Now is the right time for the social enterprise business model to rise to the top of the agenda, argues Dr Helen Haugh. Its pro-social approach offers opportunities to find new ways of delivering existing services and delivering new services to meet un-met needs. This social innovation can be used to address various intractable problems that society faces globally around health issues, access to healthcare, inequality, education, poverty and social exclusion. However, Dr Haugh warns, organisations who apply the social enterprise model need ensure they retain its values-based distinctiveness by remaining focusing on the triple bottom line and avoid becoming absorbed by government or the private sector. The rewards though will be a more balanced economy made up of private, public and a prosperous and thriving third sector.