This study explores the motives and interests of small businesses (SBs) to establish partnerships with non-profit organisations (NPOs) in a developing country. Social issues in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are a topic of considerable research interest, and in this paper I explore those interactions that link the entrepreneurial nature of the SB with the actions that address social–economic issues. These partnerships enable to the SB to connect its economic purpose with its social function. I argue that the SB acts as a ‘social entrepreneur’ through those interactions. A sample of Colombian SBs which have established interactions with NPOs in the food sector is examined using an exploratory inductive methodological approach based on case studies. Furthermore, the findings reveal that the establishment of these kinds of partnerships depends on a combination of SBs surrounding conditions, the stage of development of the SB and the motivations of the owner-manager (OM). Those combinations are associated with a variety of logics and interests that give some signs of social and inclusive entrepreneurial behaviour in the SBs.