The objectives of SENIMA relate directly to the Entrepreneurship 2020 Action plan; “Action Pillar 1 - Entrepreneurial education and training to support growth and business creation” and “Action Pillar 2 - creating the right business environment”. SENIMA aimed to integrate the principles of Social Enterprising and Entrepreneurship in order to facilitate the creation of more social enterprises, more entrepreneurs and a better European society. Specifically, SENIMA objectives are: 1. Promote social entrepreneurship, 2. Better equip social enterprises’ participants with the skills and tools to enhance their business case. 3. Provide the necessary skills and tools for new entrepreneurs in SEs, SMEs and Start-ups to facilitate growth. 4. Develop a hands-on financial management guide. 5. Educate SEs about the benefits of governance. 6. Present the various Social Enterprises’ models and legal forms 7. Promote social innovation though the better understanding of the SEs’ sector. 8. Facilitate networking and the sharing of knowledge. 9. Develop a platform to support e- learning 10. Develop a Toolkit and applied-case study scenarios. 11. Develop a certification. 12. Provide access for the exchange of practices and knowledge.
The goal of Social Enterprises (SE) is to achieve economic equilibrium utilizing the successful combination of many sources of financing. The nature of SEs, marrying social, environmental and financial objectives, requires specific capabilities to balance these different objectives. Support for SEs needs to be tailored to their specific needs, helping them to articulate strategies for growth that are congruent with their mission and values. A difficulty in attracting talent thus contributes to a lack of professional management structure and business skills, Iow involvement in international business and collaborative networks. The Impact Hub identified SEs needs: strong access to supportive networks, community connections, knowledge and skills training, inc.lessons learned, best practices and trends, resources and finance. Needs after COVID-19 have been heightened and include help with optimizing and pivoting business models, access to financing and covid related public health issues. The most important challenges facing contemporary SEs are: demographic changes, migration, climate change and regional development, marginalization of ethnic groups etc. More than ever SEs are finding it necessary to adopt a global mindset.