Achieving sustainability in emerging social ventures

Abstract

Little research has investigated how emerging social ventures achieve sustainability. The 'liability of newness' results in very high mortality rate over the first five years for new business ventures and it is reasonable to presume emerging social ventures have a similar attrition rate. Significant elements for the successful creation and survival of business enterprises have been identified. Entrepreneurship theories suggest human capital factors including previous business experience are important for early success. Population ecology theories suggest external competition for resources accounts for a significant proportion of the demise of new ventures. It is questionable if these factors are the most relevant in the nonprofit environment where the objective is to achieve a social mission rather than generate profit. Social entrepreneurship theories suggest the environment constrains organisations with a social mission but the elements that facilitate survival of emerging social ventures are not yet obvious. This paper outlines existing approaches to explain successful generation of new business ventures and examines their applicability for emerging social ventures, particularly those operating in a social entrepreneurship model. A model of adaptive capability is proposed which has implications both for social policy and the development of a robust social economy.