Profiting the Underprivileged | Bangkok Post: learning

At a mere 150cm in height and about 38kg in weight, it isn't hard to tell that 20-year-old Janewut Amaranan has physical defects - innate defects that Janewut and his mother thought were career obstacles. Half a dozen applications were filled, but he never heard back from the chain food restaurants or bookstores about the position of cashier for which he had applied.

"It turns out a cashier isn't just doing the bill at the counter," says Suwanee Yingcharoen, Janewut's mother. A cashier's job description includes moving and arranging stock, which is definitely more than what her son - born prematurely with an atrial septal defect (ASD) that made him smaller than average and able to tire easily - can handle. Her son doesn't seem to suit any position.

Just as mother and son were about to give up eight months ago, there was light at the end of the tunnel - BE Magazine. Without education or down payment required, anybody can become a magazine seller, with the first 30 copies of the 45-baht publication given away at no cost. Janewut has since earned several thousand baht a month for his family's living expenses and his own education.

BE Magazine isn't a charity organisation. Alan Archapiraj, managing director of Chill Chill Capital Co Ltd, is doing a publishing business. The School of Oriental and African Studies graduate came from a wealthy family and chose to invest 5 million baht (his and his father's money combined, without expecting to break even) last year to start the magazine and make a living out of it.

Some people may call him stubborn, but Alan and dozens of young entrepreneurs of his generation call themselves social entrepreneurs. Sharing the same outlook are managing director Patcharaporn Pansuwan and technology director Patipat Susumpow from Opendream Co Ltd. And there are a lot more "stubborn" people out there.

While Alan is helping the underprivileged improve their lives, the Opendream people enjoy bridging the gap between non-profit organisations and people in the virtual world. They've not only made several foundations' websites including http://www.greenworld.or.th and http://www.doctor.or.th more lively but also more accessible. "The information is too good not to share [in the cyber world]," says Patipat about copious medical information in the Folk Doctor Foundation's archive.

These members of the younger generation don't oppose capitalism. They only believe in their own way of doing business. And they also believe what they do will change the world.

"This is a more sustainable way than giving a free lunch," says Alan, supporting the adage that teaching a person how to fish is a lot better than giving him or her a fish.

Social entrepreneurship isn't just an ephemeral trend, but gradually emerging in the capitalist world alongside profit-maximising businesses around the world. Grameen Bank, for example, was founded in 1983 by Muhammad Yunus, who later won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, to grant loans to the underprivileged. Profit for a social enterprise doesn't always mean money but a solution that solves environmental or social problems.

A social entrepreneur, says writer/independent academic Sarinee Achavanuntakul, is a new breed of entrepreneur that does not only do good things but is also innovative and creative. Unlike the old model to maximise profit, it's a new business model that takes everything, from employee and consumer to environment and society, into account.

Brother Xavier Alpasa from the Philippines, who recently spoke at a social entrepreneur seminar in Bangkok, says a social enterprise should serve the marginalised sector, address social issues and earn real money. With the cooperation of a non-profit organisation and young professionals in 2007, his successful Rags2Riches brand turned countless dumping site rags into chic items, designed by professionals and made by housewives who live by the dumping site. The brand not only improved many lives but also got forgotten people some recognition in society.

Social enterprise isn't a charity, says Alpasa. Unlike corporate social responsibility (CSR) that is likely to be defunct if the company goes bankrupt, a social business has to survive and be able to compete with mainstream businesses. If a product isn't endorsed by a corporate figure or celebrity, the product has to speak for itself. His Rags2Riches brand is endorsed by Rajo Laurel, the "Versace of the Philippines".

But it's not that simple in Thailand. Non-profit organisations and profit maximisation businesses watch each other from opposite ends of the spectrum. While NGO staff say the homeless need to be fed to prevent crime, business people disagree with forking out money for somebody who eats and then sleeps without working.

"Both have a point," says Alan, who was inspired by The Big Issue, which helps homeless people help themselves. The underprivileged lack opportunities and business access but donations make them weak, he points out. Many return for more donated items after having sold the previous lot.

His business lands in between. Instead of throwing away free lunches, Alan is trying to change the minds of the homeless to start a new life with a small amount of money. His editorial team speaks at The National Council on Social Welfare of Thailand once a week to convince a few hundred homeless people who stop by for free lunches. A few come by the office every week after the meeting. There are more than 200 people selling the magazine throughout greater Bangkok.

With 1,350 baht, a seller can start a small business like selling fruit juice or return for more magazines, which they buy for 25 baht each and sell for 45 baht. That means they can earn 20 baht per copy. Apart from earning the money, a seller also earns a career portfolio as a bookseller.

In turn, his company is still able to make money from each copy, which costs 14 baht for a print run of 40,000 to 60,000, by selling to the vendor for 25 baht. It's about helping society without hurting your own business, says Alan. He's never been against the capitalist world that gave him a wealthy life and education.

Social enterprise is a perfect marriage. While the NGOs lack management and financial skills, says Sarinee, there are businesses wanting to help improve society.

Although Opendream doesn't generate income for its users, the digital people are helping countless lives in the virtual world. They help NGOs who can't afford expensive developers to improve their websites at low cost. About 90 percent of their customers are non-profit organisations while the rest are profit-maximising companies. Despite the different percentage, both sides generate the same amount of income each month.

We have to survive in the business, says Patipat, whose method is more or less similar to that of Robin Hood, taking from the rich to subsidise the poor.

Making a website accessible for all and finding an organisation's core competency to benefit web surfers is their job. Opendream has been improving Open Online Magazine, iLaw, Digital Library Network of Thailand and the bilingual UNHCR Thailand.

Moreover, the digital team didn't make the official website of the prime minister of Thailand just another PR tool for the government. "It has to be an interactive place where the public can connect to their prime minister directly," says Patipat, adding some comments were taken into consideration. For example, the Thai Premier League was finally televised on free TV after dozens of complaints were posted on the website.

The team is implementing an application for the blind to access the website, starting from the PM's official website. Under the constitution, says Patipat, everyone is supposed to have the right to access public information.

Unlike most employees working for their employers, Opendream team calls itself a partner that doesn't work fully for their employers. "We think of how a website will facilitate things for the users," says Patcharaporn.

And that's how every detail is taken into account for a digital social enterprise.