Why social entrepreneurs should measure their social impact?
Tsakani Emmarencia Nyoni · Mulalo Rejoyce Maumela
International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy · 2026 · Vol. 7 / Issue 6 · 595-606
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Observed 21 Oct 2026, 00:14 UTC
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Abstract
South Africa’s local communities experience a myriad of social issues, because of this, social entrepreneurs take interest in understanding the “problem” and introducing innovative solutions to tackle them, this could be through (but not limited to) the launch of a social enterprise(s). While proving the impact of a social enterprise is essential for its sustainability, not all social enterprises can/are able to measure and communicate their impact clearly. In this paper, we have explored the interventions used by different social entrepreneurs to address local problems and how the social impact of the interventions was tracked. Purposive sampling was used to identify the social entrepreneurs suitable for this study. The social entrepreneurs identified were engaged through semi-structured interviews, and the generated data was analysed through the thematic analysis technique. The findings of the study show that most of the social entrepreneurs that were engaged do not track the social impact of their interventions at all. Those that do track their social impact do not use any formal or consistent social impact measurement tools, and have shared their interest in receiving formal social impact measurement training. In conclusion, it is important for social entrepreneurs to measure their social impact, this ensures that they are accountable in their work and improves the sustainability of their interventions.
Keywords: {'name': 'social entrepreneurs'}, {'name': 'Social impact'}, {'name': 'Social enterprises'}, {'name': 'Intervention'}, {'name': 'Sustainability'}
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Tsakani Emmarencia Nyoni
University of Venda
Mulalo Rejoyce Maumela
Department of Business Management, Faculty of Management
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