First, from decentralization to the emergence of intermediary incubators.
In the early days, social enterprises were relatively independent and had little contact. One of the most remarkable trends in recent years is the emergence of various intermediary incubators. At present, about 60% of social enterprises in the world were established after 2006, and incubators have contributed a lot here. Incubators are venture capitalists of social entrepreneurship, and nothing can be said without investment.
Among the incubation institutions, the institutions that best meet the requirements of social entrepreneurs are those that provide financial support, which are divided into two parts: mass venture capital and crowdfunding institutions. As the name implies, non-profit venture capital institutions are similar to venture capital companies, such as Acumen Fund and New Profit Inc, which directly provide funds for social enterprises. Then there are well-known crowdfunding organizations, such as "Kickstarter" and "Dream Chasing Network" in China, which publish projects and then find people to raise funds to implement them.
Secondly, there is also an intermediary agency that provides consulting services, represented by "social enterprise alliance" and "unreasonable institute". They can help social entrepreneurs to make strategic plans, and provide help in finding investment, business operation, marketing and promotion.
Third, institutions that provide communication for social entrepreneurs and provide qualification certification for social enterprises can also be regarded as a kind of third-party intermediary institutions. "Net Impact" is a mature platform that can help social entrepreneurs to establish interpersonal networks. "Company B" and "British Social Enterprise" are authoritative organizations that provide qualification verification for social enterprises, and can also help social enterprises to apply for government policy support.
Finally, professional courses in colleges and universities and various competitions in society are also important third-party forces to promote the progress of social enterprises. Duke University, Columbia University, new york University and other famous universities all have courses related to social enterprises, and Fu Jen Catholic University in Chinese Taiwan Province also has master's courses in social enterprises. The most famous business competitions are "GSVC" and "Holt Award". There are also many social enterprise entrepreneurship competitions in Chinese mainland, and GSVC is also very famous in Chinese mainland in recent years.
Second, the vertical operation in North America and the expansion model in Europe
Due to the differences in social nature and ideology, there are many interesting differences in the development of social enterprises in Europe and America. Social enterprises in the United States and Canada are mainly operated independently on a small scale, with a large number, but not on a large scale. They generally adopt the vertical direct marketing mode, deeply cultivate a certain field, and overseas expansion is also vertical management.
In contrast, social enterprises in Europe adopt the franchise system. For example, Germany's famous "dialogue in the dark" has become a scenic spot in Hong Kong, and it is a franchise model. Britain's "The Big Issue/Ambition Magazine" has also taken root in many countries around the world, reporting social enterprise-related content and adopting the franchise system.
As socialism is widely accepted in Europe, as far as Britain is concerned, by 2065,438+03, there will be about 70,000 social enterprises with nearly one million employees, contributing 65,438+0.5% to British GDP, becoming a force to be reckoned with. Moreover, social enterprises are still thriving in the economic crisis because they pay more attention to sustainable development in their operations and are rarely affected.
In 20 13, "social stock exchange" was formally established in Britain. Social enterprises that need funds can openly raise funds from social investors. Utilizing the power of capital market is a new stage for social enterprises to develop, expand and raise funds.
Generally speaking, social enterprises in Europe and America have begun the stage of "going out", but the expansion methods are different.
Third, the development model of social enterprises that Asia can learn from.
In Asia, the first country to legislate for social enterprises was South Korea. In 2006, the Korean government promulgated the Social Enterprise Promotion Law to promote the development of social enterprises. In 20 13, the second phase of the basic plan for cultivating social enterprises was even launched. It is planned to cultivate more than 3,000 social enterprises before 20 17. Generally speaking, the development model of social enterprises in Taiwan Province Province is similar to that of South Korea, and it is also promoted by the government.
Bangladesh is a representative of social enterprises influencing government policies. Yunus founded Grameen Telecom, Grameen Danone Food and other social enterprises based on rural banks, which deeply influenced all walks of life in Bangladesh. The government had to adjust industrial policies to support the development of social enterprises. It can be seen that social enterprises and non-profit organizations can win the support and cooperation of the government if they do well.
The idea of Hong Kong and Singapore is to use the capital market to develop freely among the people. As financial centers, Hong Kong and Singapore have many non-profit venture capital funds, which can make use of mature financial systems to create development space for social enterprises. This idea jumped out of the government's support, but used private forces to promote the development of social enterprises and solve social problems.
To sum up, there are three ways: being pushed by the government, being promoted by the government, and giving up the government's use of private capital.
Fourth, the development status of social enterprises in China itself.
The development of non-profit organizations in China started late, but the concept of social enterprises developed not too late, and both appeared in Chinese mainland almost at the same time. However, due to the general lack of understanding of non-profit organizations in China, it is even more difficult to understand what social enterprises are and what is the difference between social enterprises and non-profit organizations and industrial and commercial enterprises. In recent years, due to the scandal of non-profit organizations, it is actually an inevitable stage in the development of non-profit organizations, and the public has more and more doubts about non-profit organizations, especially state-owned non-profit organizations. This kind of social questioning is both a help and an obstacle to the development of social enterprises. On the one hand, the masses will have a good impression on private organizations, but they will also have a general distrust of non-profit organizations.
China's legislation on non-profit organizations is not perfect, and "non-governmental organizations" are often confused with "anti-government organizations" in official terms, let alone legislative support for social enterprises. But this year, Beijing has paid more and more attention to the power of non-profit organizations and social work in solving social problems, and is gradually improving the legal environment. However, social enterprises in China are generally registered in the form of industrial and commercial enterprises and cannot enjoy preferential policies and taxes.
Whether it is the development of the third-party intermediary, its own vertical operation and management, the government's promotion or the government's promotion or the macro-leverage of private capital, the development experience of social enterprises around the world can be used for reference by China. The experience of predecessors cannot be copied. Personally, I think that the development of social enterprises in China can only be realized by the government's deregulation at the policy level, and then it is most appropriate and possible to take the road of utilizing private capital.