Impact of Entrepreneurial Ecosystem on Sustainable Social Enterprises – A Mixed-Methods Research

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to identify the challenges faced by social entrepreneurs concerning the social entrepreneurial ecosystem that exists in India and suggest policy recommendations to create an enabling environment for budding social entrepreneurs. In the Indian context, there is a dearth of studies related to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. A country’s start-up environment is crucial to ensure enterprises are sustainable in the long term, which contributes tremendously to the economic growth of a country. It follows a mixed-methods approach which combines qualitative and quantitative analysis. For qualitative analysis, data has been collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews of founders and co-founders of 12 social enterprises having a Pan-India presence. The coding process was followed to identify the themes and the shared essence of what all of them had in common was identified. Quantitative analysis was conducted for data triangulation through stakeholders’ analysis concerning the themes identified from qualitative analysis to develop a structured equation model using Smart PLS. 205 responses were collected from various stakeholder groups including customers, donors, government associates and others through a structured questionnaire. The findings suggest that the Indian scenario for the availability of finance and implementation of policies has made a lot of progress in the past few years but still, there is a long way to go. Finance is not easily available as banks require collateral security and private partners contribute towards social enterprises with their agenda to be satisfied. Follow-up action on policies formulated is necessary. Marketing mechanism needs to be strengthened through communication and awareness about the products and services offered and the social impact they create, social media platforms if utilized effectively can prove to be very effective. Support facilities in the form of infrastructure connecting distant villages need improvement, training and communication through incubators and accelerator programs have proved to be very effective. Universities in collaboration with government agencies can set up incubation centres providing the required support to the students thereby inculcating in them a social entrepreneurial culture which can help in building specialised human capital willing to work in social enterprises.