Final Post: Thoughts about a new-on stop resource center for SEs

Hi readers, 

  For my last post, I would like to share a rather new development in the Social Enterprise (SE) sector in Singapore. 

  Lead by Social Enterprise Association, Singapore Totalisator Board which runs the Social Enterprise Hub, Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and National Council of Social Service(NCSS), the unnamed center would be a one-stop location for social enterprises to seek help.(Goy, 2015)

  The center will provide mentorship opportunities, services such as funding, networking and consultancy. (Goy, 2015)

  NCSS will be setting up partnership with its 400 voluntary welfare organizations (VWOs) and social enterprises.(Goy, 2015) 

 More details and the exact center location will be revealed later this year.(Goy, 2015)
                       
  This is a piece of good news for all social enterprises! Currently, social enterprises have to go to different agencies to seek help. It will help them to save time and resources to seek aid if all applications and services are available at one place.  

   It can become a win-win situation. SEs can leverage on these partnerships to find out more about their beneficiaries needs and if the SEs are meeting their needs. SEs can also explore other opportunities to help the VWOs as well. VWOs can engage the SEs to be part of their organization or help to develop their sustainable business model.                                                                                                                   
Social Enterprises are able to focus more on their operations and worry less about spending lots of time seeking additional help.

  In the article, Minister of Social and Family Development, Mr Chan Chun Sing had expressed that if there are more social enterprises in Singapore, Singapore is able to do more good for the disadvantaged groups in a sustainable way.(Goy, 2015)

  This shows a promising sign that the government does view social enterprise positively and are willing to give more support to social enterprises.Social Enterprises should continue to keep up it's good reputation, be ethical and social impact. For now, I can say that the future for SEs in Singapore is rather promising! I cannot wait to see the future developments of Singapore's SE sector!^^

Cheers,
Angel:)

References

Goy, P. (2015). New one-stop resource centre for social enterprises to be launched.Straitstimes.com. Retrieved 6 February 2015, from http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/new-one-stop-resource-centre-social-enterprises-be-launc

SEs Feature 3: 4 Interesting Social Enterprises to check out!

Hi readers,

This week, I will be sharing with you four interesting social enterprises, both local and overseas examples.

Local

1) Saltsteps


Saltsteps is a local Social Enterprise. Saltsteps runs as a social supermarket model which helps and work closely with the lower-income families in Singapore. Saltsteps obtains donations of surplus goods which did not passed the quality check due to shorter shelf life or mislabel (safe for consumption) and sells these goods to the lower income at subsidized prices. (50%-70% cheaper than retail supermarkets)

Besides providing subsidized services, Saltsteps aims to aid the lower-income via other avenues such as providing job opportunities, aid in resume writing, budgeting etc.

Saltsteps are mainly focusing on three districts, Lengkok Bahru, Henderson, Bukit Ho Swee where HDB flats under the Public Rental Scheme ( 1/2 rooms flats, monthly income does not exceed $1500/month). Saltsteps would distribute flyers which contains an order form. Customers would place a order via a phone call and their items would be delivered to them at (inclusive of a delivery fee at $1).

















2) Cat Museum: Lion City Kitty 

Lion City Kitty is the first cat museum in Singapore. It is also a social enterprise which aims to raise more awareness about adoption of cats. The Museum consists of the World's history of cats exhibition. It features cats photography, visual art works, photography. There is also an exhibition on the local history of cats as well! There are 9 cats housed in the premise (The Mansion) for museum patrons to interact and play with.

In collaboration with Cat Welfare Society, Lion City Kitty also houses selected cats so that the cats are able to socialize with humans and prepare them for potential adoption.

The museum tickets are sold at $9 each and children under the age of six enjoy free entry.

Overseas

3) Bottle4Bottle


Bottle4Bottle is a social enterprise based in Australia which operates as a online tanning, hair and beauty products wholesaler. For every bottled product sold online, Bottle4Bottle will give a measured amount of milk formula to fill milk bottles.


Their beneficiaries are the Forever Angels Home in Mwanza, Tanzania which houses newly-born infants who are abandoned, lost their mothers during their births or their mothers are too ill to take care of them. Forever Angels Home will try to reunite these children with their direct family members. If not, they will be cared at the center and put up for adoption.










4) Mazí Mas


Mazi Mas is a roaming restaurant social enterprise based in London. Founded by Nikandre Kopcke, she wants to empower women from migrant and refugee communities by providing them with a employment opportunities to work at the restaurant. 

Mazi Mas provides the women professional culinary training to improve on their current skills and experience to start their own food businesses or seek other employment opportunities. 

Mazi Mas hopes to reduce social isolation, foster community, preserve women recipes, their diverse cultural heritages an celebrate these which makes London unique. 













What do these  have in common?

The social entrepreneurs have a burning passion for a particular cause, a heart to help others and a desire to leave a positive impact/ initiate a change. It can occur in their own country or at other parts of the world.


Personal Reflections

I feel that these social enterprises take on new, interesting forms of businesses. The social entrepreneurs are able to differentiate themselves from other normal businesses and help their beneficiaries at the same time.  I truly hope that the public can continue to show their support to them so that these social enterprises are able to sustain their operations and continue to do good.


Do find other new social enterprise ideas here.

Angel:)

References

Retrieved 24 January 2015, from http://www.saltsteps.com/about.htmlhttp://www.saltsteps.com/about.html

Bottle4Bottle,. (2013). About Us. Retrieved 24 January 2015, from http://www.bottle4bottle.com.au/blog/about-us/

Clark, N. (2014). Independent on Sunday's Happy List 2014 (NOT the Rich List): Nikandre Kopcke, social entrepreneur. The Independent. Retrieved 24 January 2015, from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/independent-on-sundays-happy-list-2014-not-the-rich-list-nikandre-kopcke-social-entrepreneur-9430832.html

Hassan, N. (2015). Singapore's first cat museum opens. Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 24 January 2015, from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-s-first-cat/1579740.html

Ho, L. (2014). Causes Week 2014: Supermart sells to the needy for less. Straitstimes.com. Retrieved 24 January 2015, from http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/causes-week-2014-supermart-sells-the-needy-less-20141211

Lay, B. (2014). Step aside cat cafes, here comes S’pore’s first cat museum and their cross-eyed mascot cat Harry. Mothership.SG. Retrieved 24 January 2015, from http://mothership.sg/2014/12/step-aside-cat-cafes-here-comes-spores-first-cat-museum-and-their-cross-eyed-mascot-cat-harry/

Mazimas.co.uk,. (2012). mazí mas. Retrieved 24 January 2015, from http://www.mazimas.co.uk/

Mazimas.co.uk,. (2012). mazí mas » ABOUT. Retrieved 24 January 2015, from http://www.mazimas.co.uk/about/

Thecatmuseum.com.sg,. (2015). THE MISSION | The Cat Museum. Retrieved 24 January 2015, from http://thecatmuseum.com.sg/?page_id=9

White, G. (2014). Ironwoman Courtney thinks idea of milk for kids is a beauty. Coffs Coast Advocate. Retrieved 24 January 2015, from http://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.au/news/ironwoman-courtney-thinks-idea-milk-kids-beauty/2199910/

Can Social Enterprises Really Solve Poverty?

Hello!

Today, i will be sharing about my thoughts on whether social enterprises are able to fully eradicate poverty!

I came across this article on the Forbes website. In short, the author's stand is that social enterprises are change-makers but will not make significant changes if we do not support their causes and help them to overcome their challenges faced.

I fully agree with the author is that social enterprises are change makers. Social Entrepreneurs go against all odds to meet double or even triple bottom lines to keep their businesses sustainable!  They are also able to improve the lives of their chosen beneficiaries at the same time. But, if we do not support their work and have the right resources/aid available to them, the social enterprises would not survive.

I am fully supportive of the setting up of social enterprises. In fact, I feel that social enterprises are slowly eliminating poverty faced by their beneficiaries by giving their work opportunities, providing subsidized services/ goods and plough back their profits to a certain Non Profit Organizations (NPOs) to sustain their operations.

However, I feel that social enterprises alone would not be a solution for eradicating poverty completely.

A example stated in the article was that an organization which aims to deliver their innovative, life-saving drugs to the rural poor in the developing countries. Despite their desire to get these drugs, they might not have the access to them due to logistics constraints.The country might  not have proper infrastructure like roads for logistic providers to deliver the medications to the villages. Even if they managed to deliver the medications to them, will there be medical staff available to administer the drugs and inform them of the dosages to take?

Also, I feel that most social enterprises do not make a huge, sustainable impact to eradicate poverty as they are not solving the root causes of poverty. The help given to the beneficiaries is limited as most social enterprises are unable to meet all of their needs and reach out to every single beneficiaries in need. There is a capacity that they can meet.

What happens if the social enterprises wind up?  Social Enterprises are constantly battling with their survival and meeting their social objectives. The beneficiaries who are reliant on them will be hit back to square one, seeking employment at other places and rely on charities or NPOs again.

Thirdly, I feel that the solutions came up by social enterprises do not address the needs of their beneficiaries to move them out of their poverty cycle. One example would be TOMS Shoes. Their social mission is buy one pair of shoes, another pair of shoes will be given away. Based on their website,  they only gives shoes to children (no adults). I agree that the shoes who allow the children to have better health (less injuries and chances of infection) and allow them  to walk more comfortably. But do we know if they really need the shoes? They local community have been used to walking barefooted or even find other ways to protect their feet and continue on with their lives?

Lastly, there is no "one size fits all" solutions. Each country is unique, They face different challenges and different reasons for why their people are facing poverty. Social Enterprises cannot resolve all of the problems faced.

What are your thoughts?

Angel:)


References: 
Forum, S. (2014). Can Social Enterprises Really Solve Poverty?. Forbes. Retrieved 11 January 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/skollworldforum/2014/04/08/can-social-enterprises-really-solve-poverty/