“Business from the heart”: social entrepreneurs from all over Russia gathered in Tula

On October 8, the IV Interregional Meeting of Social Entrepreneurs was held in the creative industrial cluster Oktava. The Union of Social Entrepreneurs organized the event jointly with the My Business Center and the Government of the Tula Region. The motto of the rally – “Creating territories where families are comfortable” – set the focus of the discussions: affordable infrastructure, education, leisure, support for the elderly and people with disabilities.

This year the platform brought together delegates from ten regions – from Tula and Voronezh to St. Petersburg. Representatives of business, government and municipalities discussed how social services are changing the quality of life in cities and how such projects need to grow and not depend on donations.

A form of business where profit is not an end in itself, but a tool for solving social problems is social entrepreneurship. The entrepreneur earns by market methods: sells goods, provides services, but reinvests part of the income in the mission. Unlike charity, the model is independent and does not live on grants. In classic business, the priority is to maximize profits. Here at the forefront is a measurable social effect. Financial sustainability is imperative: without revenue, the mission will not survive.

For example, an enterprise that employs people with disabilities, or an educational complex for children in a region that lacks private schools. The main thing is that the social result is not a side effect, but the meaning of the project.

The rally is held in Tula for the fourth year in a row and during this time has turned into a large interregional platform. The Governor of the Tula region Dmitry Milyaev, opening the event, stressed that social entrepreneurs are direct partners of the authorities in the implementation of the strategy “Tula region – the territory of family happiness”.

“Social entrepreneurship is not only a socially useful activity, it is a real business. You create jobs, form teams, invest your money, and be responsible for the outcome. Thank you for your initiative and responsibility, said the head of the region.

Today, 161 social enterprises operate in the Tula region - almost twice as many as in 2020. The region consistently ranks third in the Central Federal District in the number of social entrepreneurs. The Governor noted that the region has a set of support measures – concessional financing, grants, educational programs, tax benefits. But the task is broader: not just to support an entrepreneur, but to help him find a market for customers and long-term partners.

Elena Tolmacheva from Tambov is a mother of many children, who in the second decree decided to change the world for the better. Its educational complex combines four kindergartens and three schools with seamless continuous learning. According to her, the project has changed the region.

“Young families have stopped leaving, and specialists, on the contrary, come because good conditions have been created for children,” she said.

Irina Ivanova, the president of the Union of Social Entrepreneurs, recalls that she started social business 12 years ago, after she quit her job.

“Today I thank my former employers for being fired,” she said.

According to her observations, the attitude towards social entrepreneurship has changed dramatically since 2019: then no one believed in the mission, and today the regional authorities are forming real support measures. The register of social entrepreneurs in the Tula region for the year increased by more than 20%.

Natalia Khlebnikova from Tula has been teaching choreography for 33 years, and since 2011 she has owned her own dance studio. Now her graduates work for her.

“Social entrepreneurship is not charity. We also want to make money, but at the same time to do good, she said.

Anna Chernykh from Ryazan runs private kindergartens and inclusive education centers. She received the status of a social enterprise six years ago, although she has been working in the field for twelve years. She came to the meeting for the exchange of experience: inclusion, according to her, is a direction that should be implemented in all educational projects.

An important result of the meeting was the signing of agreements between the governor and five large enterprises of the region - Tula Dairy Plant, Flower Garden, KFH Elite Seeds, Arnest UniRus branch in Tula and Zarya named after A.F. Popov. The documents will ensure the placement of orders of these companies from social entrepreneurs, which will give small businesses a stable load and the ability to scale.

“Thank you to the leaders of large enterprises who supported the initiative. This will help to incorporate social business into real economic chains. I hope that today’s agreements will be followed by real contracts, concluded Dmitry Milyaev.

The head of the region presented awards to social entrepreneurs, inspected the exhibition of products and talked with participants. As Irina Ivanova noted, the gathering has become a good tradition, and interest in it is growing every year, which means that the development of social entrepreneurship is going in the right direction.