Abstract:
Researchers have identified that there are funding problems for social entrepreneurs to do
their social enterprises. One of the main reasons to occur this funding problem is the
attitude of social entrepreneurs and mismatch of the requirement between social
entrepreneurs and impact investors. This study aimed to identify the social entrepreneurs'
attitude towards impact investment with special reference to Western and Central
provinces in Sri Lanka. To achieve the objective of the research, the study was conducted
as a qualitative research using Sri Lankan social entrepreneurs. Fifteen social
entrepreneurs from Western and Central provinces were selected as the sample of the
research using the Snowball sampling technique. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and the thematic analysis technique was utilized as the method of
analysis of the research data. The study found that there were seven themes and fourteen
child themes as attitudes of social entrepreneurs towards impact investment. Those
attitudes were reluctant to lose control, distrust, past expense, person’s social network
attitude, financial literacy, risk management, and being proactive. The result of this
research is a significant source for government policymakers to recognize attitudes of
social entrepreneurs towards Impact Investment and to identify the perception of social
entrepreneurs about the supporting system. The research recommended developing an
appropriate environment platform to improve attitudes of social entrepreneurs towards
impact investment, to provide support and direction for the social entrepreneurs to
connect with the impact investments.
Keywords: Social entrepreneurship, Impact investment, Funding, Attitudes
