Mentoring for Social Economy

BLANC

Entrepreneurial challenges in the social economy

Collective property companies are managed collectively. This raises specific issues that mentors must consider: governance dynamics, relationships between the executive management and board of directors, and role of political management, of persuasion.

The challenges and difficulties specific to social economy organizations enable mentors who have already held leadership roles in a non-profit to shed light on the human aspect of an entrepreneur.

 

Overview of Entrepreneurship in the Social Economy

In fall 2022, Réseau Mentorat released the very first Indice entrepreneurial québécois en économie sociale 2021 (Québec Entrepreneurial Social Economy Index 2021), which showcases the entrepreneurial vitality of Quebecers in the social economy, in comparison with for-profit entrepreneurship (INC.).

>> Download the full report (French only)

 

According to the Indice entrepreneurial en économie sociale 2021:

• SE companies are two times more likely to want to innovate from an organizational perspective (48.5% compared to 24.8% for INCs). This type of innovation could involve, for instance, new ways to collaborate and manage projects. With our current shortage of manpower and generational shifts, this agility and emphasis on the human factor may prove essential to the longevity of companies in the social economy.

• During the pandemic, SE companies demonstrated significant agility in they way they can pivot (digital transformations, in products and services, etc.). 76.0% of these companies say they made at least one change to their company since the beginning of the pandemic.

• One out of four SE leaders (24.9%) say that they have previously owned an INC. company, and more than half (56.3%) say they have one or more parent who is a business owner (among INC. owners themselves, the proportion is 39.5%).