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Social entrepreneurship – the relentless drive for change

Posted on 8th November 2024 at 10:59
So yesterday I was asked to talk to some students at a local university about social entrepreneurship, I’ve got to admit with only 15 months into this stuff I felt a fraud. My aim was to inspire people to look at different types of careers and business models. 
 
Until recently, it hadn’t dawned on me that for all the things I do, I am indeed a social entrepreneur. I’d always had a “muggle” job in the past, or a standard 9-5 as some may prefer to call it. But as time has gone on, I’ve come to realise that my work isn’t just a job, it’s a mission—one that blends creativity with purpose in a way that most people can’t even imagine. 
I’m not talking about an average, run-of-the-mill business model or service. No, I’m a creator. I align my purpose with intangible services that I believe can make a real, tangible difference in the world—whether it’s creating interactive theatre to help victims of domestic abuse find a voice, or developing initiatives to raise awareness about overlooked social issues. I use the word intangible because I don’t run a phone line or sell physical products. 
 
The challenge is that no one is googling “organisations who do domestic abuse interactive theatre” in the same way they would search for a plumber or a restaurant. So how do you bring your idea to life, in a way that not only attracts attention but also changes hearts and minds? 
 
This is the relentless nature of social entrepreneurship. Unlike traditional businesses that can rely on demand-driven models or consumer habits, social entrepreneurs are constantly driving change, often against the grain. It’s not about waiting for a market to develop. It’s about creating that market, educating, and sometimes even forcing people to see things they didn’t know they needed—or didn’t want to know they needed. 
 
The power of a ‘push’ marketing strategy 
 
In a traditional business, you might develop a product or service and let demand take its course. For a social entrepreneur, however, the task is much more complicated. You’re often introducing something new to the world, or tackling a societal issue that people may not have considered or even want to confront. And that’s where push marketing comes in. 
 
Push marketing, in its simplest form, means you’re the one driving the conversation, not waiting for customers to come to you. It’s relentless. It’s about putting the message out there, consistently and boldly, to tell people why they need what you’re offering—even if they don’t yet know it themselves. 
 
As I found out from the students I am a “Yes” entrepreneur, someone who never says no. This is in part how I’ve managed to pounce on every opportunity given to me, but also the reason I exhausted most of the time. 
 
In the case of domestic abuse interactive theatre, for example, people are not going to search for “interactive theatre that helps people understand domestic abuse.” Instead, it’s on me to show them how powerful and necessary such an experience can be. It’s not about making a sale; it’s about making a difference. And in that sense, social entrepreneurship can feel like you’re constantly pushing against resistance, striving to make people understand why what you’re doing matters. 
 
Crafting a unique vision 
 
There are other organisations who do what we do but they don’t do them the same. Few combine theatre, schools, corporate and therapy under one org but I created it based on my skill set, that’s why it’s unique. 
 
What draws me to social entrepreneurship, and why I continue to push forward, is the ability to align my creativity with a deep sense of purpose. I’m not just creating theatre for the sake of performance. I’m creating something with the potential to change lives, spark conversation, and challenge perceptions. 
 
And in that, there’s a kind of magic. When you align what you do with a cause that resonates with your own beliefs and values, it allows you to create something truly unique—something that can’t be replicated just by following trends or market demands. My work, and the impact it has, is my own. I’m creating experiences that might not exist without me. And there’s a kind of beauty in that, a sense of purpose that can’t be measured by sales numbers alone. 
 
But the flip side? Not everyone will immediately get it. Many days I sit with my head in my hands saying. “Why doesn’t anyone understand?”. 
 
Not everyone is searching for interactive theatre around difficult topics like domestic abuse. It’s up to me to show them why they need it, to make them understand that the work has value far beyond entertainment—it’s about awareness, empathy, and transformation. 
 
In pursuit of change 
 
The challenge is constant: to keep pushing, keep creating, and keep showing people that these solutions are worth exploring, worth experiencing. Social entrepreneurship isn’t for the faint-hearted. There are days when it feels like you’re running uphill with no clear end in sight, days when you wonder if anyone really gets it, days when you question whether all the effort is worth it. But then there are the moments when someone walks away from a performance with tears in their eyes or a new understanding of the issue at hand. And that’s when you realise the impact you’re having, however small or incremental. 
 
In social entrepreneurship, you have to be willing to face the fact that people might not initially understand what you’re offering. It’s your job to show them why they should care. But as difficult as that may be, it’s also what makes it so rewarding. You’re not just creating a product or service; you’re creating a movement, a shift in perspective, a wave of change that can spread and transform communities, even one person at a time. 
 
Where purpose meets innovation 
 
People laughed at driverless cars and Elon Musk going into space but yet we are one step nearer to this happening. 
 
“Why keep going?”, asked a student yesterday. 
 
“Because I owe it to the next generation to have healthier relationships, psychologically safe workplaces and because I’ve started now so I can’t give up”, was my answer. 
 
So, yes, until recently, I hadn’t fully realised it, but in everything I do, I am a social entrepreneur. I may not be running a startup or launching a new app, but I am relentlessly pursuing change. I’m using my creativity, my platform, and my voice to show people something they might not have known they needed. 
 
And for me, that’s enough. Because in the end, being a social entrepreneur is not about asking people to pay for a service or product. It’s about offering something that can help them see the world—and themselves—differently. It’s about transforming lives, one story at a time. 
 
 
Lise Kaye-Bell is CEO of Soundproofbox, an organisation offering training to workplaces and schools on the topic of domestic abuse. 
 
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