Balancing doing good and making money

Using the 360 degree social enterprise tool

Photo by Leon Seierlein on Unsplash

Running any business is difficult, but when that business also has to act ethically and transparently in everything it does, while delivering positive social and environmental impact, it can be difficult to strike that fine balance.

Fear not! It is possible, as we have seen with numerous examples of social enterprise in the UK and beyond. The likes of Grameen Bank, Patagonia and Who Gives a Crap have shown us the way, and no doubt if you reflect on your social enterprise network, you can find further examples.

Here we reflect on getting that balance right.

People, planet, profit

When we define social enterprise, we always use the triple bottom line, and in this case it acts as your starting point for every decision you make. It’s the basic check, in which you can go into a lot more detail depending on what you are deciding.

For example, if you are looking to source a raw material, and you find two suppliers, one locally and one from a country halfway across the world, you will need to go through each other the three P’s.

What effect will this have on people, my staff, the producers, the community and my customers?
What effect will this have…