Over the past year, many businesses have experienced extensive struggles. COVID-19 has hit businesses in ways we have never seen before. While businesses have experienced many hardships, social enterprises have experienced unique challenges. These challenges not only include the success of their business, but the beneficiaries that rely on them.
With so much at stake, social enterprises have been using changes and trends from 2020 to aid in their recovery. Here, we outline some of the changes and trends that helped these organizations recover from the devastating impacts of COVID-19.
Presenting solutions to COVID-19 struggles:
Though social enterprises have faced their own challenges as a result of the pandemic, many have begun to see the benefit of taking on other challenges. This may seem counterproductive, but it has been a beneficial way for social enterprises to get back on their feet.
Social enterprises are built to center around the problem, not the solution or product: the primary focus is their social objective. Because of this, social enterprises have been flexible during the past year with new issues that have been presented. Many organizations have taken a problem that was caused by COVID-19, and created a solution designed to help others. For example, a social enterprise that is centered around fighting poverty could alter their solution to be specific to COVID-19. Focusing on the pandemic’s affects on food insecurity and poverty would be a great way to make the solution more applicable.
By taking on issues that were created due to COVID-19, social enterprises are adjusting their businesses to be more applicable to the current situation, hence making them more marketable and successful in their journey to recovery.
Supporting local or meaningful organizations:
When COVID-19 forced many areas into lockdown, people began to realize how impactful their engagement with businesses could be. Customers wanted to see organizations survive the pandemic, especially ones they felt connected to, like local businesses and meaningful organizations.
This shift in consumer focus has been a major benefit for social enterprises and their recovery. Social enterprises have been highlighting their organizations’ causes to a greater extent to use this trend to their advantage. Tactics such as creating content focused on the mission instead of the product, organizing informational events about a chosen social issue, and participating in public discussions about their social issue have helped social enterprises lean into this shift in consumer focus for their benefit.
Engaging in relevant social issues:
In addition to COVID-19, 2020 welcomed increased discussion and allyship for social issues across the nation. The reignition of the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, voter suppression and voting rights in the midst of the election, and the continuous topic of immigration in the U.S. were just a few of the social issues/movements that were present in 2020.
Social enterprises have committed to the issues that are most relevant to their cause. This has allowed them to show support for the causes that mean the most to their organization. While at the same time, gaining the support of other individuals and organizations that are also participating in those movements. By participating in relevant social issues, social enterprises have effectively engaged with meaningful causes and built more substantial consumer relationships.
Recovery can be a difficult process…
Though there are steps being made toward recovery for social enterprises, it can still be a very challenging process. At PivotPath, we understand that your business is more than just worrying about the bottom line or cashflow, it is about concern for the cause and the social issues that shape your work. Let us help you in your organization’s recovery process. Our top-notch marketing services will help you put more time into what really matters: your cause and the people that your organization is able to impact.