Social Enterprise

Who's it for? (or, who's missing out)

Who is an ethical, alternative, co-operative property system for?

Obviously it’s for all of us.

But the real question is, who is it most for. Who does the design bias towards. Who’s interests take priority, because there are always going to be competing interests, even (or perhaps especially) in an equitable system.

Here’s my proposal: It is biased towards the people not at the table.

Focus on the people furthest from the centre. Those most often left most disadvantaged. Create something that is generous towards these people, and it will work for all of us.

Some folks figured this out when designing homes for elderly, and people with disabilities. It turn’s out, these homes work really well for everyone.*

This is hard to do. It’s challenging to respond to people’s situations that aren’t mainstream. It’s especially difficult when they aren’t there to speak for themselves. And we make it harder still if we don’t know how to listen and learn.

But we want something truly equitable, something truly ethical, and entirely co-operative. To get there, we need to start at the margins.

*If you’re interested in the concept of designing in a way that is generous towards people at the fringes, you might like to look at Universal Design.

The language of social business

There's a lot of labels and terms floating around for businesses that try to do good stuff.

Social Enterprise.

Social Business.

For-Purpose Business.

Not-for-profit, but not-for-loss Business.

Triple Bottom Line.

Let's get serious here: A business going good stuff isn't anything special. It's just good business.

It's only special, because it isn't common.

Good, isn't common in business.

Buying Fairtrade isn't a do-gooder decision, a business model or a story used to sell a product: It's called paying a fair price. Businesses reliant on low-cost supply chains are at risk, because at some point you'll need to pay.

Deliberately pushing against the status quo, unconscious bias and systemic injustice within your business isn't a noble purpose: Diversity drives performance. We're better when we work together.

Solving societal problems, even in just a small way for a small group of people, isn't charity: It's necessary to regenerate and sustain society. Business doesn't happen in a vacuum, it happens in society.

Collaborative decision-making isn't a style of community engagement: It's the best way to (attempt to) keep pace with a rapidly changing world.

Making people's lives better isn't an optional extra that deserves to be applauded: It's called being human, and loving

When we all look after each other first, and ourselves second, we'll find ourselves very well looked after indeed.