Addressing Poverty through the social enterprise business model: A Social Enterprise Business Approach
Question
Task: How can a social enterprise business model effectively address poverty resulting from unemployment, and what are the key components involved in its implementation?
Answer
Introduction
The chosen social issue that this file will be addressed through the social enterprise business model is poverty as a result of unemployment. As a result of social and economic crises, there is an increasing rate of poverty across the world (Singh, 2018). Poverty as a social issue has also been mentioned in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be addressed so that every individual can get at least basic human needs. It is evident that there are multiple global firms that work to address this particular issue however most of them still fail to implement it within their business model. The report has considered “The employment model" as a social enterprise business model for operating a potential retail business so that particular issues can be addressed to some extent. To demonstrate the business model the report has discussed some of the major factors such as value proposition, selected channels, customer relationship, revenue models etc.
Brief explanation of the social issue
Unemployment has a significant impact on the people and society as the economic issues arise from this factor. Organisations today prefer machinery work in comparison to manual work so they do not have to recruit more labourers in their business and this has increased the unemployment rate in the global region. Increasing unemployment has also increased the poverty level which is considered one of the dominant social issues. Unemployment creates poverty because of the decreasing income as most of the jobs are cut down by firms by implementing machines in work (Khuhawar & Shah, 2019). Poverty is increasing because of unemployment and the state of income of an individual or family which makes it difficult to maintain a living standard in a society. Society is considered to have social problems when the circumstances in the community are severe and difficult to manage the issues. It has been identified that unemployment is closely related to the increasing poverty in the global region which further leads to increased social problems (Manshor et al., 2020). Most social problems are considered as a result of market failures and poverty exists because the resources are taken away for earning profits without creating any employment opportunities for the people (Chapter 1). Furthermore, an increase in unemployment also leads to other crimes which can bring a significant social issue in the community which has to be taken care of by implementing various effective strategies and techniques.
Customer segment
Figure 1: Poverty related to unemployment
Source: (Gomathy, 2022)
Customer segmentation denotes the division of targeted clients based on their necessities, wants, purchasing behaviour etc (Gomathy, 2022). In this business model, the targeted customer is those individual not have job opportunities and suffer from poverty. The report developed by UNSW, (2020) has stated that unemployment is the major factor leading to poverty in Australia. It is demonstrated in the above figure that people in Australia who are unemployed are in major jeopardy of poverty. It can be said that there is an increasing number of unemployed individuals in Australia and they are facing the issue of poverty. It is evident that some companies such as Coles, SECONDBITE etc have initiated to address the hunger issue in 2020 they appealed to deliver nutritious meals at the national level for vulnerable Australians (Coles, 2020). It becomes very crucial for these firms to work for social causes as a strong CSR initiative. Similarly, this report will address vulnerable Australians in reference to unemployment and poverty eventually. It is evident from the above figure that when a main bread earner in a house becomes unemployed 66% of households remain in poverty. Therefore, by targeting the main household earner retail organisations can address the increasing issue of employment and poverty as a whole.
Value Proposition
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Value Map |
Customer Profile |
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Product & Services
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Gain Creators
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Gains
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Customer jobs
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Pain relievers
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Pains
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Table 1: Value Proposition
Source: Self-Created
Channels
Unemployment is identified as the difficulty of earning a fair livelihood (Chapter 1.1). The above-segmented customers belonging to unemployed backgrounds will be the main targeted stakeholders that the retail firm is expected to communicate. Communication according to Kapur, (2018) is a very crucial system and it needs to develop across organisational areas. In order to communicate with the targeted audience the chosen communication channel is a campaign, face-to-face communication, postering etc. It is evident that unemployed individuals are all over the nation and they cannot be targeted through only one channel therefore, diverse channels are selected. In addition to that to make other stakeholders aware of the employment initiatives the selected channels for the firm are social media, company website, messaging and emails. Through these channels, the firm will be able to communicate with respective stakeholders and make them understand the approach and overall benefits. In the current situation, the process of communication has become very easy because of the availability of diverse digital platforms however both traditional and current channels have been selected to increase its efficiency.
Customer relationship
The major customer that this business model has been targeting is unemployed household earners in Australia. Their basic need for food is to be addressed by providing them with employee opportunities with retailers. Developing a strong relationship between customers and other stakeholders in the firm is a crucial aspect of the success of this business model. Enhanced customer relationship management aims to develop and maintain good relationships with respective customers (Rashiduzzaman et al., 2018). In order to build a good relationship with these unemployed individuals the firm will be encouraging a consistent and transparent communication mechanism. This will clarify the objective behind initiating such a social enterprise business model so that every individual contributes their time and expertise. Developing a strong relationship with a customer here refers to fighting against an issue which has destroyed millions of people's lives. Therefore, relationship determines the success and failure of the chosen business model hence it is necessary to be considered in the first place.
Revenue streams or revenue models
A revenue stream or model as a significant business model measures the capability of an organisation to monetise the values that are presented to the customers. The transformation helps in generating the revenue stream for the business (Reme?ová et al., 2020). The targeted customers in the social enterprise business model are unemployed household owners which showed the high poverty level in Australia. The revenue stream model for the targeted customers is to help them find employment by providing effective training and other strategies which make them capable of working and earning a significant amount to reduce the poverty level. By providing training, employment opportunities and education to the unemployed household owners they can earn some capital and this can help them to sustain their lives and bring improvement in their living standard in the community.
Key resources
Key resources in business allow an organisation to develop and offer a value proposition to develop a relationship with customers, reach markets and earn revenues (Taipale-Erävala et al., 2020). The products or services that are offered to the targeted customers who are unemployed household owners are employment opportunities, provide training, job opportunities and work with professionals. Therefore, to bring improvement and create a value proposition the required key resources are skilled trainers who can provide effective training to the unemployed people and guide them to develop skills. Moreover, the required key resources are experienced workers or professionals, new technologies etc. where they can learn and gain education. Unemployment and poverty are considered relevant social issues in society and is important to provide better training and education so that unemployed household owners can gain a competitive advantage to find employment which can reduce the poverty rate in the nation and can increase and maintain the economy.
Key partners
The key partners that are required for the business model are advisors, technological suppliers and skilled and experienced workers who can provide better suggestions and address the social problems in the society. The key partners are where two or more people or firms works in collaboration as partners to achieve the same common goal (Kiss, 2020). The key partners in business can provide better suggestions to make decisions in business and achieve one common goal. The main goal of this business model is to provide employment to unemployed household owners in Australia. Therefore, the involvement of advisors, technological suppliers and skilled and experienced workers or partners can help in providing employment opportunities by offering training and education to those people reducing poverty and maintaining living standards in society.
Key activities
It is important that in achieving goals and targets in business key processes or activities are required and this can help in delivering the value proposition. The main target customers are the unemployed household owners in Australia and the goals are to reduce this by taking various activities and strategies which can bring an improvement in creating value proposition. The key process that is required to bring together the resources and deliver a value proposition is recruiting a skilled person who has the knowledge and idea to give effective training to people. Maintaining relationships with customers is also an integral part which has to be managed and is also a significant part of delivering the value proposition. This can help in providing training and employment opportunities to people and bring improvement and progress in their overall activities. Moreover, this ultimately can deliver skills to unemployed people to get employment and reduce the poverty level in Australia.
Cost structure
Cost structure refers to the various types of expenditures that are included in business and are mainly composed of fixed and variable costs. It gives an idea to the businesses in identifying and analysing the overall costs that are involved in the organisation in doing their work activities. The cost required for the delivery of the value proposition is around $41,000 which is mainly for recruiting skilled and experienced trainers who can provide training to people by communicating effectively. Technologies are one of the key resources that are needed so that unemployed household owners can get education and training which are also linked to technologies. The cost is also required for getting technologies to train the unemployed household owners in Australia which is included in the above-mentioned amount. This significantly gives them an opportunity to get employment in organisations with a healthy salary which helps them to sustain their living in society. The involvement of those equipment and trainers can help them get quality training and education which is an opportunity to gain employment in the nation.
Conclusion
The above report can be concluded on the fact that despite being a developed nation with immense resources and an economy Australia is still struggling with unemployment which is leading to poverty. It is identified that when a main bread earner in the house becomes unemployed 66% of households come under poverty. In order to address this particular issue through the retail industry “The employment model” has been selected and discussed above highlighting some of the crucial associated aspects. Through this social enterprise business model retailers will be able to provide employment opportunities to those bread earners of the house and to some extent address the issue of poverty. It has also been discussed that through this approach a huge difference in society can be experienced since some retailers are already involved in this initiative it will act as a huge support. Necessary resources, cost, communication channels etc. have been highlighted above which will make the chosen business model successful.
?References
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