Model of social business incubation in Cyprus
Social enterprises are developing and gaining importance in the EU. However, there is no unified framework for social enterprises and social businesses, and due to their diversity in terms of legal structures and frameworks, activities, financing etc., their advancement remains a challenge. In particular, in Cyprus, the general public lacks basic knowledge and understanding of what social enterprises are and what they do, while the lack of specific legislation and regulations create gaps in what entities are considered as social enterprises in Cyprus.
The study Model of social incubation in Cyprus covers a range of topics on social business and social entrepreneurship in Cyprus, aiming to match specific needs of entrepreneurs in Cyprus.
- The first part describes the social entrepreneurship legal forms in Cyprus, and the bill that was since passed into a law by the House of Representatives in Cyprus. It continues with establishing the operational definition of a social enterprise and the types of social enterprises, as well as illustrating the needs and challenges of social enterprises in Cyprus.
- The second part discusses funds for social businesses and funding opportunities for social enterprises.
- The third part proposes a Cyprus model for social incubation, including methods, types of social businesses incubated, geographical coverage, lessons learned and challenges.
- The fourth and fifth part include Conclusions and Recommendations for the Cyprus social enterprise environment.
The social incubation patterns in Romania, Cyprus and Italy were analyzed through an extensive methodology that include various data collection methods:
- desk review, secondary data analysis, public policy analysis;
- best practice examples of social business incubators, financial instruments and hubs (16);
- entrepreneurial stories (4);
- in-depth interviews with representatives of social enterprises (5).