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How to do good in the world and do well as an entrepreneur

Rainbow artwork

Want to run a social enterprise that helps others – and also puts food on your own table? If so, structuring your business as a CIC (Community Interest Company) may be the solution. Read on to discover how this business model lets you simultaneously be altruistic and entrepreneurial…

To put it simplistically, a CIC is like a cross between a charity and a standard business. The UK government introduced this solution in 2005 to support social enterprises that wanted to use their profits for the public good.

Entrepreneurial freedom

If you’re launching a business, accessing funding can be an arduous and lengthy process. If you’re setting up a charity, the way you run it must be strictly not for profit and you can only remunerate a minority of directors or trustees, under very strict conditions. A CIC on the other hand can pay its own directors and give (reasonable) returns to its investors – plus it has more entrepreneurial freedom than a charity.