What is the Opportunity Cost of a Social Entrepreneur?

I’ve been thinking about something that struck me in a recent class—the idea of economic profit. Until recently, my view of profit was pretty straightforward: revenue minus expenses. Simple, right?

But then I learned that economic profit is actually defined as revenue minus opportunity cost .

What this means is that even if a business is generating accounting profit, it may still experience an economic loss when opportunity costs are considered. Economic profit takes into account not only the explicit costs but also the value of alternative opportunities forgone. When economic profit is negative, it indicates that the resources employed could have generated higher returns if invested in another opportunity, providing a more comprehensive measure of true profitability. It was a moment of realization—expenses and opportunity costs aren’t always the same thing.

This led me down a path of deeper thinking, especially about social entrepreneurship and what opportunity cost truly means for people like us. As social entrepreneurs, we’re playing in a different field. It’s not just about what could have been financially. There’s a much deeper opportunity cost that comes into play.

While building EdZola, we’ve always been driven by impact. I think back to those early days—countless hours of work, personal savings invested, and often, a conscious choice to take lower-than-market salaries. Why? Because we believed that the work we were doing had a purpose far greater than any paycheck. But as time passes, I sometimes wonder: what is the opportunity cost of those choices? What did we trade off? And more importantly, was it worth it? How to know if it's worth it?

Social entrepreneurs, especially those I’ve met, are some of the most talented, high-pedigree individuals. These are people who could have thrived in any corporate career, made incredible financial gains, and lived a life of ease. But they chose this path. We chose this path.

In economic terms, the opportunity cost for us isn’t just about forgoing higher earnings. It’s the potential careers, networks, and personal ease that we walked away from. It’s the late nights, the personal sacrifices, the emotional weight of working on issues that don’t have quick fixes. And as the years roll by, this cost only increases.

For those of us who are founders, this weight feels heavier. There are moments when I’ve questioned the financial sustainability of EdZola. Moments when the burden of responsibility grows—when you let go of a salary or put in your own capital to keep the wheels turning. And every time, I come back to the same question: Is this enough? Is the return on investment—in terms of social impact—worth the trade-offs we’ve made?

For early-career professionals who choose social impact over the corporate world, the question feels even more important. What is the opportunity cost of ten years spent in the social sector versus ten years in consulting or finance or technology? What will they have given up? And can the fulfillment of creating social change ever really balance the scales?

The formula is simple: Economic Profit = Revenue - Opportunity Cost. For social entrepreneurs, our return on investment blends both financial and social outcomes.

So for Social Entrepreneurs, a revised equation could look like

Profit = Revenue - Opportunity Cost + Social Impact Outcomes

But it’s that social impact—so complex to measure, so deeply intertwined with our work—that makes this equation feel incomplete.

So, I find myself asking: What is the true opportunity cost of being a social entrepreneur? As time goes by, how do we weigh what we’ve given up against what we’ve gained? And how do we continue to justify it to ourselves when the financial returns don’t always align with the immense effort we put in?

Maybe there’s no clear answer, and maybe there doesn’t need to be. But it’s a question worth sitting with. Because in every choice we make, in every sacrifice, there is an opportunity cost.

And for all of us in this space, it’s worth asking: What did we trade for this? And will it be enough in the end?

What do you think? Let’s start a conversation. Share your thoughts below.