Some factors hindering the operation of social enterprises with a special attention to difficulties in funding

Abstract

The literature on the factors influencing the foundation and operation of social enterprises is rather abundant, furthermore some empirical researches have been carried out in this field. Based on those and our own empirical research, our intention is to draw up these factors posing some challenges. Among these factors, there are some having an effect on social enterprises irrespective of their geographic location. One of these factors is the limited access to financial resources. Given that social enterprises take on solving a sort of social problem, apart from some ’traditional’ funding sources, other financial instruments are also available to them such as financial resources provided by investment businesses, ’patient capital’, non-refundable state subsidies and grants, endowment funds, and funds supplied by the European Union. At the end of this paper these financial resources are presented together with their advantages and disadvantages.