Business Model Differences Between Business and Social Enterprise

In Business Model Generation, Osterwalder & Pigneur (2010) believes that every organization has a business model, because in order to survive, every organization that creates and delivers value must generate enough revenue to cover its expenses. Based on this theory, business or enterprise is not the only organization that has a business model. There are organizations that are not immediately correlated with business, such as governments, non-governmental organizations, armed forces, charities, cooperatives and universities. Some of the organizations are recognized as social enterprise. Social enterprise is an organization that advance solutions to social problems with business-like discipline, innovation, and determination. While social enterprise may generate profits, it is not the enterprise’s focus. Profits are rather a possible means to achieve sustainability in providing a social impact. This difference might affect the business model of the social enterprise.Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010) proposes that a business model can best be described through nine basic building blocks, which become the basis of Business Model Canvas. The Canvas is a tool for describing, analyzing and designing business models.  This paper attempts to understand the differences between the business models of business and social enterprise by comparing the Business Model Canvases of business and social enterprise in the same industry and to offer an insight to business models and social enterprise for further research.