SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Executive summary

Social enterprises in Singapore utilizes commercial strategic approaches to maximize the social, financial, and environmental wellness. As such, social entrepreneurship is capable of safeguarding its sustainability into the future besides fulfilling its societal obligations. The definition of key terms such as entrepreneurship, innovation, and creativity has been provided since they serve as the basis of social enterprises in Singapore. Motivations to setting up social enterprises exemplify the upsurge of social enterprises in the country relative to modern developments. Social enterprises have a moral responsibility that must be articulated to ensure such a portfolio meets their stipulated goals. Similarly, social entrepreneurs are motivated due to the availability of exploitable opportunities in the market, mostly in the Asian Pacific region.

Introduction

Social entrepreneurship refers to the approach utilized by individuals or groups of people to develop, fund, and implement ideas related to social, environmental, and cultural concerns. In Singapore, unicorn startups like Grab and Razer have sprouted out as crucial social enterprises, thus considered as the dream of founders. Businesses in the city have made a long-lasting impact on society, with over 400,000 social entrepreneurships being developed (Shiya, 2019). Social entrepreneurship is dependent on innovation and creativity to successfully implement solutions posed by social and cultural issues. Innovation refers to the process of applying improved solutions to articulate specific needs in the existing markets. On the other hand, creativity refers to the use of imagination by utilizing original concepts to develop something new. As such, social entrepreneurship in Singapore has continuously reinvented new means of carrying out business, having a social purpose.

Literature review

Research carried out by Chand stipulates that moral responsibility and ethical motives motivate social entrepreneurs to startup businesses. The author provides the example of “Sonder Social” due to its development of an ethical subscription at $79 per month, which makes its customers receive goods from social enterprises in the Asia Pacific region (Chand, 2018, pp. 1). The article shows that the founders were motivated by the ethical nature of the Singaporean markets to provide employment to the marginalized members of the society. As such, it is evident that the affection in the Singapore markets motivates numerous business persons to offer products at reduced prices as an initiative of giving back to society (Chand, 2018, pp. 1). The views by Chand correlates to Tabla’s stipulations since it outlines the role of social entrepreneurs towards pulling the less fortunate from adverse poverty.

Research carried out by Tabla outlines that entrepreneurs are motivated to join social enterprises due to the necessity to build relationships. The author articulates that Singapore, social enterprises have been on the rise due to the urge to form networks that form the basis of funding either as volunteers or equity partners (Tabla, 2014). The author shows that social enterprises always have the upper hand in convincing investors to provide the necessary capital. Building relationships forms a crucial role in spearheading ideas which pose great significance to the society. The author shows how “love social enterprise” spearheaded to create a strong relationship between stakeholders in Singapore, Korea, and Italy in a bid to fulfill its social obligation. Stipulations made by Tabla correlate to Chand’s analysis ensures that social enterprises are better positioned to provide social services as if it’s a legal obligation.

Analysis

Advantages

Social entrepreneurship creates diversity due to the unique selling of products having a social impact (Giovanardi, 2017, pp. 1). As such, the pro has been used by entrepreneurs to venture into the Singaporean market due to the diversity of the Singaporean society. The diversity experienced in Singapore comes as a surprise since society is characterized by multi-ethnicity. As such, social entrepreneurs in Singapore utilize the black swan theory to rationalize the benefits posed by entrepreneurship as hindsight.  Also, social entrepreneurship acts as a positivity magnet since it applies transparent policies that pose a tracking effect on social sustainability. The positivity aligns with the black swan theory, which postulates the use of ethical practices to promote societal sustainability.

Disadvantages

Social entrepreneurs lack success history thus mostly utilize mindsets to gain the trust of their customers. The modern era has been characterized by a lack of accountability and viability in social enterprises since many of the business models lack case histories (Giovanardi, 2017, pp. 1). Besides, social entrepreneurs lack the required public exposure to support their venture to fulfill their societal obligations. As such, some of the social entrepreneurs fail to motivate aspiring business personnel to join together as a group to fulfill a certain mission. Finally, social entrepreneurs lack the proper support structure due to reduced recognition and regulations from the authorities.

Significance for entrepreneurship

The advantages pose a lucrative opportunity that stands to motivate other social entrepreneurs to venture into the business. Hence, entrepreneurship would further grow in Singapore to govern the already saturated social market (Giovanardi, 2017, pp. 1). The pros would ensure that social entrepreneurs fulfill their societal obligation to unite the highly ethnic Singaporean society. However, the cons provide hindrances to approaches developed by individuals to provide solutions to social and environmental concerns (Shiya, 2019, p. 1). Thus, social entrepreneurs in Singapore need to utilize the best course of action to implement societal improvements as part of its mandate. Similarly, the entrepreneurs need to articulate the psychological effects caused by Country-of-origin since it would significantly impact society’s perceptions of their roles.

Conclusion

Social entrepreneurship plays a critical role in making improvements in society since it is the main obligation of such enterprises. Creativity and innovation play a vital role in ensuring that entrepreneurs succeed in meeting their set goals and targets. The literature review provides insights developed by Tabla and Chand in regard to the motivations for setting up a social enterprise. Building relationships and adherence to moral obligations prove to be the key factors compelling individuals into the sector. The analysis of social entrepreneurs proves that the sector is characterized by numerous cons and pros which affect the overall performance. The disadvantages affect social entrepreneurship negatively.

References

Chand, S. (2018). 4 Things That Motivates a Social Entrepreneur Beyond Creating Social Value. [online] Your Article Library. Available at: http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/entrepreneurship/4-things-that-motivates-a-social-entrepreneur-beyond-creating-social-value/14199 [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020].

Giovanardi, M. (2019). Key Advantages & Disadvantages of Social Entrepreneurship. [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@mbgiovanardi/key-advantages-disadvantages-of-social-entrepreneurship-1a5eb2c354f7 [Accessed 5 Mar. 2020].

Shiya (2019). 10 Social Enterprises Founded By Singaporeans You Can Support. [online] HYPE & STUFF. Available at: https://www.hypeandstuff.com/10-social-enterprises-in-singapore/ [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020].

Tabla (2014). More people are setting up social enterprises in Singapore. [online] AsiaOne. Available at: https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/more-people-are-setting-social-enterprises-singapore [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020].