Week 4 - SETTING UP A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

So, I've been saying that I want to set up a social enterprise of my own // I'm setting up a social enterprise arm for the Indian NGO Children Of Mother Earth (COME). But how, you might wonder, will I go about doing it?

Image from warwick.ac.uk

Having been on Industry Project the previous semester, I can say I have some experience in this. But my experience is actually the bare minimum. This article by Channel NewsAsia would help a little. Mentioned in the article is how for Singapore social enterprises (SEs), there are 4 possible models to follow. They are:

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1. Work Integration Model - This is the model that has been said to provide the most impact to the community of people because they are being reintegrated back into society by being given employment and skills/training for job development.
2. Plough-back-Profit Model - This model is one of the most common SE models in which the SE has very clear profit-driven aims because they give a percentage of their profits to support a community of people or a social cause. SEs with this model usually partner with NGOs. 
3. Subsidised Services Model - This model is not as common as the plough-back-profit model however, they follow a similar profit-driven aim but they provide subsidised rates to their disadvantaged clients while charging normal market rates to the typical customer.
4. Social Needs Model - This is a model that speficially serves a society's needs socially or looks into addressing social issues for example, racial harmony.

"

(Channel NewsAsia, 2012)

I personally see myself setting up a social enterprise with either the Work Integration Model or Plough-back-Profit Model, or possibly a combination of both whereby I provide employment opportunities but also collaborate with an NGO so that a part of the profits generated by my SE will go back to helping the community under that NGO.

It was encouraged that the very moment you have a clear picture on what you want your social enterprise to be, then it was time to get down to working right on it. Once you have a clear idea about what your social enterprise will be, it is time to get practical.

"Prove you can do it by doing it rather than by talking about it - you've got to get your hands dirty" - Lord Andrew Mawson, Social Entrepreneur and Author

Another important thing to note, is to make sure you have a really good team of people working with you on this. (Ottery, 2010, para.12). I would agree on this because I tried to set up an SE on my own for my Industry Project, and it was extremely difficult! It is definitely not a straight-forward thing whereby you have it all planned out and it will go as planned. No, it hardly EVER goes as planned, trust me.  Everything is on you; which is a good thing when it comes to making decisions, however it would be better to have several more people giving their input and opinions, because who knows? Developing on each other's strengths and ideas could result in AMAZING things even if things don't turn out the way it had been originally planned for! ☆golden tip☆: surround yourself with a small team of people with a wide range of skill sets (not too many people for a start though - too many cooks spoil the soup!)

Well I hope this has given you a better insight into the possibilities of setting up a social enterprise because this sure has helped me gain more clarity with regards to my ambitions to set up a social enterprise or two. Well I shan't discuss too much about my own ventures here - will only update more once I have things set in stone (hopefully soon!) Wish me luck xoxo

References

Channel NewsAsia (2012). Social Enterprise. Invest In Me. Retrieved on 1 November 2012, from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/investinme/socialenterprise.htm

Ottery, C. (2010, January 28). How to set up a social enterprise. In The Ecologist. Retrieved on 1 November 2012, from

http://www.theecologist.org/how_to_make_a_difference/culture_change/406111/how_to_set_up_a_social_enterprise.html