This is a post from Lucy Findlay, CEO of RISE and champion of the Social Enterprise Mark.
 
 
The idea itself sounds so simple – use the power of business to achieve social and environmental gain. That’s what social enterprises do – they put entrepreneurial spirit to use, by not only tackling some of our most pressing issues – the environment, health, education, employment, equality and justice – but in showing that business can be done differently in sectors like fashion, retail, IT and transport.

But somewhere along the way, be it skepticism about combining business and social mission, or perhaps the sheer diversity of social enterprises out there – people are confused!

The Social Enterprise Mark aims to simplify things. As the distinctive and exciting brand for social enterprise, the Mark identifies businesses which meet defined criteria, enabling consumers to recognise that those with it are trading to benefit people and planet. It also helps those businesses promote their business ethics and values.

I am really proud that on 1 February in Cardiff, at Voice10 (the Social Enterprise Coalition’s annual conference) the national Mark will be launched. The Mark builds on our initial work in the South West. A national Mark was always our aspiration.

Contrary to what you might think, evidence shows that since the economic slowdown, people still think that buying ethically and responsibly is important. We need to connect these willing customers and service users with the businesses they want to purchase from.

The other good news is that social enterprises are good for the economy, and doing well despite the downturn. There are 62,000 social enterprises in the UK contributing £24bn to the UK economy and employing around 800,000 people. 56% of social enterprises have increased their turnover from the previous year, compared to 28% of Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs).

Although businesses must meet certain criteria to be awarded the Mark, we have worked hard to try to ensure that the criteria strike a balance between being as inclusive as possible and keeping social enterprise meaningful (the criteria themselves will also be subject to development and improvement). Given the numbers of social enterprises out there, we want to see thousands of social enterprises get the Mark and become proud promoters.

In my experience social enterprise provides us with a great alternative way to do business and it’s time for us to make our own Mark on the business community. Social enterprise might be seen by many as a sideline from the big corporate way of doing things, but it is my belief that if more people knew about it, they would make very different choices about the way that they conduct their lives – we hope that the Social Enterprise Mark will do for social enterprise what the Fair Trade Mark did for fair trade.