The Article was written as part of the preliminary research for the Human Centred Business Model Project, a project developed within the Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development and now supported by the OECD Development Centre. In a preliminary fashion, the Article skims the surface of «social» businesses, in the broadest sense, around the world, identifying some general trends and commonalities and some differences. The Article covers jurisdictions from North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia and describes the organisations that can be used to carry out social business.