Fast fashion may be affordable, but it certainly comes with costs that aren’t listed on the price tag. Sustainable and ethical fashion means minimal impact on the environment and maximum benefits for society. Here are just some of the exciting Australian social enterprises leading the way.

Using business as a force for good has taken the world by storm, and for good reason. According to the World Economic Forum, in just two decades, social entrepreneurs have improved more than 622 million lives. They argue that social enterprises exert so much positive influence that they have the potential to transform entire industries for the better. Locally, social enterprise is on the rise and not just for the positive impact the sector is having. Here are 8 other reasons social entrepreneurship is becoming more popular in Australia. 

Hoping to make a positive social or environmental impact? Want to make it on a meaningful scale? If you’re a social innovator and you answered ‘yes’ to either of these questions, securing capital should be a top priority. While there’s no single “best” approach to navigating social enterprise funding, it’s helpful to know some of the different types of investors you might end up receiving funding from. 

Whether you are working on poverty reduction, mental health or environmental issues, there are hundreds of organisations and enterprises out there doing similar work and releasing communication materials of their own. It can feel overwhelming to be bombarded with so many numbers, statistics, and reports—especially when many people find it easier to tune out. So, how can we keep our audience’s attention? How can we tell stories that convince them to care?

While every business idea and angel investor vary in different contexts, there are foundational elements that remain the same. At the core, these are what investors are looking for, and they are, therefore, what you should be mastering and incorporating into your social enterprise and pitches to win them over. Here’s some of the most effective ways to persuade an angel investors for buying into your social enterprise.

Although we’re living in unprecedented times and every path is unique, we found that some lessons come in handy over and over again. News and stress about the coronavirus from around the world are creating significant uncertainty among leaders, employees and customers. Beyond common sense measures, we wanted to provide a list of practical tips, tactics and strategies to help you make quick and needed decisions to help you navigate through these stormy times.

Pandemics like the H1N1 influenza of 2009 have not only set the stage for novel approaches to public health concerns, but have joined the global financial crisis in welcoming new entrepreneurial activities that address both economic and societal concerns. The outbreak of COVID-19 is affecting our lives as social enterprise founders, managers, funders, and volunteers—and it will continue to do so in several ways.

Where social entrepreneurs and social impact workers have been aware of systemic inequalities that have existed for decades, the emergence of coronavirus has made these clearer for the rest of the world. COVID-19 has presented the world with a new look at how individuals or certain groups are exposed to health crises, food shortages, job insecurity, and more. It is becoming increasingly clear outside the social enterprise sector that social impact entrepreneurs and companies are needed in this space.

Whether within local communities, nationally or globally, social entrepreneurs are dogged changemakers who put the needs of the ordinary citizens above financial gains but understand the need to be financially sustainable to scale their solution to more people. While a lot is known about what it takes to run a successful for-profit business, little is known about how a social changemaker navigates life as a business person.

With social enterprise being a largely unregulated term in Australia, organisations in the cause space need to work even harder to be transparent and build loyalty and trust. Luckily, we can draw on the power of social media to find and nurture our tribe of trusting followers. Here are four posts you can schedule in that focus on building trust.

Whether you’re an established organisation or just starting out, you can’t avoid the fact that you need finance to kick things off or keep them growing. You won’t always find a financial solution that is straightforward or simple. It’s likely you’ll need to work with multiple stakeholders on a “blended” finance structure. Read on for Sefa’s 4 Ps (Partnerships, Passion, Pathway & Persistence), on starting a social enterprise or investing in entrepreneurial growth.