While many people may think Singapore is not a hotbed to breed social entrepreneurs, it turns out there are plenty of them in the Lion City.
The Social Enterprise Association lists nearly 70 enterprises as members, and there are others who are unlisted as well.
Social enterprises are different from ordinary companies in that rather than just wanting to make a profit, they have a “double bottom line” that explicitly includes social benefits as well. Some even make it a triple bottom line by also targeting environmental benefits.
Many of the social enterprises have sprung up to meet an unmet need, as entrepreneurs see a gap in services provided to a particular group or cause and work to fill it.
Self-reliance
While government grants to help start-ups are available and some social enterprises have indeed relied on government grants initially, others have been entirely self-funding.
One which decided against government funding is Eighteen Chefs, a small restaurant chain which says it provides its ex-convict staff with “a safe and non-judgmental working environment”.
Eighteen Chefs says it gives ex-convicts “a chance to also work on their recovery through this unity of bond, which will eventually allow them to find a better and happier path in life”.
Founder Benny Se Teo (pictured right) felt that receiving government funds would place too many restrictions on the business, such as quotas on the number of ex-convicts he needed to hire or other requirements, so he did not take any grants.
Teo told Today that “18 Chefs wouldn't have survived” if the focus was on his story of “being an ex-drug offender hiring ex-prisoners to work”.
The social entrepreneur, who was also a speaker at the SIF Young Social Entrepreneurs programme held in March 2011, said it was more important that “people to come to 18 Chefs because they enjoy the food and ambience”.
Good food, conversation
Food for Thought, another successful social enterprise, says diners at its restaurant “get great comfort food, have fascinating conversations, find new friends and discover simple ways to give back to the local and global community”.
Along with running an eco-conscious restaurant, creative director Kuik Shiao Yin and her colleagues run a tuition program for less fortunate students, provide information on social causes and channel profits toward deserving causes like “Give Clean Water” and “Make Poverty History”.
Kuik recently told the Business Times that growth is “led by what we find meaningful, enjoyable and inspiring rather than what is merely profitable. We do not maximise profit but we do not compromise it either”.
City College
One enterprise that has received government funding is City College, which offers students who have dropped out of secondary school a chance to go back to school and pass their GCE exams.
Kenny Low set up the College in 2001 after he “realised there are people that fall out” of the system when he was running an after-school program at his church to tutor students.
He saw that some of the young people who dropped out and wanted to get back on track ended up in high-cost private schools. Yet up to 70 percent still failed their GCE exams. Sensing a need, Kenny decided to start a school for them.
From 20 students in a tutoring program at Suntec City in its first year, City College has grown to more than 300 students in a fully certified private school in Bukit Merah. Over 95 percent have passed their “GCE O-level” secondary school exams, and since 2002 over 60 percent have gone on for tertiary education.
Kenny said the key lesson he’s learned is that social entrepreneurs “need to be able to define the problem” and “identify the value in the people you’re trying to help”.
If social entrepreneurs simply see the beneficiaries as lacking or needy, he said, the enterprise would “most likely become a charity model”.
Instead, the entrepreneur should “identify the value proposition in the group of people that you’re actually trying to help” in order to design the solution effectively. Students at City College are “more than what they’ve shown,” he said by way of example, and people “need to see the good in them”.
Insights from these and other social entrepreneurs offer common themes that can provide valuable lessons for anyone who wants to set up a new social enterprise.
Sustainability
While doing good is important, the business still needs to be profitable to be sustainable. It’s important for the social entrepreneur to see the value in the people they’re trying to help, rather than seeing the beneficiaries as lacking.
And the company is more likely to succeed if the entrepreneur focuses on the company’s core product or service rather than concentrating solely on a social mission.
Social enterprises like these are indeed thriving in Singapore, and budding social entrepreneurs are fortunate to have opportunities to learn from them about how to do well while doing good.
Related links
- From richshaw revolution to empowered slum dwellers
- Learning to make a difference
Richard Hartung | 10 October 2011
