The role of government regulation in incubating social enterprises

Abstract

Social Enterprise is young, emerging, and a high potential domain attracting thousands of social entrepreneurs in India. Social enterprises, with their dual focus on financial sustainability and social impact, face a set of unique challenges. One of the most important challenge which has a major bearing on the working of social enterprises, is government regulation. The regulations faced by these social enterprises are defined by the legal structures under which these enterprises are incorporated. The legal structures that govern social enterprises need to be understood by the social entrepreneurs. This article, by describing and explaining the different regulations required for various legal structures, intends to help the social entrepreneurs to clearly see through the process of setting up their enterprise and its incubation phase.