Social Venture Business Model Archetypes: Five Vehicles for Creating Economic and Social Value

Abstract

Social ventures balance the economic and social dimensions of value creation to alleviate the problems created by shared collective issues. While much is known about economic value creation in conventional firms, little empirical work has focused on social ventures. As the number of social entrepreneurs continues to increase, the challenge of creating both economic and social value has emerged as an important research topic. In this article, we examine 124 social ventures from around the world to gain insight into ways social ventures pursue economic and social value creation. Five social venture business model archetypes emerge from the data. We conclude with implications for both theory and practice, and promising areas for future research.