Why social enterprises need support for navigation not just acceleration

What does the journey from social enterprise start-up to long-term impact really look like? 

Ask almost any startup advisor or accelerator provider how a social enterprise should evolve, and you'll likely hear the same familiar playbook: launch, gain traction, attract investment and scale fast. It's an appealing, tidy narrative. 

But a new report by Maastricht University, in collaboration with IKEA Social Entrepreneurship B.V., suggests the reality is far more complex. 

Drawing on the experiences of nine social enterprises across Mexico, Colombia and Chile, the report Contextualising the Entrepreneurial Journeys of Social Enterprises in Latin America challenges assumptions embedded in entrepreneurship support systems and offers new perspectives for funders, accelerators and ecosystem builders. 

Beyond the linear growth story 

"When we initiated this research, we had been supporting social enterprises for six years and could see that organisations could be categorised by their impact models," says Jens Andersson, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialist at IKEA Social Entrepreneurship. "We wanted to understand not just whether these models work, but how they work, why they work, and in which contexts."  

But as discussions with the Maastricht University research team progressed, the focus shifted. 

“For us, bringing context into the centre of the conversation was the interesting hook,” explains researcher Sergio Páramo. “Context is often used to explain why organisations started. We wanted to understand the role it plays in the day-to-day life of social enterprises.” 

"But we were surprised to see just how much context shapes day-to-day decision-making through relationships with communities, customers, suppliers, partners and institutions,” adds Abel Díaz. 

As researchers Sergio Páramo, Abel Díaz and Juliette Koning immersed themselves in the stories of social enterprises ranging from Mapuche berry cooperatives in southern Chile to native maize preservers in Mexico and circular economy ventures in urban Colombia, they saw organisations continually adjusting their strategies in response to changing realities. Rather than following a fixed roadmap, they navigated market pressures, community relationships, environmental challenges, and institutional barriers while staying true to their social purpose. 

As Sergio explains: "A journey is the sum of two parts: process plus context. Social enterprises are not simply moving through stages. They are navigating journeys." 

What navigation looks like in practice 

If social enterprises do not follow a linear path to scale, what does their development actually look like? 

The report identifies five distinct entrepreneurial journeys, each shaped by different contexts, challenges, and choices. From Indigenous cooperatives protecting community ownership to ventures helping low-income families access housing, each case showed a different way of navigating complexity while staying true to its mission. 

1. Growing while protecting what matters 
   How community enterprises in Colombia and Chile expand without sacrificing local ownership, participation or territorial identity. 
2. Bridging two worlds 
   How social enterprises connect traditional ways of producing with modern market expectations. 
3. Creating access, not just solutions 
   How ventures help low-income families navigate financial, bureaucratic and informational barriers. 
4. Protecting people through formalisation 
   How social enterprises use governance and legal structures to strengthen resilience and worker wellbeing. 
5. Knowing when not to grow 
   How rapid expansion can create risks when organisational capacity struggles to keep pace. 

Drawing these experiences together, the researchers developed a practical framework that captures a reality many social entrepreneurs know well: that the journey of progress is rarely linear. Instead, organisations navigate through cycles of engagement, tension, adaptation, and periods of stability as they respond to changing circumstances and opportunities. 

 

Rethinking how we offer support 

For funders, accelerators and impact investors, the lesson is clear: if we want social enterprises to succeed, support systems must evolve beyond a narrow focus on growth and scale. 

1. Support navigation, not just acceleration 
   Give ventures the space to adapt, consolidate and make strategic adjustments, rather than measuring success only through headcount, revenue or geographic expansion. 
2. Invest in relationships 
   Treat local trust and community partnerships not as soft assets, but as the infrastructure that helps enterprises withstand challenges and crises. 
3. Build interpretation capacity 
   Help entrepreneurs develop the skills and tools needed to bridge grassroots realities and corporate expectations. 
   
   

The findings also raise important questions about how support is framed.  "It's so embedded in our minds that we're supporting scaling," says Jens. "But some enterprises may need stability, stronger governance or deeper community relationships before acceleration becomes the right approach." 

One insight that stayed with the team was how much of an entrepreneur's journey takes place before, and long after, any support programme. 

"We will only be a small part of this journey," Jens says. 

A collaboration built on curiosity and rigour 

The report is the result of a partnership between Maastricht University and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship that spanned more than two years, combining practical experience from IKEA Social Entrepreneurship and its regional partners, NESsT and New Ventures, with the rigour of academic research.  

"We operate at different timescales," reflects Jens. "But the depth of analysis and willingness to challenge assumptions made the process incredibly valuable. It was a journey in itself."  

“We also challenged each other throughout the process," Juliette adds. “We were not afraid to question each other and ask ourselves: Are we pushing our insights enough, beyond our Western-based knowledge systems? Those conversations made the research much stronger." 

For Sergio, that openness was central to the project's success. "This was much more than producing a report," he says. "It was a process of making sense of how social enterprises develop and how support systems can better reflect that reality." 

Equally important was the openness of the nine participating social enterprises, whose willingness to share their experiences made the research possible. 

“We’re grateful to the teams from Agrosolidaria Florencia, Arudeko, Bendito Residuo, REWE Cooperative, Okolo, Pomario, Próxima Servicios, Solviing, and Tamoa for their time and generosity in sharing their experiences and entrepreneurial journeys with us,” says Abel. 

Ultimately, the research points to a simple but important conclusion: social enterprises do not succeed because they eliminate complexity. They succeed because they learn how to navigate it. 

The challenge now is whether the actors and systems designed to support them can learn to do the same. 

Read the full report, Contextualising the Entrepreneurial Journeys of Social Enterprises in Latin America: Lessons from Mexico, Chile, and Colombia, published by Maastricht University Press.