TY - JOUR
T1 - The playground of the rich? Growing social business in the 21st Century
AU - Steiner, Artur
AU - Teasdale, Simon
N1 - Acceptance date: 2-3-16 (in SAN)
Author confirmed file is AAM; 24m embargo required
Online pub date: 1-8-16 (data from Y1 RIS export from journal webpage)
Pub date from Y2 RIS export
No set statement found on publisher website so used generic statement
PY - 2016/8/1
Y1 - 2016/8/1
N2 - Purpose - This paper aims to explore how nascent social businesses move
beyond the incubation phase and it develops understanding of how
early-stage social businesses access finance to achieve growth.
Design/methodology/approach - This exploratory and inductive study is
based on four focus group discussions with early-stage social
entrepreneurs, ``successful{''} social entrepreneurs who had achieved
growth, and social impact investors.
Findings - Social capital allows a social business founder to access
financial capital to ``prove their concept{''}, or to directly attract
investment from family and friends for start-up costs. To gain funding,
social entrepreneurs present the desired image of the heroic
change-maker. Interestingly, creating the right impression is equally
important in securing financial capital as the ``hard-work{''} itself.
Research limitations/implications - This study was conducted in London,
which, like many other ``global{''} cities, has a unique business
environment. The study is exploratory in nature. Further work in this
area is required to draw more definitive conclusions.
Practical implications - Financial products offered to social businesses
are often dispersed and inappropriate. The study indicates that access
to ``soft loans{''} and grants is critical in the early stages of social
business growth and that social entrepreneurs use both formal and
informal funding sources to develop their businesses. Where a person is
not connected to wealthy acquaintances either through family, or through
social networks, they may often struggle to access finance in a world
where the network's resources appear to be as important as the
entrepreneur's resourcefulness. This has particular implications for the
demographic make-up of ``successful social entrepreneurs{''} operating
social businesses, as these may be drawn from the most privileged and/or
well-connected members of a group which already appears skewed towards
white middle-class males.
Social implications - This study highlights that current support
structures favour relatively privileged social entrepreneurs rather than
encompassing and empowering those disadvantaged, social minority groups
and those in the greatest need. This is important because social
business is often portrayed, possibly incorrectly, as a mechanism for
addressing poverty through empowerment of disadvantaged groups.
Originality/value - Research in social business development has largely
neglected the social and cultural dynamics that embed start-ups. This
paper tackles this gap and contributes to building knowledge in the area
of early-stage social business development.
AB - Purpose - This paper aims to explore how nascent social businesses move
beyond the incubation phase and it develops understanding of how
early-stage social businesses access finance to achieve growth.
Design/methodology/approach - This exploratory and inductive study is
based on four focus group discussions with early-stage social
entrepreneurs, ``successful{''} social entrepreneurs who had achieved
growth, and social impact investors.
Findings - Social capital allows a social business founder to access
financial capital to ``prove their concept{''}, or to directly attract
investment from family and friends for start-up costs. To gain funding,
social entrepreneurs present the desired image of the heroic
change-maker. Interestingly, creating the right impression is equally
important in securing financial capital as the ``hard-work{''} itself.
Research limitations/implications - This study was conducted in London,
which, like many other ``global{''} cities, has a unique business
environment. The study is exploratory in nature. Further work in this
area is required to draw more definitive conclusions.
Practical implications - Financial products offered to social businesses
are often dispersed and inappropriate. The study indicates that access
to ``soft loans{''} and grants is critical in the early stages of social
business growth and that social entrepreneurs use both formal and
informal funding sources to develop their businesses. Where a person is
not connected to wealthy acquaintances either through family, or through
social networks, they may often struggle to access finance in a world
where the network's resources appear to be as important as the
entrepreneur's resourcefulness. This has particular implications for the
demographic make-up of ``successful social entrepreneurs{''} operating
social businesses, as these may be drawn from the most privileged and/or
well-connected members of a group which already appears skewed towards
white middle-class males.
Social implications - This study highlights that current support
structures favour relatively privileged social entrepreneurs rather than
encompassing and empowering those disadvantaged, social minority groups
and those in the greatest need. This is important because social
business is often portrayed, possibly incorrectly, as a mechanism for
addressing poverty through empowerment of disadvantaged groups.
Originality/value - Research in social business development has largely
neglected the social and cultural dynamics that embed start-ups. This
paper tackles this gap and contributes to building knowledge in the area
of early-stage social business development.
KW - social business
KW - social entrepreneurs
KW - social impact
U2 - 10.1108/SEJ-12-2015-0036
DO - 10.1108/SEJ-12-2015-0036
M3 - Article
VL - 12
SP - 201
EP - 216
JO - Social Enterprise Journal
JF - Social Enterprise Journal
SN - 1750-8614
IS - 2
ER -