THE CONCEPT
by THF was born from the desire to give sustainability to TEACH How to Fish as a social model approach, with the added challenge of allowing, through the available services, to provide a direct and innovative answer to its primary goal. We believe in service by example, and in leadership through coherence between what is said, what is asked and what is done.
THF's approach was never transformed into any model of the social third sector because we wanted to research, study and debate existing solutions and undertake a solution that would allow the sustainability of all operations but also a way to recover the credibility of the social sector that would stimulate cooperation between all.
![by THF serviços de Formação, Consultoria e Team building](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b89ca7_f592657da47c4b5a8b70fb78162edb93~mv2.png/v1/crop/x_70,y_204,w_1430,h_1011/fill/w_228,h_160,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/%C2%AE%20(3).png)
Our ambitious vision required risking new concepts towards sustainability, as well as creating a business model with growth potential and which, aligned with ESG criteria (Environmental, Social and Governance), still represented a high attractiveness for investment.
With a dedicated team, we created the first social enterprise in Portugal, 𝗯𝘆 𝗧𝗛𝗙, to provide a sustainable response to the primary objective of 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗵.
It would be easier to understand this concept as part of the "2 and a half sector", but we belong to the fourth social sector: a for-profit company that will guarantee a sustainable approach to the social economy.
The objective will be to use all of the company's net income in programs under the THF voluntary social model and with partner projects or associations that have the same vision focused on the human person and their self-sustenance.
With this company model, which is still single-person for now, we intend to unite all sectors of society in a cooperative work and focus our action on the social aspect of key areas for this transformation (such as training, mentoring, employability and encouraging entrepreneurship), areas on which the European Pillar of Social Rights is based, signed in Portugal in May 2021.
We work on this basis in order to demonstrate the benefits of the approach and see the validation process of the 'social company' model in Portugal soon concluded, which we believe will emerge naturally with this first step that we took in the company's constitution and in the statutes carefully defined.
From the examples we know of social entrepreneurs that we contacted, from Greece to Bulgaria, everyone is moving forward with this model in the different possible versions.
The biggest challenges they faced were exactly the legal and legal validation of this model, as well as the tax benefits and eligibility in social financing programs.
We can and we want to include Portugal in what are called "expert groups" in the field of social enterprises in the European Commission.
The European Commission uses the term "social enterprise" to cover the following business models:
- The social or societal objective of the common good is the reason for commercial activity, often in the form of a high level of social innovation;
- Profits are mainly reinvested to achieve this social objective;
- The method of organization or the ownership system reflects the mission of the company, using democratic or participatory principles or with a focus on social justice;
Because we are fully aligned with the models described, and because there is no single legal form for social enterprises, we intend that registration as a private limited company and in line with our statutes and social purpose be recognized as a profit-making company of social utility.
If you want to be part of this transition path toward the sustainability and autonomy of the social sector, join us.