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This study looks at the new breed of companyknown as the social venture; it seeks to understand thekinds of social value being created, the challenges faced, the successesachieved, and the kinds of financing and help needed to grow and succeed. Thecommunity of social entrepreneurs should benefit from knowing what really doesand does not work when creating social value through a for-profit firm. For this analysis, a social venture is one that seeks to effect social andenvironmental change through a business; from its beginning, it intends tocreate social or environmental value for other stakeholders, in addition tomaking a profit. These ventures are able to define their actual or potentialsocial impact in concrete ways. The study is based on survey results of 211 company managers of firmsyounger than 30 years. CEOs reported that to be a social venture meant having acommitment to creating social value, articulating a mission, adopting specificoperational business practices, and continually refining the commitment tosocial outcomes. The emerging field of social ventures is fragmented and diverse. Difficultaspects of running a social venture included struggling with best definitionsand labels, dealing with higher costs of mission-related items, raising money,and helping customers toappreciate company values. The rewards includedinspiring and rewarding employees, acting in accord with company values, andencouraging customers to use their purchasing power to change the world. Fourtypes of CEOs are identified: activists, change agents, market pioneers, andmarket influencers. Seven industry segments are identified: agriculture, health, and food;consumer products and retail; energy, environmental technology, and utilities;financial, consulting, and services; manufacturing, construction, andtransportation; media, education, and communications; and software andinformation technology. Each segment is characterized by company culture,social value creation, and financial value creation. Within each segment thereis a marked tendency to favor social or equal (social and financial) values.Trends in attitudes and practices, vehicles used to achieve goals, explicitnessto stakeholders, evaluation, financing, growth, and exits are detailed. Although primarily based on the US coasts, the ventures had national,international, and global scale. The most popular mission is improving theenvironment; the primary vehicle to creating social change is by means of aproduct or service; the least-used vehicle is outright philanthropy. Most CEOs believe that growth and size do not threaten achieving theirmission. Only half the CEOs believe that claiming social value helps theircompany succeed. Most past funding was from non-institutional sources; and mostCEOs plan to keep their ventures private. Assistance with fundraising is citedas the biggest need. (TNM)
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