How does social entrepreneurship differ from traditional for-profit entrepreneurship?

• A. It is solely focused on maximizing profits.
• B. It ignores social impact for growth.
• C. It prioritizes social impact alongside financial sustainability and reinvests profits toward mission.
• D. It avoids reinvesting profits and distributes all earnings to owners.

Answer: (C)

Social entrepreneurship combines making a positive social or environmental impact with running a financially sustainable venture. The best option reflects this balance by saying it prioritizes social impact alongside financial sustainability and reinvests profits toward the mission. Profits aren’t just paid out to owners; they’re reinvested to grow the social program, reach more people, or expand impact while keeping the business viable.

This differs from traditional for-profit thinking, which focuses mainly on maximizing profits. It also rejects the idea of ignoring social impact or distributing all earnings to owners, since the mission-driven purpose and reinvestment are what sustain and scale the impact over time.