Gone are the days when people only set up businesses to make money for themselves; thousands of individuals are now starting companies which primarily benefit social and environmental causes. Dan Martin, BusinessZone.co.uk editor, examines what it takes to become a social entrepreneur.
The social enterprises sector is not as small as you might think. There are around 55,000 such operations in the UK with a combined annual turnover of £27bn. They account for 5% of all businesses with employees, and contribute £8.4bn per year to the UK economy.
And it's not just small community groups. Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant is a social enterprise, as is The Big Issue, Café Direct and the Eden Project.
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Dragons' Den judges James Caan and Deborah Meaden and social entrepreneur Karen Darby are some of the successful entrepreneurs who feature in our exclusive videos.