More and more, social enterprises are being made out of almost any kind of service and/or product -- just look at Spark Framing. It is a company that offers bespoke picture framing, stretching, crating, dry mounting, etc. Spark Framing, which is based in Southampton, Hampshire, has the official Social Enterprise Mark.
Its social mission is based on providing jobs to those who have previously been homeless. Interestingly, this framing company was perhaps a social enterprise before the vocabulary of social business was in common usage, as it is today. "Spark began as Patrick House Workshops in 1993," the social business writes on its website. "This therapeutic model project was ‘built’ over time by Charlie Wright to service the learning needs of disadvantaged and homeless people from the surrounding local community."
Today, it is a sustainable company that is also competitive by using hand-crafted and high quality products.
Contact Information
Spark Framing website
Spark Framing on Facebook
Spark Framing on Twitter
Community-Producing Picture Frames
Spark Framing Minimizes Eco Impact and Maximizes Job Creation
Trend Themes
1. Social Enterprise Picture Framing - Disruptive innovation opportunity: create a similar framing company with a social mission to hire and train disadvantaged individuals.
2. Hand-crafted Products - Disruptive innovation opportunity: develop a business model that incorporates the use of hand-crafted, high-quality products.
3. Sustainable Business - Disruptive innovation opportunity: incorporate sustainable practices into business operations and marketing to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers.
Industry Implications
1. Custom Framing - Disruptive innovation opportunity: create a company that offers customizable framing services for a variety of art mediums.
2. Homelessness and Job Training - Disruptive innovation opportunity: build a social enterprise that provides job training and creation for those who have experienced homelessness.
3. Eco-friendly Products - Disruptive innovation opportunity: create a product line that is eco-friendly and appeals to the growing market of environmentally conscious consumers.