ABSTRACT
In Chapter 2 the process of generating ideas for pursuit as a social entrepreneur is touched upon and placed in the larger context of a complete social entrepreneurship process. It is also emphasized that if a social entrepreneur is to be successful, he or she must assess their initial idea’s potential as a viable opportunity to address a social or environmental need-a process that is known in the entrepreneurship field as opportunity recognition.This is to say that good ideas are not necessarily true opportunities to add social value. Each idea must be intentionally examined to ascertain the
Chapter 3
likelihood that it can produce positive social change, that there is a market for it, and that a social venture built to pursue the idea is sustainable over time (Dees, Emerson, & Economy, 2001). Even if this is not done formally, successful social entrepreneurs informally evaluate their opportunities-they think them through-as was the case with Allison Lynch of the New York Women’s Social Entrepreneurship Incubator featured in the “Voices from the Field” section at the end of this chapter.
