Social entrepreneurs Kwok Pin Chin and Stefan Jacob are starting at the bottom in their quest to empower the poor at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP), those who live on less than $8 a day.

Their newly launched BoP Hub here is designed to link social enterprises in developing countries with multinationals that want broader distribution networks yet may be “wary of the challenges of the developing world.”

Networking

The fundamental concept is for BoP Hub to work as an intermediary to provide business expertise to small social enterprises in developing countries that need help with their business model while also working with large corporations that want to engage and support these social enterprises.

In this intermediary role, they expect to link the needy at the bottom with companies that have more resources.

After completing business school in California, Pin and Stefan worked as independent consultants for social enterprises in the US. As Stefan says, he is “passionate about leveraging the power of business to drive social change” and wanted to do more.

They linked up with Jack Sim, the founder of the World Toilet Organisation (WTO) and the force behind BoP, and moved to Singapore to become co-creators of the BoP Hub initiative that Jack was starting.

Stefan and Pin spent their first six months working on setting up the organisation as well as talking with companies and non-profits about their plans.

Beginning

One part of the process has been establishing the structure for the organisation, which they’ve decided should be a company limited by guarantee. They also identified three board members initially and are working with the Center for Non-Profit Leadership to find additional board members with specific skills.

Another task has been, not unexpectedly, finding funding. While BoP Hub expects to be self-funding in the longer term, it still needs start-up capital.

Much of Stefan’s and Pin’s efforts have been self-funded initially, and a small government grant also covered some initial costs. While they’ve also obtained support from the Economic Development Board, that support is in matching funds that they can only tap once they actually have other revenue. They’ve thus been talking with companies about engaging BoP Hub to provide the intermediary services at a fee as well as to foundations and other non-profit about grants.

The third part of their effort has been identifying corporations and social enterprises to match. Through local contacts, government agencies and non-profits such as Ashoka or CSR Asia, they have been able to identify both sides.

Now, they say, BoP Hub is gaining real traction.

No waste, no gain

Their first big project is a micro-franchise to produce and sell toilets. While most people take toilets for granted here in Singapore, Stefan says they may become an “aspirational product in other parts of the world.”

On one side, Stefan and Pin have identified a corporation that wants to “expand its corporate social responsibility program and also increase its marketing by deepening brand awareness and loyalty” in developing countries.

On the other side, they’re working through other non-profits to reach entrepreneurs in India and will “teach them how to source the supplies and produce the toilets.” They expect that entrepreneurs will build the toilets, sell them, and also hire sales agents.

Another project, still in the discussion stage, is for clean water in Indonesia.

A group of three Japanese companies that developed water purification technology for disaster situations in Japan “frugally innovated to simplify it,” Pin said, and has provided it for “low cost water treatment in Aceh and Bangladesh.” BoP Hub plans to become the advisor for the company’s initiatives to expand its distribution into other developing markets.

BoP Hub is also writing a business plan for an alternative energy company to set up a small power generation plant on an island in Indonesia, using biomass. The plant will “produce energy for the company and electricity for households, schools, hospitals and other industries,” Stefan said.

Along with powering these facilities, the power plant will provide electricity to farmers who can mill their rice and sell it for a higher price. Along with writing the business plan, BoP Hub will look for grants from NGOs and governments.

As they start to gain traction, Stefan and Pin are now looking further ahead. Along with working with social enterprises and companies, they plan to lead tours so that corporate and non-profit staff can visit social enterprises to see examples of successful partnerships and proven social enterprises that are ready for partnerships. As BoP Hub grows, they expect to start bringing in interns and a few staff.

Along with starting to achieve much to empower people at the Base of the Pyramid, Stefan and Pin provide a good example of how social entrepreneurs can start up a venture here that can literally help to change the world for the better.

Richard Hartung | 02 June 2011