Identifying Social Entrepreneurship Opportunities

This Course will clarify the definition and meaning of Social Entrepreneurship and will focus on the need to learn about the source and root of a social problem. You will be introduced to different perspectives about Social Entrepreneurship and you will learn about complementary and opportunistic assets which will help you to detect an opportunity and develop an idea of how to create a business for social change. From a practical perspective you will be asked to initiate a team formation process and start to think about a problem topic that you want to address with your social venture in the future. You will work in a team to research this topic and will gradually start to think about a particular opportunity and identify a purpose for your social venture project.

• Introduction to the Course
• Welcome to the first Module of Course 1! In this first Module you will receive an administrative introduction to the general structure of the Specialization and learn how you can manage the courses successfully. Content-wise we will, first, address the definition and meaning of Social Entrepreneurship. Second we will focus on the need to learn about the source and root of a social problem and highlight the importance to deal with this prior to thinking about solutions.
• Definition of Social Entrepreneurship
• Welcome to Week 2. The second Module will introduce you to different perspectives about Social Entrepreneurship. You will be asked to initiate your team formation process and select a problem topic that you want to address with your social venture in the future.
• Who is a Social Entrepreneur
• With Module 3 you have reached halftime of Course 1. Congratulations! This Module will answer the question what it takes people to become Entrepreneurs. In addition you will be introduced to the concept of a Community Enterprise. Your personal challenge will be to define your future role within your project team and to think about how to find opportunities to address social problems.
• How to Identify an Opportunity
• In Module 4 you will be introduced to opportunity identification. You will learn how to recognize complementary and antagonistic assets and turn them into opportunities. You will also be confronted with failures that other ventures experienced in order to prepare yourself for potential challenges for your own establishing your own social venture. By the end of the Module you will be encouraged to start thinking about possible income models.
• Earned Income Creation
• Welcome to the last Module of this course! We hope you have enjoyed the course so far and made a progress in becoming a Social Entrepreneur. In this 5th Module we will delve deeper into different financial structures for social ventures. Furthermore you will discuss what it means to transfer a concept to a different context by reference to Microfinance. Finally you will be able to design a revenue strategy for your social venture.