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Research shows that social enterprises are recession-busters

Results of the first ever ‘State of Social Enterprise' survey were released on Social Enterprise Day (November 19 2009), and showed optimism and growth in the sector, particularly when compared with other businesses.

‘The State of Social Enterprise Survey 2009' was commissioned by the Social Enterprise Coalition with fieldwork carried out by CELLO mruk research. It was sponsored by Office of the Third Sector and supported by the Commission for Rural Communities, the Community Interest Company Regulator, the Scottish Social Enterprise Coalition and the Social Economy Network in Northern Ireland.

The survey found that despite the recession, social enterprises are twice as confident of future growth as  typical small to medium enterprises (SMEs), with 48% of social enterprises responding positively as opposed to just 24% of SMEs.

Additionally, since the economic downturn began, 56% have increased their turnover from the previous year whilst less than 20% have seen it go down. This is a considerably better performance than SMEs in the UK, where only 28% increased their turnover and 43% saw it go down.

The survey also found that social enterprises challenge the glass ceiling: 26% of social enterprises could be described as ‘women-led' - almost twice as many compared to small businesses (26% compared to 14%).  Furthermore, 41.1% of all board members are women, compared to just 11.7% of board members in FTSE 100 companies and 4.9% in AIM-listed companies.  

Other findings include: 

• Social enterprises are ambitious, and are as capital-hungry as small business: One-third of social enterprises have sought finance over the past 12 months. The finance sought is mainly for growth: 60% of all funding required by social enterprise is expansionary - investment for new projects/service development, capital investment such as plant or buildings and expansion.
• Social enterprises are focused on employment: There are few business sectors that don't include social enterprises: however, within those sectors, many have a focus on developing human capital through employment and training.
• Social enterprises have  diverse beginnings: Whilst roughly half of the organisations surveyed came from a voluntary or community sector background, the other half come from every possible source - from entrepreneurial individuals all the way through to former public-sector organisations. 
• Social enterprises are motivated by community: The most frequently cited reasons for starting up or working for a social enterprise were: ‘putting something back into the community' (included in 45% of all responses), ‘a better way to achieve social or environmental goals' (24%) and ‘make a lasting difference' (20%).

Full news release here.