Social Entrepreneurship - Key Terms and Concepts (Flashcards)

A set of vocabulary-style flashcards covering core terms and concepts from the social entrepreneurship lecture notes.

Social Entrepreneurship

An approach that uses entrepreneurial thinking to create social value by solving social, environmental, and community problems in sustainable, scalable ways.

Social Enterprise

An organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize social impact alongside financial sustainability, reinvesting profits into its mission.

Triple Bottom Line

A framework for evaluating performance across three dimensions: People, Planet, and Profit.

People (TBL pillar)

The social dimension; includes impact on employees, customers, communities, diversity, inclusion, and social welfare.

Planet (TBL pillar)

The environmental dimension; focuses on sustainability, reducing carbon footprint, waste minimization, and renewable energy.

Profit (TBL pillar)

The financial dimension; emphasizes earning profits in an ethical way and reinvesting in the mission.

Revenue

Income earned from selling goods or services before expenses; calculated as Price × Quantity.

Break-even point

The level of sales at which total revenue equals total costs, so the business makes neither profit nor loss.

Fixed costs

Costs that do not vary with output (e.g., rent, insurance).

Variable costs

Costs that vary with output (e.g., raw materials).

Earned income

Revenue generated from the enterprise’s own activities (fees, licensing, joint ventures), not donations or government funds.

Donations

Gifts from individuals, foundations, or bequests to support a social cause or organization.

Government funding

Subsidies or contracts from the government to support activities; can influence private giving patterns.

Venture philanthropy

Private funding for social ventures with willingness to take higher risk for greater impact, similar to venture capital.

Social Return on Investment (SROI)

A method to quantify both economic and social impacts, combining enterprise value and social purpose value into a blended value.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

A framework ranking human needs from physiological up to self-actualization; used to identify unmet needs and opportunities for social ventures.

Design thinking

A human-centered, creative, iterative approach to problem solving that helps propose holistic and innovative solutions.

Lean startup

An approach emphasizing rapid experimentation and learning: build–measure–learn; value identification, delivery, and capture.

Mission statement

A clear, concise statement describing what the enterprise will do, how it will be entrepreneurial, and why it matters, with goals and measures.

Business model

A plan for how the enterprise creates, delivers, and captures value, including its mission, resources, partners, and interface with beneficiaries.

Product Profile Map

A matrix classifying programs by mission impact (high/low) and profitability (positive/negative), yielding categories like Stars, Saints, Cash Cows, and Dogs.

Stars

High mission impact and high profit; top-performing programs.

Saints

High mission impact but low (or negative) profit; strong social value but weak financial returns.

Cash Cows

High profitability with lower growth; steady revenue generators that support mission.

Dogs

Low mission impact and low profitability; usually weak performers needing reassessment.

Market penetration

Growth strategy: increase market share with existing products in existing markets.

Market expansion

Growth strategy: enter new markets with existing products.

Product development

Growth strategy: introduce new products to existing markets.

Product diversification

Growth strategy: introduce new products into new markets.

Sources of opportunities

Drivers of opportunity such as technological change, public policy changes, shifts in public opinion, changes in tastes, and demographic changes.