Social Business vs Traditional Business

Social Business is a concept promoted by Nobel Prize winner Mohammad Yunus and others hoping to address large-scale problems such as poverty and damage to ecosystems.

A social business does not seek to make profits for its investors. An investor simply puts her money into the business hoping to see a social impact. One example is the Grameen Danone project, which set out to improve nutrition in rural Bangladesh. By selling vitamin-fortified yogurt, Grameen Danone was able to reduce disease and improve nutrition in areas where it operated. Beneficiaries of the organization's work included the people who were employed producing milk and processing the milk into yogurt, as well as the people who purchased the yogurt.

A traditional business seeks to make a profit for its investors. In some instances, this goal is at odds with environmental and social goals: coal mining may exacerbate poverty in rural communities if it damages the land and the drinking water; it may also contribute to global warming.