required to receive a grant for social entrepreneurship has its own essential specifics. In order to receive a grant using a business plan, it is better to contact specialists.

In this material:

Social business is aimed not only and not so much at making a profit, but at solving real problems in society. In any society there are pressing problems that require resolution, but for which the state has neither the time nor the funds. Their decision depends on representatives of society itself, who can start their own business from this.

Basic requirements for the project

From the very name of the area of business activity under consideration, it becomes clear that such projects are designed to solve one or more problems that threaten society. Excessive profits are not the goal of business. The project's objectives may include:

improving the standard of living of some vulnerable segments of the population;
improving the level of education and health care;
environment protection;
providing access to technological developments.

Such projects aimed at solving problems in the social sphere often require the help of investors, but only the amount of their investment is returned to them and no dividends are paid. After all investments have been paid, the main profit is invested in the development of the project. The founders make sure that the quality of the product or service offered increases.

Social business also adheres to the following principles:

economic and financial and sustainability;
providing enterprise personnel with a decent level of earnings and acceptable working conditions;
environmental responsibility;
the process should be enjoyable.

Dog walking area

Business ideas that can be turned into social businesses are found everywhere. If you walk down the street of a big city, it is difficult not to notice dog owners who have difficulty finding a place to walk their pets, especially if it is a large dog. There are signs in the park stating that walking is prohibited; for violation you will have to pay a fine. Neighbors are arguing in the yard because their small children might step into animal excrement. And some experience panic at the sight of a Rottweiler, Staffordshire Terrier or Moscow Watchdog.

This situation becomes a problem for everyone. People around are unhappy with the appearance of a pet, and the owner needs not only to take his dog to the toilet, but also to let him have a good time, run after a stick, and play with other dogs. These needs of pets cannot be ignored, otherwise it will negatively affect their health or psyche. For example, Rottweilers in such situations develop osteosarcoma of the anterior bone already at the age of 5-6 years.

The solution to the problem is to equip areas that are designed for walking dogs. To do this, you need to rent or buy a plot of land, which, if possible, should be located away from busy roads. The business plan should provide that on this site it is necessary to place several barriers, slides and ladders that would allow training and training animals. To increase the attractiveness of the site, you need to hire a trainer who would help in raising the pets.

The cost of visiting such a site ranges from 50 to 150 rubles. A subscription fee of 2,000 rubles gives the right to visit the pet site for a month without a limit. The income from such an enterprise is 80-100 thousand rubles. or more, and net profit - from 40 thousand rubles. The numbers are conditional and depend on the area: how many pets there are in it, whether the population is solvent. It should be noted that if in this area you can rarely find owners walking their dogs, then there is no such problem. In addition to the walking area, you can open a salon for animals, where pets will be washed and cut.

Examples of other projects

It is worth paying attention to other important social problems that give rise to business ideas, the solution of which is very important for society and the economy. We are talking about unemployment, which in the country reaches 5-6% or more. At the same time, the less protected part of the population suffers - mothers with many children from low-income families. They can be provided with full-time work at home by creating a project for a creative workshop for the production of designer souvenir toys and felt jewelry.

The business plan of one such studio involves providing work for several dozen women. The sale of produced souvenirs occurs through shopping centers, tourist places, etc. Such a project could turn into a developed network of studios across the country that will provide home-based work for thousands of mothers with many children. One such studio gives from 30 to 200 thousand rubles. net profit monthly.

Another important project that can be used as a business idea is organizing training for farmers in orphanages. In light of the ongoing economic sanctions, the country needs developed agriculture. The calculation is based on the popularization of farming projects. To do this, we can start training future farmers in orphanages. This will enable their graduates to feel confident after reaching adulthood. They will be able to find a worthy place in society by farming. The project requires investment, but can be self-sustaining if the farm is developed by attracting orphanage graduates who are trained personnel.

This project solves two problems at once:

The situation with the production of domestic food products is improving.
The number of socially unadapted people who otherwise could easily be involved in criminal activity is reduced.

Despite the fact that we are talking about social business, the development of all projects must be based on a prepared business plan.

This document is no different from those prepared for commercial projects. Social orientation does not exclude all those requirements that are presented to business. Moreover, it is considered by investors who decide to allocate funds.

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To consider the possibility of financing an investment project by OJSC Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus, the applicant must provide a business plan for the investment project that meets the requirements of the Rules for the development of business plans for investment projects, approved by Resolution of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Belarus dated August 31, 2005 No. 158. For investment projects, providing for investments in infrastructure (engineering, social, environmental, transport) and not related to the receipt of profit (income) (non-commercial investment project), it is allowed, when justifying the initiator (management body), to present a feasibility study of the investment project (hereinafter - feasibility study), developed in accordance with industry specifics and (or) international approaches, or an approved investment justification in lieu of a business plan. When issuing loans for the purchase of goods for their transfer to financial lease (leasing), a forecast calculation of cash flows is provided.

Business plan tables are compiled in accordance with the form of Appendix 4 of the Rules for the development of business plans for investment projects, regardless of the cost of the project and the government support measures provided. In this case, the investment proposal, the passport of the investment project and the calculation of the payback of state support are not drawn up.

Taking into account the peculiarities of carrying out types of economic activity and the specifics of the current (operational), investment and financial activities of the organization and (or) project, individual calculation tables of the Rules for the development of business plans for investment projects, if necessary, can be changed or supplemented with rows (columns), and the names of the indicators clarified. In addition, the business plan must necessarily contain a monthly calendar schedule for the implementation of the project, indicating the deadline for putting the facility into operation, and a monthly repayment schedule for the loan from the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus OJSC. When attracting loans from other banks, investors, or government support to finance a project, information is provided on the adoption of appropriate decisions and the conclusion of agreements for the allocation of funds, the volume of disbursed resources at the time of development of the business plan.

The presented business plan for the investment project should allow OJSC Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus to carry out a full and comprehensive analysis in the following areas:

analysis of the project implementation strategy, its technical and technological feasibility, the objectivity of the financial and economic calculations carried out and the resulting final indicators;
analysis of markets for products (works, services) under the project, its competitiveness, sales strategy;
analysis of the effectiveness and financial feasibility of the project, currency return;
project risk analysis.

As part of the analysis of the project implementation strategy of OJSC Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus, the following main issues are considered:

goals and objectives of the project (development of new types of products, increasing production volumes, improving the quality and competitiveness of products, reducing costs, etc.), their compliance with programs approved by the President of the Republic of Belarus and (or) the Government of the Republic of Belarus;
the validity of proposals for the development of new types of products (services), taking into account its economic and social significance, the availability of design and technological documentation, the enterprise’s experience in the production of similar types of products, the location of the project, taking into account the geographical location, existing infrastructure;
the state of existing production capacity and the validity of the need for additional production capacity;
elaboration of technical and technological issues of the project, compliance of the production program and logistics provided for by the business plan, the characteristics of the equipment to be purchased and the solutions included in the design and estimate documentation;
the validity of the choice of suppliers of equipment, technologies, contractors (documents on the results of tenders for the supply of equipment, etc.) and the planned volume of investment for the project;
the validity of the requested loan amount, based on contracts, agreements, design estimates, etc.;
the correctness of financial and economic calculations, their compliance with legal norms.

As part of the analysis of sales markets for products (works, services) under the project, Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus OJSC assesses the capacity of markets, prospects for their development, production and consumption balances, main competitors, competitiveness in terms of price and quality parameters, product sales channels and other issues . The corresponding section of business plans for investment projects may contain a number of tables: analysis of the external environment at the macro level, overview and trends in industry development (including analysis of opportunities and threats), alternative scenarios for changes in sales markets, product competitiveness and marketing analysis (PEST analysis, SWOT analysis, Porter's five forces analysis and other techniques). OJSC "Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus" welcomes the submission of a separate document - marketing due diligence, which includes a study of the system of measures of product, pricing and communication policies, the system of promoting goods aimed at harmonizing production with the market situation and ensuring sustainable sales.

Analysis of the economic efficiency of an investment project is carried out according to the following indicators:

simple payback period of the project;
dynamic payback period of the project;
internal rate of return;
added value per person working on the project.

The criterion for assessing the payback period of an investment project is the weighted average standard service life of fixed assets introduced under the project, as well as the period from the moment of initial investment in the project until the commissioning of the designed facility. At the same time, if the dynamic payback period exceeds the specified period, the investment project is classified as ineffective.

The criterion for assessing the internal rate of return for a project is the discount rate defined in the business plan of the investment project. If the discount rate exceeds the internal rate of return, the investment project is considered ineffective. Moreover, if a long-term loan is the prevailing source of financing for a project (occupies 60% or more in the structure of sources of financing for an investment project), in order to recognize an investment project as effective, the internal rate of return must exceed the interest rate on a long-term loan.

Added value per person working on a project is an indirect indicator characterizing the effectiveness of the project. The assessment of added value per one worker on the project is made based on the annual value of this indicator, determined when the maximum load of fixed assets introduced under the project is reached, in comparison with the threshold values of annual added value per one average employee for the main types of economic activity established by the legislation of the Republic Belarus, but not less than an amount equivalent to 16.6 thousand US dollars in the absence of a threshold established by the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

Analysis of the financial feasibility of an investment project is carried out on the basis of the sufficiency of own sources, borrowed and attracted funds to finance the project within the planned time frame, as well as the possibility of repaying attracted long-term loans and other obligations in full within the prescribed period. At the same time, the attraction of each source of financing must be justified in the business plan of the investment project. At the same time, the cumulative cash balance according to the table “Calculation of cash flow for the organization” of the business plan of the investment project must have positive values for each period (year) of the investment project. Also, the debt coverage ratio must exceed 1.0 for each period (year) of the investment project, except for the case when the business plan of the investment project justifies the possibility of repaying long-term loans and other long-term debt obligations from sources other than net income.

The currency return on investment projects is determined on the basis of the table “Calculation of the flow of funds for export-import operations (currency return on the project)” of the business plan of the investment project. An investment project is considered to be currency-paying when it achieves a positive cash flow balance in free convertible currency from the current (operating) and investment activities of the project, while the currency-payback period should not exceed the accepted horizon for calculating the business plan of the investment project. At the same time, the values of the balance of cash flow in free convertible currency for export-import operations on an accrual basis for the organization, taking into account the project, as a rule, in each period (year) of the project should be positive, which indicates the presence of a sufficient amount of revenue in foreign currency remaining with the borrower after its mandatory sale to fulfill obligations to OJSC Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus.

When analyzing the main types of project risks that may arise during its implementation, Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus OJSC evaluates:

organizational risks (the ability to complete the main stages of the project on time, the availability of qualified management personnel);
production risks (the ability to ensure continuity of the production process, production of products in planned volumes and required quality);
technological risks (degree of technology mastery, reliability and maintainability of equipment, availability of spare parts, additional equipment, availability of tools, participation in installation and training of invited specialists);
financial risks (assessment of the current financial position of the organization implementing the project, the likelihood of project participants failing to fulfill their financial obligations, the consequences of possible insolvency of other project participants);
economic risks (assessment of the risk of a decrease in demand for manufactured products and the possibility of diversifying their sales markets, the project’s resistance to increased prices and tariffs for material resources, deterioration of the tax climate, the likelihood of an increase in the cost of construction and installation work and equipment, and the occurrence of unaccounted costs).

Social entrepreneurship is one of the types of business activities whose main goals are to help people and work with their problems. This type of business differs from pure charitable activity in the ability of projects to be self-sustaining and make a profit.

Small businesses and socially oriented organizations can be active in various directions, working within the framework of socially beneficial projects in the field of healthcare, agriculture, service provision, education, etc. Today it is impossible to give an unambiguous definition of social entrepreneurship, because it is a multifaceted phenomenon that relates to many areas of human life. The shortest and most succinct one might sound like this: “Receiving profit from helping other people.”

The main meaning of social entrepreneurship is that a businessman is an independent, independent entity who has the opportunity to carry out charitable activities, relying on his own capital.

There are several features that characterize social entrepreneurship

focus on people's problems;
the presence of new solutions (as the usual traditional methods of resolving problems become ineffective);
replicability (the ability to share experience with other organizations around the country and the world);
self-sufficiency (independence from sponsor support);
the possibility of making a profit (it is necessary to support and stimulate the development of the project so that it generates income and meets the needs of its owner).

The main feature of social entrepreneurship organizations is that they promote change in society and are characterized by three components:

Identification of injustice expressed in the marginalization or suffering of certain groups of citizens who are in dire need of material resources or political support to achieve a prosperous existence through transformation.
Finding opportunities to achieve well-being for any group in society suffering from injustice - with the help of inspiration, a creative approach to the problem, active decisive action and the courage of an entrepreneur.
A gradual process leading to the establishment of justice, which becomes a factor that alleviates the suffering of some people through “the creation of a stable ecosystem in a new equilibrium.” This contributes to achieving a prosperous existence in the future for this group of citizens, as well as society as a whole.

Very often, solving problems with the help of social entrepreneurship brings more effective results than those achieved by charitable non-profit organizations or the government using their standard algorithms.

We can list the main advantages of commercial socially oriented enterprises compared to government agencies:

A high degree of involvement in the entrepreneur’s process and his motivation to achieve success from the organization’s activities.
Government agencies have the opportunity to delegate some powers to socially oriented businesses, thereby reducing their administrative costs and time resources allocated for the implementation of programs: from development to implementation of a real-life project that can provide assistance to a certain group of people in need of support.
Social entrepreneurship organizations take on the role of establishing a balance between citizens with different levels of social well-being. Thanks to the activities of entrepreneurs and their socially oriented organizations, the state is able to monitor the effectiveness of regulating the balance within the framework of state control and at the same time transfer the issues of finding new solutions to the problems of modern society to the level of socially oriented business.
The high level of competition among organizations of this type encourages the most active companies to focus on their specific goals and try to achieve them most effectively.

Main types of social entrepreneurship

Main types and areas of activity of social entrepreneurship:

Using a zero-waste production method (recycling waste), having a positive impact on environmental conditions (for example, the Indian plastic waste recycling company Concerve).
Reducing the criminal component in society (for example, the French youth sports organization Emergence).
Help and support for those who find themselves in difficult living conditions (for example, the French enterprises Jardins de Cocagne in the agricultural sector for employing the long-term unemployed).
Providing services for low-income citizens (for example, the American organization American Family).
Issuance of mini-loans to small businesses (for example, Kiva.org, a global Internet platform that is not included in the Ashoka Foundation database).

Platform

This model assumes that the owner of a socially oriented business organizes a platform for information exchange and becomes an intermediary between small producers and consumers. For example, the Nizhny Novgorod Crafts Gallery allows craftsmen to regularly participate in exhibitions and fairs where they can sell their products. This model is very convenient for a small manufacturer who has difficulty finding buyers on his own.

Market access

This model is implemented in practice by the company “Art Crafts” - it purchases products from small manufacturers in order to sell them on its trading platforms.

Employment

This model involves caring for vulnerable groups of the population: for example, training and employment of people with disabilities. A good example is the Berezen Rehabilitation Center for Disabled People (Tula).

Access to a product or service

In this case, social entrepreneurship takes on the role of filling the gaps or gaps in the market and offering consumers access to a certain group of goods or services if customers are willing to pay for it. An example of such a model is the Bumper book bus, which delivers books to the end consumer anywhere in the city at the lowest prices.

Charity

This model involves the free purchase of a service or product. In addition to the seller and buyer, there is a third party who finances the project. For example, the Perspektiva-NN organization, which provides classes for parents with children with serious vision problems. Services are provided free of charge or for a purely symbolic fee. This organization is financed by the regional budget and is included in the list of organizations providing social services.

4 Profitable Business Ideas for Social Entrepreneurship

Profit is no longer the only driving force. According to Richard Branson, a new type of business has emerged, which he proposes to call “24,902 capitalism” (that’s how many miles the length of the equator is). The meaning is simple: every businessman is responsible for both people and the planet.

The editors of the magazine "General Director" gave several examples of companies of the new era.

What are the stages of the social entrepreneurship process?

In the structure of the social entrepreneurship process, upon closer examination, five main stages can be distinguished:

Search for opportunities (to solve problems and meet the needs of those in need).
Development of a development concept (identification of benefits, creation of new products, identification of the market).
Acquisition of resources that are necessary: finances, specialists, knowledge, experience, skills, competencies.
Launching and improving the enterprise (determining results, growing and enlarging the organization).
Achieving the goal (merging with other companies, expanding the company, formulating new tasks, solving them and closing the organization).

For any organization working in the field of social entrepreneurship, it is important to understand two main factors according to which its activities are structured: firstly, the solution of problems relevant to society, and secondly, the receipt of monetary income. The essence of social entrepreneurship lies in the balance of these two factors. With proper and successful development, such organizations contribute to the strengthening of public relations and their gradual and sustainable development.

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Social entrepreneurship project ideas

There is no shortage of ideas for social entrepreneurship these days. On the contrary, recently many creative and non-standard proposals have appeared. There are wonderful opportunities for creativity and bold experiments in this area. The most important thing is not to forget about the main goal of this activity - helping people in need. Below we offer an overview of ideas already implemented in practice.

Idea 1. Eco-packaging. The well-known plastic bag takes a very long time to decompose: it takes about two hundred years. Every day we throw away a huge number of bags in which we buy sour-milk products, juices, frozen vegetables, and sausages. Huge mountains made of plastic bags will soon become a terrible “decoration” of our planet if we don’t think about it and stop such thoughtless behavior. This is exactly what the creators of environmental packaging want to prevent - they use completely different materials to store goods: paper and cardboard, which completely decompose within two years, which is a huge advantage compared to polyethylene. Unfortunately, an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic bottles has not yet been found. However, even the fact that today you can find environmentally friendly packaging made from paper and cardboard on the market is already a huge achievement.

Idea 2: Recycle plastic. Modern people use a huge number of plastic products: bags, bottles, cans, films, boxes, etc. The negative aspects of such packaging are not only the deterioration of the environmental situation, but also the waste of resources. Tons of bottles end up in landfills every day, but just as much new material is used by factories to make new ones. It is important to stop and start reusing plastic waste: modern technologies make it possible to produce packaging, brush bristles, building materials and much more from old plastic.

Idea 3. Rural tourism. These days it has become a fashionable activity among residents of big cities. New generations born and raised in urban environments may have never seen a live cow or know how potatoes grow. For such people, a trip to the countryside becomes a real adventure. They are ready to pay for such entertainment: milking a cow, collecting eggs, helping their grandmother in the garden. The mental state of the average metropolitan resident leaves much to be desired, so clean fresh air and physical labor make people healthier, restore depleted emotional balance, and for villages such ecotourism is an excellent opportunity for development.

Idea 4. Educational computer games. Children are big fans of various games on modern gadgets, and their creation is a profitable business. However, you can combine business with pleasure: create educational and educational games. For example, in the format of computer developmental games, you can learn foreign languages or master business skills, for example, touch typing using the ten-finger writing method. Using special applications, you can study school subjects. In addition, there are many excellent opportunities for social role-playing games in order to acquire skills for harmonious interaction with the outside world and other people.

Idea 5. Child development center or private kindergarten. This type of social entrepreneurship brings considerable benefits to families where both parents work and they have no one to leave the child with (getting into a municipal kindergarten today is not easy) or there is not enough time for the qualitative development of his creative abilities. In this case, private kindergartens or development centers come to the rescue - they usually have small groups, which allows them to maintain the high quality of the services provided and provide an individual approach to each child. The advantages of such organizations are also that they are modernly equipped and offer effective development programs. The downside for some families may be the high fees for this quality of service.

Idea 6. A club dedicated to a healthy lifestyle. Today it is very fashionable to be slim, well-groomed, watch your diet, play sports, and spend your free time actively. On the one hand, these are the requirements of the time, on the other, many people dream of being like this. However, doing all this alone is not particularly interesting, but if there is a community of like-minded people, it will help you stay in good shape and motivate you to further work on yourself. For a certain fee, people can receive a company of similar interests, high-quality service, and the opportunity to spend their leisure time in an organized and healthy manner.

Idea 7. Crowdfunding or collective financing of projects. A modern way of creating your own business with voluntary contributions from those who are interested in it or simply support the idea. The size of the contribution is not limited, everything happens strictly according to the capabilities and desires of the one who wants to financially support this or that idea. Detailed information about such programs can be found on the Internet. Many successful startups started this way. As a rule, projects of this kind are born in the field of culture, journalism, art and cinema.

Idea 8: Providing support(training, retraining and employment) for people who find themselves in difficult living conditions. There are many such citizens in society these days. These include former prisoners, single mothers, individuals who have been subjected to violence, as well as those undergoing rehabilitation after treatment for drug and alcohol addiction, people with disabilities. All these categories of citizens experience difficulties finding work. As part of social entrepreneurship, you can open an agency that will specifically work with such people, help them with training, with mastering simple professions that can help them get on their feet, gain financial independence, and feel like full-fledged members of society. What is the advantage here for an entrepreneur? The fact is that, as a rule, people who have experienced difficulties in life and received a new chance highly value their newfound well-being and take their responsibilities very responsibly, without having excessive demands on employers.

Idea 9. Dating club for single people. Activities in this area will always be relevant in any society: it is much more difficult for single older people to get acquainted on their own and find a partner for life. The forms of such social entrepreneurship can be very different: a marriage agency, interest clubs, dance evenings “for those who are for...”.

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How to evaluate the results of socially oriented entrepreneurship

In the field of social entrepreneurship, it is necessary to evaluate results. There are many ways to do this; here are a few of the most common:

Valuation of social results

Assessments of this kind are encouraged by investors or donors, since calculating the costs to which society is forced to cope with crime, poverty, drug addiction and other types of problems of modern society can make their economic contribution to solving these problems more visible and tangible. . Examples for such results could be as follows:

Increasing the income (reducing expenses) of those who received assistance in the form of services from a socially oriented enterprise. This factor is measured after assistance is provided, or over a certain period of time.
Changes in the level of costs and profits of other people as a result of changes in the financial situation of participants in socially oriented programs.
Reducing public costs by reducing the need for certain categories of citizens to receive support from the state through the provision of assistance from social enterprises.
Falling demand for specialized services;
An increase in public profit due to the fact that the number of employed citizens who have received support from social enterprises increases, as a result of which their personal well-being increases.

There are two approaches to measuring valuations:

Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA). It is used in cases where the results of social activity for some reason cannot be expressed in monetary terms or are reflected in other units of measurement (for example, “the number of years saved”, “all who are high school graduates”). If the results are presented in different units of measurement and they cannot be combined to determine overall effectiveness, the use of cost-effectiveness analysis becomes necessary.
Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is a method that allows you to identify the relationship between costs and various results of social activities. Using this analysis, it is possible to see the net benefit for both society as a whole and individual stakeholders. The benefits of this method are that it helps make better decisions regarding social outcomes, set the right priorities and plan funding. The disadvantage of such analysis is its inability to provide a broad assessment of the full range of social costs and benefits.

The main difference between different approaches to assessing the results of socially oriented activities is the definition of what a social result is, exactly how costs are calculated and how both of these concepts are expressed in monetary terms or in natural units.

The main drawback in the process of applying these indicators is the need for serious expenses for implementation: time, money, intellectual, etc. This aspect does not allow these methods to be widely used in the field of social entrepreneurship.

Flexible valuation methods

Social entrepreneurship requires more pragmatic and flexible methods in terms of goals and measurement of results. Methods are needed that do not require the investment of financial and time resources.

For example, the international association Acumen has developed a special system of “Lean Data” methods in order to be able to measure the degree of efficiency of enterprises in the field of social entrepreneurship.

It helps to make the process of collecting information about the company’s clients (beneficiaries) easier, as well as to optimize the analysis of the collected information and the use of its results when making decisions:

Cooperation. The Lean Assessment system examines what changes social enterprise leaders would like to see, followed by a general effort to collect information that should help answer key questions.
Attention to the client (beneficiary). Lean Data explores the opinions and wishes of social enterprise customers so that organizations can carry out their activities to more efficiently and purposefully produce products and services in accordance with the needs of beneficiaries.
Benefit from the information collected. Lean Data is not in the business of creating reports for investing companies, but is committed to helping social enterprises gain the best possible information from customers and thus facilitate better decision making.
Economical. Lean Data uses modern information technologies in its work, which allows it to obtain information from clients quickly, while spending minimal time and financial resources to carry out its research.

Unified standard for managing socially-oriented activities

Some experts and practitioners believe that creating a universal way to measure the results of social activities is impossible due to the fact that the problems of society are very diverse, as well as the activities of socially oriented enterprises. The optimal solution in this case would be to create uniform recommended indicators that are universal for most socially oriented organizations.

It is these considerations that led the European Commission to create a standard for measuring social impact, which is used as a guide by many organizations and their funding agencies. This standard is based on the Social Impact: Measuring and Managing guide developed by the European Venture Philanthropy Association.

The unity of the standard is achieved due to the fact that the management stages are universal:

definition of tasks;
analysis of stakeholders (parties involved);
evaluation of results;
control and measurement of exposure;
monitoring and reporting.

These steps should be performed strictly in the sequence as they are indicated, periodically updating them in connection with the experience gained and new information.

Support for social entrepreneurship by foundations, consulting companies, and large businesses

For several years now, the Russian government has shown a steady interest in the field of socio-economic entrepreneurship. This can be seen both at the federal and regional levels. More than once, the state has indicated a tendency to support “small business representatives” who are engaged in socially responsible activities and contribute to solving the problems of modern society.

The Our Future Foundation became the first representative of the social entrepreneurship sector in Russia. Over the five years of its existence, this fund has supported 59 socially oriented enterprises. The total amount of financial resources allocated for these purposes amounted to more than 130.5 million rubles.

The Foundation has established a competition, the winners of which are provided with financial and advisory support. In addition, interest-free loans are issued for a long period of time, legal loans are provided at a minimal cost, small office space is offered for rent, etc.

Along with holding the All-Russian competition “Our Future”, the foundation established the “Impulse of Good” award, which is aimed at financially and morally supporting promising projects. In 2012, during the competitive selection for this award, a large number of applications for participation were submitted from entrepreneurs from 54 regions of Russia.

In the modern business world, it is necessary to be able to create business models, manage projects, manage finances, and develop business plans. This needs to be learned and training of this kind should be publicly available. For example, Citibank offers grants for such training for social entrepreneurs with the support of the Higher School of Management in St. Petersburg. The Our Future Foundation acts as the organizer of a training course at Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov.

It is very important if a social entrepreneur has the opportunity to receive organizational and consulting support. An entrepreneur is always required to be able to understand accounting issues and the legal foundations of business. In business activities, situations often arise that require the participation or assessment of various specialists, which in turn requires a lot of expenses. For social entrepreneurship, it would be very important to create certain centers that would provide such services at minimal prices.

Also, a huge support for social entrepreneurs would be the creation of specialized consulting centers that could provide office space for rent, provide legal advice, and help in organizational matters. The potential for cooperation between the state and big business to support and develop social entrepreneurship is very great. Both sides of this process should be truly interested in developing and strengthening such interaction.

Already today there are many large companies and consulting organizations that support social entrepreneurs in various ways: financially, with legal advice at reduced prices or free of charge, as part of their existing charitable projects. Some representatives of large businesses have included this type of entrepreneurship in the list of priority areas for the implementation of socially significant programs and charitable initiatives in the territories of their presence.

Such a company is RuSAL - with its support, development programs for single-industry towns are being implemented, including projects to assist social entrepreneurs. For several years now, Severstal, with the support of local authorities, has been running a project called the Urban Development Agency, which is aimed at supporting individual and, more recently, social entrepreneurs. The SUEK company, with the support of the SUEK - Regions corporate fund, is also running a similar program.

In this way, representatives of large businesses contribute to the development of initiatives important to society and support the development of territories. In addition to these important goals, large companies may have a number of other interests in helping small businesses and social entrepreneurship.

In order to optimize production, many large companies are divesting non-core assets, which are most often associated with providing social services to their employees and their relatives. However, the need for them does not disappear anywhere. Therefore, companies often purchase the necessary services from organizations created on the basis of withdrawn assets. Such enterprises may well become independent representatives of social entrepreneurship.

The state is largely responsible for the success of the development of the sector of socially oriented services and the active support of various initiatives in the field of small business, so it is extremely important what position it takes and whether it is ready to effectively cooperate and interact with business representatives.

There is a Federal Law on Social Entrepreneurship dated April 5, 2010 No. 40-FZ “On amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation on the issue of supporting socially oriented non-profit organizations.” According to this Federal Law, in Russia currently “social entrepreneurship” includes exclusively non-profit organizations.

State programs to provide assistance to socially oriented NPOs (according to the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation):

provide financial, consulting, informational, educational support;
offer reduced taxes,
provide office space for rent at a discounted price.

In Russia, priority types of social entrepreneurship activities for NPOs have been identified:

prevention of orphanhood;
support for motherhood and childhood;
adaptation in society of people with disabilities and their families;
improving the quality of life of older people;
development of additional education, scientific, technical and artistic creativity, mass sports, activities of children and youth in the field of local history and ecology;
development of interethnic cooperation.

Law on social entrepreneurship in Russia

Due to the insufficient development of the theoretical basis for 2016, the legislation of the Russian Federation does not have a separate general legal section devoted to social entrepreneurship. This means that there is no legislative framework that could regulate these issues, facilitate the development of simpler rules for the business registration process and reduce the level of taxes for entrepreneurs.

The only definition of social entrepreneurship can be found in the order of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation dated April 24, 2013 No. 220 (formerly No. 223) “On organizing the competitive selection of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, whose budgets in 2013 are provided with subsidies from the federal budget for state support of small and medium-sized businesses by the constituent entities RF". This definition is intended exclusively for recipients of support through the line specified by the Ministry.

In order to reduce the tax rate, many social entrepreneurs in Russia use various forms of NPOs, and individual businessmen register as representatives of small and medium-sized businesses.

In 2013, the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy initiated amendments to the second reading of the bill “On the Fundamentals of Social Services for the Population in the Russian Federation,” which would allow the concepts of “social entrepreneur” and “social entrepreneurship” to be introduced into federal legislation. But these amendments were rejected.

On October 16, 2014, a new initiative was taken: a group of deputies from the upper and lower houses of the Federal Assembly introduced a bill on social entrepreneurship and forms of its support to the State Duma. To date, it has not been accepted.

In August 2016, the Ministry of Economic Development proposed to amend the current legislation in order to consolidate the term “social entrepreneurship” in it. Today, the draft federal law “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation (in terms of consolidating the concept of “social entrepreneurship”)” is being discussed on the “Federal Portal of Draft Regulatory Legal Acts.”

In 2017, the Ministry of Economy sent a bill on social entrepreneurship for approval to such government agencies as the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the Federal Tax Service, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor. According to this bill, social entrepreneurship should include enterprises where people with disabilities, single parents (with children under 7 years old), representatives of large families, pensioners, graduates of orphanages (under 21 years old), and former prisoners work. The total number of such employees must be at least 30% of the total number of employees of the enterprise, and the share of their wages must be at least 25% of the total wage fund.

These legislative changes may indicate that, in all likelihood, in 2017-2018 in Russia the term “social entrepreneurship” will become more stable, clear and will be enshrined in law.

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Examples of the development of social entrepreneurship in Russia

There are three outstanding public benefit projects that received support from the Our Future Foundation:

Example 1.Project “Armor” (LLC “New rehabilitation technologies “Armor”).

This project is to create and use special orthopedic systems that help people with spinal cord injuries to move, stand, get up and sit down without the help of others. This system was created and patented by Alexey Nalogin, who himself is one of those who are called spinal disabled. “Armor” is the very first project to receive support from the Our Future Foundation. The total amount of invested funds amounted to 9.5 million rubles, more than half of which (5.5 million rubles) were provided in the form of an interest-free loan. To date, the fund has returned 50% of the total investment. The number of employees in “Armor” is 11 people. The production of orthopedic systems was carried out thanks to the support and cooperation of the medical center of the Russian State Medical University.

Example 2. Creative workshop “Merry Felt” (NP “Women’s Social Support Organization “Woman, Personality, Society”).

The main activity of the “Merry Felt” project is the creation of designer souvenirs, toys and felt decorations. This project operates in the city of Rybinsk, its social significance is the participation in it of mothers with many children from low-income families who do not have the opportunity to work in full-time jobs and who need to work from home. The foundation allocated 400 thousand rubles for this project, one quarter of which was issued in the form of an interest-free loan. To date, 15 women have been employed in the project. The company paid off the loan issued in 2008 ahead of schedule and today actively cooperates not only with domestic manufacturers and sellers of toys, but also with foreign enterprises.

Example 3. “Farmer School” (individual entrepreneur V.V. Gorelov).

The “Farmers' School” helps graduates of Perm orphanages receive vocational education (the project trains rural entrepreneurs), learn to be financially independent and socially protected. Participation in this project instills positive values in young people and teaches them how to interact competently with other people. Its activities are aimed at producing independent agricultural entrepreneurs who are able to run profitable businesses. The foundation allocated about 1 million rubles for the support and implementation of the “Farmers’ School” and the money received has already been returned thanks to the fact that the author of the project, Vyacheslav Gorelov, was able to repay the loan ahead of schedule. Today the project has prospects of becoming a “youth village”. If successfully developed, it will train young farmers on a much larger scale, thereby solving very important problems facing society.

Having studied just a few projects created in the field of social entrepreneurship, which are supported by the Our Future Foundation, important conclusions can be drawn:

These initiatives are aimed at solving important social problems that exist in modern Russia.
In order for a project to generate sustainable profits and achieve self-sufficiency, initial investments in the form of financial investments and the provision of high-quality organizational support at the stages of preparation and implementation of projects are necessary.
An important role is given to the creation of a development infrastructure that contributes to the rapid achievement of stable financial indicators. This allows projects to gain independence in a short time and use funds to implement new initiatives.

All entrepreneurs engaged in socially significant activities contribute to the development of business and the expansion of its geographical boundaries. Representatives of social entrepreneurship actively share knowledge, accumulated experience and proven methods of working with those who are ready to follow in their footsteps. In this sense, socially oriented enterprises become pillars of the development of civil society and its activity.

It is gratifying to note that an increasing number of businessmen and entrepreneurs are imbued with the ideas of philanthropy and become active participants in socially beneficial activities. Many small companies regularly make donations to charitable causes, some business representatives offer special prices for low-income categories of citizens, other companies participate in charitable projects and events. It’s great when good deeds become a trend in society - because in this case, following fashion is simply necessary.