Social Business vs Traditional Non-Profit Organization

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 global ecosystems.

A social business is like a non-profit organization in that it does not seek to make profits for the benefit of its owners or investors. But it does try to create a product or service that can be sold. Ordinarily, a social business will attempt to cover its costs. Because a social business pledges not to create profits for investors, it may lower prices until it can only cover its expenses. Or, in order to achieve a goal, the social business may make a profit which will be invested back in the organization. For example, an organization selling solar power might set its prices at a level that allows it to spend its earnings on new solar panels, hoping to increase access to ecologically friendly electricity.