Motivations for social entrepreneurship – Evidences from Portugal

The main purpose of this article is to explore the factors that motivate people to create, develop and maintain a social entrepreneurship project and also to explore the difficulties and expectations social entrepreneurs face. The research is based on an exploratory study that includes the collection and analysis of qualitative data, involving 13 interviews to social entrepreneurs from Portugal.

The study provides information about the motivations that take individuals to initiate and maintain a social project, standing out the altruism, the passion, the influence of role models, past volunteering experiences and the willing to create and innovate. The mobilization of financial and human resources, as well as the business bureaucracy, are the most frequent difficulties in the process of social venture creation but the will to fight, the persistence and passion the interviewers have, that is, their motivation, seems to be the motto for continuing to battle for their goals.