The Ideal Salary

Social entrepreneurs are a group of passionate, innovative and resilient individuals. With a strong desire to better the world, they travel great distances, meet different individuals and find enterprise solutions to counteract the world’s most complex social issues. Today, there lingers a simple yet contentious question – what do these social entrepreneurs earn and how much they are worth? Should their salaries match those of private sector CEOs?

The particular crosses that the social enterprise industry bears include low salaries. A recent survey conducted on 20 UK-based social entrepreneurs revealed astonishing results. Among them, 5 did not take a salary and those who did only take a few thousand payrolls annually.

Craig Dearden Phillips, a successful social entrepreneur remarked, “Low wages at first are normal, but that this situation shouldn’t go on for too long.” I concur with this considering that social enterprise a business form on its own may not earn sufficient to cover cost initially like any other start-up businesses. Social entrepreneurs may get a pay cut initially however should not be distinguished from private businesses distinctly gradually. The role CEO of social enterprises play and their responsibilities are in fact on par with those in the private sector. Besides the opportunity to make a difference, they surely deserve to be paid at the market rate when the social business settles down. Financial security is needed in order for social entrepreneurs to support themselves and further advance their endeavors to tackle various world complex issues. “If social entrepreneurs are doing a good job, they should not “devalue” themselves and be rewarded with market rate,” asserted also Ceri Jones, the head of policy at the Social Enterprise Coalition.

Furthermore, social entrepreneurs face a multitude of challenges and that include obtaining little favor and financial support from prospect investors. Often, they resort to leveraging personal and social equity to carry out their works and offer competitive pay to talented employees. Taking this into account, it is often unfair to still restrict a social entrepreneur salary. They should be paid justly, nevertheless note not to mimic inflated salaries of most private company CEOs which will potentially enlarge the wage gap between CEOs and employees create a more unequal society.

Today, on the other hand, for most generation Y individuals, having a career aligned with their values to make a difference matters much more than the amount of salary they received. Ideal salary is not an issue for most social entrepreneurs. It may be painful but not pointless as they do good. Ultimately, to them, the greatest reward is not a high payroll but seeing the faces and happy smiles of those impacted by the time and effort they sowed.

Reference: 

Cahalane, C. (2012). Salary and social enterprise: what should entrepreneurs get paid?  Retrieved August 5, 2012, from https://socialenterprise.guardian.co.uk/social-enterprise-network/2011/jan/17/salary-and-social-enterprise