The subject of the paper is social entrepreneurship, focusing on researching social entrepreneurship as a relatively new concept without a precise and unique definition. The rise of global issues such as poverty, hunger, lack of healthcare, questionable sustainability of pension funds, unemployment, and the inability of public institutions and government to find adequate solutions to these problems has led to the emergence of the private sector. Social entrepreneurship operates as a link between the private and social sectors and applies entrepreneurial principles (risk-taking, responsibility, innovation) to improve the quality of life. The paper compares social entrepreneurship with traditional entrepreneurship, highlights the circumstances that led from traditional to social entrepreneurship, and the recognition of social entrepreneurship. In addition to social entrepreneurship, the paper also focuses on social enterprises in Croatia. Despite the survey results showing that very few people are familiar with the concept of social entrepreneurship, there are still those who are involved in it and are achieving success