SE sector in Ireland

Recently, I came across this article

Read more at http://www.siliconrepublic.com/careers/item/33627-social-enterprise-sector/

It is said that in Ireland, 25,000 jobs can be created through the social enterprise sector by 2020. Furthermore, the social sector in Ireland has already employed “more than 25,000 people in more than 1,400 social enterprises in Ireland.” This caught me by surprise as I always thought that social enterprise have little impact on the economy. In my opinion, I thought that social enterprises have more impact on individuals than on the society. Because they aim to be profitable and able to make an impact at the same time, it will be hard for them to sustain. After reading this article, I went to research on Ireland's social enterprise sector and came across another article by the guardian.

Read more at http://www.theguardian.com/social-enterprise-network/2013/mar/19/ireland-social-enterprise-sector-recognition

This article talks about how social enterprise in Ireland was not recognised in the past, but now, the Ireland government is going to "follow through with an earlier commitment to support the development of social enterprise in Ireland". This shows that they government "recognises social enterprises's 'important role in supporting jobs in many local and rural communities'". However, the 'follow through' is not confirmed and there are no definite details about whether is it really going to happen. In Ireland, even though social enterprises creates job for a lot of individuals and 'represents a sizeable proportion of economic activity, with recent estimates suggesting it generates €240m (£205m) in revenue and employs 9,300 people directly, as well as a further 5,100 indirectly", it does not have as much support as corporate or enterprises. Also, people tend to mix social programs and social enterprise together. 

To me, this situation is somewhat similar in Singapore. Singapore is ranked as one of the easiest place in the world to start a business. However, starting a business and sustaining a business is 2 entirely different thing. In my opinion, I feel that it is hard for social enterprises to sustain in Singapore. Social enterprises need to have 2 goals in their concept, one being the profit and the other one being their beneficiaries. Concentrating on 2 things will leave them at a disadvantaged end. On top of that, social enterprises in Singapore are not very recognised. Singaporean's awareness for social enterprises are low and there are people who still think that social enterprises are charities or even social programs. In my opinion, people always think that since social enterprises are there for social good, they should charge at a cheaper price, instead of the quality of their services or products. On top of that, people only go to a social enterprise because they want to do good. They do not view social enterprise as a for-profit enterprise, thus they pay them very little attention.

Maybe this is happening because social enterprise sector is just starting to get in trend in Singapore and that because its a new entity, thus it will still need some time for social enterprises to have an established place in the society that they are also business entities.