As a response to the failure of existing international systems to address escalating environmental challenges and social inequalities, the need for innovative bottom-up approaches capable of driving transformative change is evident. This empirical study investigates the decision-making processes of social entrepreneurs (SEs) in the creation of community enterprises (CEs). Social entrepreneurs, characterised by their dual focus on social and economic goals, play a crucial role in addressing socioeconomic challenges at the community level. By conducting think-aloud verbal protocols (TAVPs) with founders of successful social enterprises, eight guiding principles were identified, such as Soil and Seed, Fortress of Tomorrow, Community: the Expert’s Compass, Umbrella of Confidence, Collective Prosperity Wave and Be Square, and Butterfly Effect. These principles constitute the framework which highlights how SEs balance community needs, innovation, and long-term sustainability. This dissertation contributes to the field of social entrepreneurship by proposing a decision-making framework specific to the creation of CEs, providing insights for both practitioners and policymakers on fostering sustainable community development.

Social entrepreneurship is a field of entrepreneurship praised for its potential to solve complex social problems by harnessing the power of enterprise. However, it is this very complexity that causes social entrepreneurs to walk a narrow line of conflicting priorities of mission and profit while navigating complicated cultural and economic landscapes. This precariousness makes the possibility of failure high, and the social aspect makes the stakes should an enterprise fail that much higher. This dissertation begins with a new premise for social entrepreneurship that views social enterprise as an interpretive endeavor where the mission of the enterprise is the text, the entrepreneur the interpreter, and the target community the author. This project then seeks to define a hermeneutic (interpretive) framework for social entrepreneurs by first investigating the relevance of hermeneutic factors in social enterprise success, and subsequently how research of social entrepreneurial failure can be improved