Sustainable Impact and Social Entrepreneurship
The next segment is all about sustainability! You might wonder what implications this aspect might have for your business. Maybe you do not yet know what exactly is meant by the word ‘sustainability’.
We would like to give you directions on how to be part of the major change we are going through world wide. Most likely you have heard about climate change and the effects global warming will have and is already having on us like poverty, pollution, rising sea levels and so on. Apart from that there is poverty, pollution, and many other global issues we need to face. So an important question for now is: How can you create impact with your social enterprise?
What Kind of Business Are You in?
- The Charity model: All earning go to charity.
- The win-win model: You create financial value for your company AND positive social value for stakeholders.
- The social business model: You create social impact AND profit on a different social level.
But let’s not forget to describe what impact means to us!
In the next lesson, we will talk about the Sustainable Development Goals (aka Global Goals), so let’s have a look into what they are. We found the following definition on The United Nations’ website for you:
Official Definition of Impact, According to The United Nations:
“Such changes are positive or negative long term effects on identifiable population groups produced by a development intervention, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended. These effects can be economic, socio-cultural, institutional, environmental, technological or of other types. Positive impacts should have some relationship to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), internationally-agreed development goals, national development goals (as well as human rights as enshrined in constitutions), and national commitments to international conventions and treaties.”
– Well, that’s a lot, isn’t it?
Read it multiple times to gain a thorough understanding. The connection to your social enterprise is on a strategic level. To incorporate the SDG's into your organisation's impact think about the previous lessons: What is the Why of your social business? - what is your vision? You might have be a higher goal related to the world at large, which is already connected to one or more of the Global Goals.
Below you will find an example of a big Dutch financial organisation. Besides their financial reporting, they presented an impact report . It is interesting to see how this organisation choses a different report to measure impact, related to the Global Goals.
So, are you ready for your expedition to the future?