Social enterprises (SEs) are essentially business entities that are working towards changing the world for better. In Singapore, raiSE defines social enterprises as business entities set up with clear social goals, and with clear intent and resources allocated to fulfil their social objectives.
raiSE was created as a joint collaboration between the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), National Council of Social Service (NCSS), Social Enterprise Association and Tote Board to develop the social enterprise sector in Singapore.
As social enterprises are also businesses, they should seek to earn profits instead of rely on donations and funding. Just like any business, social enterprises have to pay corporate tax. As social enterprises seek to better the world around them, when they profit, society profits.
Social enterprises can be small businesses like cafes, home services, food and beverage and retail boutiques. They can also be medium sized that are starting to incorporate social impact strategically into their business and develop products and services to meet social needs. They can also be huge conglomerates like NTUC Income.
How Many Social Enterprises Are There In Singapore?
According to British Council’s global social enterprise surveys, there is an estimated 2,660 social enterprises in Singapore. This figure includes charities and societies, as well as an estimated number of small businesses. However, raiSE only has about 367 members, according to its directory.
Members of raiSE can display the BusinessForGood logo.
Read Also: What is the Difference Between a Charity and a Social Enterprise?
How Social Enterprises Create Meaningful Social Impact
In Singapore, SEs serve a wide spectrum of beneficiaries, like disadvantaged communities. According to the British Council survey results, most reported that they serve people and families with low income (51%). Other groups include social service organisations (42%), people with disabilities (40%), vulnerable youth and children (34%) as well as women and girls (31%).
Social enterprises exist in nearly every sector from beauty, health and wellness, to education and training, community engagement, events management, retail, home services and food and beverage. They create jobs and training opportunities for those marginalised from the workforce, deliver accessible products and services to meet community needs, transforming the neighbourhoods they work in. Not forgetting, some SEs also channel their earnings to people in need or to charities.
One example of how an SE contributes socially is The Animal Project (TAP). TAP manufactures, distributes, and sells lifestyle product and handicraft works made by persons with special needs. The special need artists receives royalty from the sale of these products. The business also provides employment opportunities to persons with special needs.
How Social Enterprises Generate Revenue
Starting any business is never easy. And it can be doubly challenging for any business that also wants to create meaningful social impact. This is why support is provided to new or existing social-impact driven companies through raiSE’s VentureForGood Grant and investments into social-impact driven companies that are in their growth stage through the raiSE Impact Finance (RIF+).
As Social Enterprises do not rely on donations to keep their operations going, they must also provide a valuable product and/or service. According to British Council’s results, 57% of social enterprises reported either making a profit or breaking even, and 75% reported annual revenue of S$250,000 or less in the last financial year, while only 8% reported annual revenues of more than S$1m.
What Are Some Social Enterprises in Singapore
Most SEs publicly state their social and/or environmental commitments in their corporate materials, and more pertinently their website and social media channels.
As mentioned, another way we can identify social enterprises is through the BusinessForGood logo. On the raiSE website , there is also a BusinessForGood directory where we can search for SEs by their business sector (arts, sports and recreation, fashion and retail, finance, and insurance, etc,.) or choose areas of impact ( provision of employment opportunities, provision of basic human needs, provision of healthcare/social care products and services, etc,.).
5 Ways To Support Society Enterprises In Singapore
There are many ways to support an SE and essentially be part of raiSE’s #partofthegood campaign.
#1 As alluded to earlier, social enterprises can be found in almost any business sector. This means we can do our part to actively look for an alternative solution that is a social enterprise whenever we buy.
#2 When we purchase from social enterprises, we can also become champions of the business. This can be taking a picture to post on your social channels or spreading the word in your circle. This way, we can help to raise awareness and invite others to support SEs.
#3 raiSE will usually organise events to support their social enterprise members. We can participate in these events, as well as events organised by social enterprises members and their partners.
#4 For individuals or businesses that can benefit social enterprises, we can share expertise and resources to shed light on issues and challenges in the ecosystem while equipping social entrepreneurs with the right skills to address them.
#5 We can follow raiSE on their social media handles, such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or YouTube to learn more about social enterprises and what they do.
Read Also: Why Giving To Charities May Actually Impact Us As Much As The Charities We Give To
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