A reflection

Like another other blogs I have, I would like to share my personal reflection, having spent three years in the course. Though it is not about any social enterprise, I feel that BZSE is the stepping stone for any aspiring social entrepreneur

First of all, I came to BZSE with the hopes of learning more on the humanities side, rather than the business side. Alas, I was pretty disappointed that it did not turn out how I wanted it to be. But, I have learnt so much in this course that I am certain that I will not be able to learn elsewhere.

Does BZSE push me out of my comfort zone? Of course. The projects thrown to us, the internship, the lecturers, expectations, so on and so forth. Like any other thing, there is room for improvement which I had shared with a few lecturers during a chit chat session, but it is a great course.

So how is it a stepping stone? Personally, I feel that it makes us realise if we want to help out society, to be a social entrepreneur or not. And it doesn't stop there. It gets us thinking deeply, on who we want to help, which particular beneficiaries, and how can we help them. A childish thinking that we may have from secondary school will definitely not be sufficient or even pass at the current stage we are at. But it gets us thinking more maturely. The realisation, the desire to serve a certain group, this is what I feel BZSE has done to their students.

What about my learning journey then? Well, first of all, some projects thrown to us includes implementation of certain ideas we have. We have to launch our ideas and it is not just stuck on paper. What does it means? It simply means that we aren't just going to stay as thinker bur rather, doer. "Talk is cheap", is what people often say. BZSE definite make sure we do not just talk the talk, but walk the talk.

And what about internship? For me, I was at Weekender, a new social enterprise. It was both exhausting but fulfilling. I have learnt so much from this one experience. From mundane things such as marketing to recruiting workers, it threw me so far out of my comfort zone that I wish I can just crawl back in. But it was such a learning experience that I will not trade it in for any other possible internship opportunity.

All in all, I will not and have never regretted joining BZSE. From a childish and immature individual to someone that can probably make more sense now, I do hope that future aspiring social entrepreneur find out what is important to them and how they want to make a change. But for that change to happen, there has got to be a change within us.

The future of social enterprise

Taking the diploma in Business and Social Enterprise (BZSE), I have definitely learn a lot about a social enterprise. About the social enterprise model in Singapore, and the many other successful social enterprise models around the world. Perhaps what many social entrepreneur can agree on is that the UK has one of the best model for a social enterprise.

A social enterprise will not disappear nor cease to exist. They will continuously grow and become well known by everyone. But what is the future of the social enterprise? There are a few ways to help cultivate a social enterprise, to ensure that they can continue to thrive.

Things such as changing the system, to not just merely speaking of what they want to do, but to just implement and do what they want to will build a social enterprise or even a legacy. Of course, with ideas, the same old ideas will not work over and over again. There has to be fresh insights or new ideas to help tackle the many issues that a country or even the world is facing.

But should we want to develop new ideas, method to change the world, shouldn't it be better if we went down to the place straight to find out what is going on, rather than just looking at it through the internet? Indeed, we are too comfortable at where we are to get down and dirty. However, such things can slowly kill a social enterprise.

These are just a few of the many ways we can consider when setting up a social enterprise. However, I believe that we have it in us, to make a change. It does not has to be as drastic as to having a brilliant idea that has never been thought before but if it is done before, and it works, we should consider trying it out. It has to be with a heart and with the faith and belief that it will work. Adopting a safe method while continuously trying to improve their own business, that is what I would like to see in social entrepreneur, locally or globally.

Article: 10 Ideas Driving The Future Of Social Entrepreneurship. From http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681921/10-ideas-driving-the-future-of-social-entrepreneurship

Hawker Centre/Social Enterprise shut down

By now, most of us should know that there is  hawker centre/social enterprise in Singapore. The social enterprise is meant to empower ex-convicts and the disabled. This particular social enterprise is known as Kampung @ Simpang Bedok. The hawker stall owners enjoys subsidies and such from the tenants, paying lesser than the listed rental price.

So even after receiving subsidies and such, why did Kampung @ Simpang closed down? After doing a little reading, I personally feel that Kampung @ Simpang had to shut down because of one simple reason, which is poor planning. What was made known to us is due to the poor location and inaccessibility of the hawker centre. It is located on a second level with no lift access. This easily translate to a reason to not patronise the hawker centre. An elderly person, family with strollers, or even people who wants had a long day will not want to climb the stairs.

If I were in their shoe, a few factors I will consider before setting up this hawker centre are the location, demographic, and maybe the spending power of the people living in the area. Of course, when people go to a hawker centre, what they are looking for is good and cheap food. To ensure that such a hawker centre can be successful, the food has to be of a certain standard so that it will continuously attract the public.

Also, a hawker centre on the second level that is only accessible via stairs will cause some people to not even consider the place when deciding where to eat. Some improvement that may be implement can be to install a lift or even escalator. Thus, people will go to the place to enjoy their meal.

Perhaps one other way to prevent the hawker centre from closing down is to do regular check on it. This issue was only noticed by the head of the consultation panel after more than six months. If it was noticed earlier, it could have been tackled and solved and the hawker centre might still continue running today.

All in all, the hawker centre failed due to the lack of planning and checking on the conditions of the hawker centre. As someone that may be planning anything, we have to be as detailed and precise as possible, taking into consideration the factors that may and will hinder the success.

Article: First hawker centre managed by social enterprise shuts doors. From http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/first-hawker-centre-managed-social-enterprise-shuts-doors

A closer look at social enterprises in Singapore: Eighteen Chefs

Having talked quite a bit on social enterprises in general, I feel that perhaps we can look into details of a social enterprise, to understand their background, and how it came about. For today, we will be focusing on none other than, the one that we all know, Eighteen Chefs.

Eighteen Chefs is a social enterprise set up by Benny Se Teo, who is an ex-convict. As the name suggest, Eighteen Chefs is in the F&B industry, serving western style cuisine. Benny Se Teo was once a heroin addict, who has been in and out of prison and rehabilitation centre for countless times. But the "Grace of God" was what help him get rid of his past and become who he is today.

Being an ex-convict, it left a bad mark on him. He was resources enough to find the right avenue to get funding. His "brothers" did not help him but yet, Benny persisted and went to somewhere unexpected, NTUC.

By investing the resources and funding in kitchen equipments and food technology, Eighteen Chefs is where it is today.With great food, served by capable chefs, the food comes quickly without affect the quality of the food. However, is serving good food the biggest achievement for Eighteen Chefs? Well, it seems that what Benny aims to do with his enterprise is to empower and help ex-convicts and youth-at-risk to be confident of themselves. Using Eighteen Chefs as a stepping stone, the beneficiaries can find other jobs outside of Eighteen Chefs if they want to progress further. In fact, there are some workers who went out and became the head chef of other notable restaurant and others even set up their own hawker business.

Indeed, Eighteen chefs has done well in empowering their beneficiaries, and also, proved to society that even ex-convicts are human and can do well if they set their heart to it. With support that we can provide to them, anyone can do well and be an inspiration to society.

Hopefully, this story will inspire a few of us to be more supportive of social enterprises, not just because of their cause but because the products that they offer are of good quality. Having been to Eighteen chefs a few times, I must say that they do serve good food. Why not give it a shot if you have not been there. Who knows, you may really enjoy the food there.

Article: Eighteen Chefs – Meet The Ex-Convict Who Provides Jobs, Hope and Life. From http://danielfooddiary.com/2013/10/31/eighteenchefs/

Are social enterprise doomed to fail?

Like any other businesses, social enterprises in Singapore have to sustain themselves. The self-sustaining social enterprise usually represent a successful social enterprise. However, 1 out of 5 small business usually shut down. We are talk about businesses, that are profit driven. What about social enterprises which has a double or even triple bottom line? Having to juggle both profits and their beneficiaries'welfare, one would assume that social enterprises have it tougher.

A social enterprise that perhaps we can look at in Laksania. They are in the F&B industry, serving up different type of Laksas. Their beneficiaries consist of patients from Institute of Mental Health (IMH) and also from Movement for the Intellectually Disabled, which consist of the mentally challenged. They had outlets at East Coast, Bugis Plus and JEM.

However, Laksania unexpected lost its tender at their central kitchen that was based in IMH. They had to quickly find a new kitchen. Alas, they had to squeeze at the East Coast outlet, and eventually incurred higher cost for the new central kitchen located at Kampong Apat. This was a huge blow to them as they were planning to expand. However, due to all these changes, they had to delay and may even not expand anymore.

The outlet at JEM did not help either, as JEM was closed for about 2 weeks after the many mishaps that happened in JEM. Right now, the founder is pouring all she can into Laksania, hoping to keep it up and running. However, things are not looking good for them and they are hoping to find investors.

Social enterprises in Singapore generally receives help from the government and the many different organisaitons. Generally, businesses that doesn't rely on organisations or even donations tend not be stuck in such situations, such as a sudden lost of the location will cause more than just inconvenience for the employees and the owners.

Perhaps a way social enterprises can help to be more sustainable in Singapore is for them to see themselves more as a business that has to take care of then things on their own, rather than thinking that they may ave someone to rely on

Article: Laksania's uphill struggle against rising costs - Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh
http://news.asiaone.com/news/soshiok/laksanias-uphill-struggle-against-rising-costs

Social enterprise, for-profit or non-profit?

Should a social enterprise be for-profit, or non-profit? This is a debate that has been going on for a long time. What's the big idea? Perhaps a better understanding of a for-profit and a non-profit social enterprise will help us understand why is there such a big debate.

A for-profit social enterprise are more inclined and required to give high-quality products or services. The reason is really simple, Being a for-profit social enterprise means it is conducting business for almost the same reason as a conversational business. They are constantly competing for customers.
But more than just competing, the social enterprise can issue share and dividends to shareholders and owners. In Singapore context, for-profit social enterprises are not an uncommon sight. the owners get to take back profits earned.

As for non-profit social enterprises, they do not take back profits but rather, those money are used for the business's expenses and improvement of the social enterprise. They may even rely on donation from time to time.

So once again, why should it matter whether it's for-profit or not? Firstly, we should understand that in the UK, social enterprises are all non-profit. Yet they are still very successful. The owners aren't allow to draw our any profits. Many argue that Singapore should follow their model, claiming that a social enterprise that takes profits are not true social enterprise.

However, should it ever be mandatory for social enterprises in Singapore to be non-profit, it will definitely deter people from wanting to set up a social enterprise. Yet, it gives us a feeling that people are setting up social enterprises for the wrong reasons if such a thing deter them from setting up a social enterprise.

Alas, I feel that for-profit social enterprises can better allocate their resources so that they can benefit their beneficiaries better with the excess profit that they have. They can keep the profits but they should also be used for the advancement of the social enterprise, as well as taking care of their beneficiaries.

At the end of the day, it depends on us as an individual, whether we want to earn profit or help society more. No matter what we choose, as long as we are accountable for our actions and are helping society in a good way and not doing any harm, it should be good enough for a start. Whether we wish to convert to a non-profit at a later date is a different story all together.

Article: What is the For-Profit Social Enterprise? - Jonathan Carson & Scott Griffith http://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/what-profit-social-enterprise

Should you be a social entrepreneur?

Being in Business and Social Enterprise, it is only natural that we take up the social enterprise route and be a social entrepreneur, to build a better future for those in need. Things such as providing better education for people in Africa or providing employment opportunities for the underprivileged. But should every single one of us be a social entrepreneur, what will become of the world?

Although not much in Singapore, other countries such as the UK offers subjects and modules regarding social enterprise. What was alien to us a few years ago seem to have explode in our society today. Students these days want to make a difference to society, and this does not applies to just undergrad but also to high school students.

However, not everyone is suited to be a social entrepreneur, nor should they be one. Don't get me wrong. There are so many other ways we can contribute back to society. Social entrepreneur is just one of the many ways. If everyone of us became a social entrepreneur, who will be at the back doing the other work? A social enterprise require things such as volunteers, supporters, fundraiser, and so on. Basically, people who specialise in different areas. Their speciality will keep the social enterprise running or even do better than it already can.

There are many courses and scholarships offered to us if we are really interested to be a social entrepreneur. The Singapore government is also encouraging people to set up social enterprises and so on. But once again, we have to take into consideration of what we want to do. Do we really want to do this and is this our passion? We are at an age where everything seems attractive to us and we want to explore different options. But if we really wish to change the world, perhaps doing what we do best will at the very least,

At the end of the day, no matter what we may do, we should give our absolute best if we want to change the world. After all, we have to be the change we want to see in the world.

Article Reference: Not Everyone Should Be a Social Entrepreneur - Lara Galinsky