Enterprise

Social Firms are businesses that combine a market orientation and a social mission (‘businesses that support’ rather than ‘projects that trade’):

• At least 50% of the firm’s turnover is earned through sales of goods and/or services. (Lowest for Social Firms April 2005 – 66%)
• The firm has an appropriate legal status. It must not be governed or driven by individual profit (except for worker co-operatives). Remote shareholders must not extract unreasonable profit.
• The firm is trading and follows business processes, such as having a business plan in place.
• The firm has a constitution or written guiding principles that reflect its employment objective concerning disadvantaged people.
• The firm has a management structure that supports trading as the firm’s primary purpose.

Back to Social Firms.