Small and medium-sized enterprises are an essential part of the economic development of all nations. Although they generally have less than 250 employees, they are actually considered the backbone of most of the world’s economies. This type of company, also called SMEs, represents more than 90% of all companies.

SMEs are the generators of 60 and 70% of employment, they are the ones that constitute 50% of the Gross Domestic Product worldwide. This led to the fact that, in April 2017, the United Nations Organization declared June 27 as the Day of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, in recognition of the contributions of these businesses in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.

The engine of this type of company is entrepreneurship. Within entrepreneurship, there is a trend that is becoming increasingly important, and that is business development with a social focus or also called “social business”.

Social entrepreneurship or social business also seeks to be a successful and profitable business model, but its business model is focused on the needs of society and on problems with social, environmental, ethical or financial relevance.

Social enterprises use their marketing, product and market strategies to promote a business, simultaneously concentrating their focus on reducing inequalities or transforming a reality in a positive way, benefiting a community, region or specific group that is affected by that problem. trying to solve.

Many social enterprises are born when leaders observe a problem in their immediate environment, and look for ways to develop business strategies that allow them to solve the needs detected. But these projects need a boost to continue transforming lives and generating positive impacts.

Simultaneously concentrating their focus on reducing inequalities

or transforming a reality in a positive way…

We can cite success stories of social enterprises that are addressing different problems.

• “Dycle”, a project of German origin that aims to reduce the environmental footprint generated by the disposal of diapers. This, through the development of 100% biodegradable diapers.

• “Plant Siloé”, an idea originating in Colombia that provides training to older adults to carry out agricultural processes within the La Estrella Siloé community. Through these urban gardens, it is sought that the participants can produce healthy food, grown by themselves.

• “Saving the Amazon” is another of the projects, it seeks to unite the entire world to fight against climate change, through the restoration of the Amazon with the planting of trees and the creation of better living conditions for the most vulnerable communities of this area.

• “Strengthening of Co’ox Mayab, a social enterprise that integrates community tourism” originally from Mexico, gives young people and the community of the state of Yucatan the opportunity to develop their potential.

These projects seek to reduce the deep social gaps, generate sources of employment to improve the quality of life of the communities in a particular area in a situation of vulnerability, in addition to contributing to the care of the environment and the preservation of customs and forms of production of original towns.

A social enterprise YES can be a successful business and pursue the goal of solving needs or problems that afflict the world today.

SMEs will continue to be the basis of the world economy, but by giving them a social meaning, their work will leave a mark.

A social enterprise YES can be a successful business and

pursue the goal of solving needs.

From Altruism Now we create a space in which leaders find a bridge to self-sustainability, execute great ideas that seek to change the world in order to transform the lives of the most vulnerable sectors of society. We have training programs, mentoring and allocation of economic resources to generate more social enterprises, thus impacting the most needy regions of Latin America.