Related News
Cambodia鈥檚 social enterprises under strain
A snippet of Leakena鈥檚 life is written on a pair of jeans. It marked the high point in a tale of redemption: from being exploited and ostracized to working a steady job making US$250 jeans for a boutique manufacturer in rural Cambodia, with enough spare time and money to raise two children.
And then the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, stepped off a plane in Australia last year wearing a pair of 鈥渟lave-free鈥 Outland Denim jeans, into which was sewn the story of a faraway seamstress like Leakena, adding a new twist.
鈥淧eople like us are often given little value,鈥 Leakena said.
鈥淏ut now we make outfits that are suitable for a queen.鈥
The business, which employs survivors of human trafficking and other vulnerable women to make ethically sourced, environmentally friendly jeans, exploded thanks to the 鈥淢arkle Sparkle鈥 effect.
The style the duchess wore sold out in 24 hours. Sales spiked sixfold in a month.
A second plant was opened in the capital, Phnom Penh, and staff doubled to about 100.
However, the spotlight also created a dilemma for the young social enterprise 鈥 or business using profits for good 鈥 in how to scale up while staying true to its original mission of nurturing people who had been exploited.
The perils of growth are familiar to a rising number of businesses with a social purpose across Southeast Asia as they struggle to juggle more money and staff with their ideals of improving the lives of vulnerable communities.
The sudden growth ruptured Outland Denim鈥檚 company culture 鈥 which revolved around people, not profits 鈥 said James Bartle, who started the Australian firm in 2011.
鈥淥ur culture suffered in the scaling process,鈥 said the former steel fabricator.
鈥淲e had to come back in and really reset why we exist and what we are here to do.鈥
One of the primary hurdles start-ups encounter, premature scaling up can create a domino effect that shifts focus away from the mission, according to researchers.
鈥淭here comes a point where management needs to switch from running the business to understanding how the business is run,鈥 said Neal Harrison, associate director at the Miller Centre for Social Entrepreneurship in California.
With that in mind, Bartle weeded out a 鈥渇ew bad eggs鈥 and reworked his team.
The focus went back on staff, who are schooled in English, financial literacy and maternal health at the breezy, laid-back countryside factory 鈥 a far cry from the industrial zone production lines that drive Cambodia鈥檚 economy.
鈥淥ne of the big things we learned 鈥 we can scale very quickly but we need to scale the management support with it to maintain the integrity of what we do,鈥 he said.
For Leakena, growing the brand means more jobs for women like her.
But that can only come with a focus on staff welfare and personal touches 鈥 such as the seamstress-to-consumer messages printed inside jeans pockets.
鈥淚t鈥檚 our way of connecting with the people who wear our jeans,鈥 she said. 鈥淔amous or not, they can share our story and let the world know we exist.鈥
Self-esteem
While personal stories helped propel sales for Outland, at Kate Korpi 鈥 an academy and salon in Phnom Penh that trains and employs trafficking survivors and vulnerable young people 鈥 the past is left at the front door.
鈥淲hen they walk in here, they are stylists and that鈥檚 it,鈥 said US founder Matthew Fairfax.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 even want to know their backstory,鈥 he said, focusing instead on becoming Phnom Penh鈥檚 premier salon.
Since launching in 2014, Kate Korpi has grown steadily. But it only takes in four new students each year despite having a backlog of applicants.
When a potential funder took interest in the academy and suggested more trainees be pushed through faster, Fairfax knocked them back.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 rush self-esteem ... You don鈥檛 just take somebody who鈥檚 been traumatized and in six months say, 鈥極kay, you are ready to reintegrate,鈥欌 he said.
Fairfax is looking to replicate the model with more trafficking survivors in his hometown Seattle.
But replication, if not properly considered, can be another top hazard for social enterprises.
Many take a 鈥渃ookie cutter鈥 approach, failing to consider all the elements of working in a different market, said Harrison, the mentor and researcher.
鈥淧eople get distracted and run off into lots of different directions, choosing too many markets, or the wrong one,鈥 he said. 鈥淰ery few companies do scale successfully. Most of them fall prey to these ... kinds of problems.鈥
For Phare Ponleu Selpak 鈥 or 鈥渂rightness of the arts鈥 鈥 which started as an arts school for vulnerable children in 1994, scaling was an organic stage of evolution when it began producing skilled graduates.
With about 60 alumni performing, Phare, the Cambodian Circus is one of the biggest tourist draws in the northwestern resort town of Siem Reap, the gateway to the Angkor temples.
From an outdoor stage and a few dozen plastic chairs, the circus is now seen by thousands each month and has performed in South Korea, Australia, the United States and France, with one graduate touring the world with Cirque du Soleil.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 got to the threshold where we don鈥檛 have any more jobs to create,鈥 said marketing director Craig Dodge.
But they aren鈥檛 far off.
The school, which is partly funded by the circus, now has more than 1,200 students, meaning it will soon be churning out more artists than the circus can employ.
鈥淪caling ... is something we struggle with,鈥 said Dodge. 鈥淚t is a challenge to find jobs for all of these graduating artists.鈥
To account for that, Phare last year opened a graphic design and animation studio and has a theater-and-dinner project in the pipeline for Phnom Penh.
鈥淭he younger generation, they see what their brothers and sisters are doing and that they can make a good living,鈥 he said.
鈥淣ow it is seen as a career opportunity ... so we have to find ways to incorporate that into what we are doing.鈥
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔$粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.