Consulting & Training Services
Creating the Conditions for Social Enterprise to Thrive
Canada’s social enterprise sector is growing - and that’s something worth celebrating.
Recent data from Future of Good found that 22% of surveyed social enterprises reported growth or new services in the past year, with more than 400 organizations collectively generating over $6.5 billion in revenue and employing over 18,000 people.
But social enterprises are also expected to do a lot.
They are asked to build viable businesses, generate revenue, create jobs, and at the same time, deliver meaningful social or environmental impact. That dual mandate can create additional complexity - from balancing financial sustainability with a mission to support the people and communities at the heart of the enterprise.
The question is: Are we creating the conditions for that growth to be sustained?
I experienced this tension firsthand when I founded Luv The Grub, a social enterprise that transformed surplus produce into fusion chutneys while creating paid employment opportunities for over 40 newcomer refugees and immigrants. We grew into over 200 retailers and created meaningful social and environmental impact, but eventually closed.
One of the biggest reasons was burnout. I was trying to support the people at the heart of the enterprise, deliver on our social and environmental mission, keep the business financially viable, manage operations, grow sales, and hold much of the responsibility myself…while also being a mom.
It taught me that sustainability isn’t only about whether a social enterprise has a strong mission or a viable business model. It also depends on whether the people building it have the team, capacity, infrastructure, networks, and support to keep going.
Buy Social Canada’s research points to some of these broader challenges too. They identified limited market access, constrained capacity-building support, and a lack of flexible financing as ongoing barriers to sustaining and scaling social enterprises.
The sector is clearly demonstrating its value. How we support that value to grow and endure matters.
Supporting social enterprise at the individual and institutional levels
That’s why, at RADIUS SFU, we offer social enterprise support at both the individual and institutional levels.
At the individual level, we work directly with entrepreneurs and organizations through social enterprise design, customer discovery, business model development, incubation, mentorship, and Entrepreneur-in-Residence support.
At the institutional level, we work alongside funders, governments, institutions, and community partners to understand and address the broader conditions that shape who gets to participate and thrive in entrepreneurship.
For us, systems change means doing both: strengthening the people and organizations building social enterprises while also working to shift the conditions around them.
Designing social enterprise with community
One example is our work with Pathways Clubhouse, where we’re exploring the development of a social enterprise that can create meaningful employment opportunities for members.
Using Equity-Centred Design, we’ve involved members directly in the ideation and decision-making process rather than designing a business for them. Together, we’ve explored what kinds of work members would enjoy and feel supported doing, while also testing which ideas could attract customers, generate revenue, and be operationally viable.
The goal is not simply to create a business. It is to create accessible, dignified, and sustainable employment—and to make sure the people the enterprise is intended to serve have a meaningful role in shaping it.
We’re also introducing these ideas to younger generations through our work with Mulgrave School. Students explored different examples of social enterprises. At Social Crust, they learned directly from Margaret Flynn, Senior Manager of Social Enterprise, about the realities of balancing mission and financial sustainability. Then, they participated in a design sprint where they developed social enterprise concepts around issues they care about.
Both experiences point to the same idea: social enterprise works best when we move beyond simply asking people to build businesses with impact and start thinking more intentionally about the conditions that help those enterprises succeed.
The growth highlighted in Buy Social Canada’s research gives us a lot to be optimistic about.
The opportunity now is to build on that momentum by creating the individual and institutional conditions that allow social enterprises, the people building them, and the communities they serve to thrive long term.
Interested in learning more about our social enterprise and entrepreneurship coaching and consulting services?
Reach out to consulting@radiussfu.com