Social enterprise comes of age as times change
OPINION: Two weeks ago you could just about hear the middle class choking on their sirloins as Winston Peters told an anxious fourth estate that capitalism was a foe and it needed to regain its human face.
A few days later the apparent freemarket nightmare got worse as the incoming prime minister confirmed her belief that capitalism had certainly been a failure when it came to children.
While some have decried the pronouncements of the incoming coalition government as creeping socialism, the reality will be quite different. By global standards the coalition qualifies as centre-left with emphasis on the centre.
But there is a common thread here, and it’s not so much socialist conscience as it is social context. And it’s a social context that has helped drive political change in North America and Great Britain; and it is also driving change in business.
The bourgeoisie might have been spattering their steak about, but earlier that day 50 people gathered at a converted warehouse just off Auckland’s famous Karangahape Rd.
Starting at 6am, they prepared close to 4000 lunches over the next four hours.
Now in its third year of operation, Eat My Lunch is a social enterprise business that delivers more than 1700 ‘‘on demand’’ lunches to business people around Auckland and Hamilton. And for every lunch sold to a commercial client, it provides a free lunch for a kid in need across 40 low-decile schools.
From small beginnings, Eat My Lunch has now delivered more than half a million free lunches to kids in need. Started by marketing whiz Lisa King and chef Michael Meredith in 2015 out of an Auckland residential kitchen, the business is now looking at expanding into Wellington and the South Island.
Eat My Lunch is not alone. A month ago the Social Enterprise World Forum was held in Christchurch. Over 1500 attendees came from more than 45 countries (pretty good given Christchurch still has limited conferencing facilities) and they looked at what was happening locally and globally.
One of the interesting outcomes was the observation that New Zealand is punching above its weight in the area of social enterprise businesses.
This was no surprise to Christine Langdon, founder of The Good Registry.
Currently in the final stages of a Pledge Me fundraise, Good Registry is a local online community where you ‘‘pay forward’’ events such as birthdays and Christmas to charities you care about. So instead of saying ‘‘no gifts please’’, you can help friends to give to those in need.
The Good Registry does all the legwork digitally – from helping you to choose your charity, to notifying gifters, tallying donations and sending the dosh to the charity.
Langdon reckons a key driver to the rise of social enterprises is what people see around them each day. Specifically, it’s the divide between rich and poor in New Zealand and the growing challenges around environmental sustainability.
There’s a dawning awareness that it’s up to us to help make a difference, not wait for someone else.
And while self-help remains a key part of social enterprise, it’s hard to ignore the change of political context that these businesses will exist within.
A few days ago the coalition confirmed its Cabinet. It includes social democrats Phil Twyford on housing, David Parker on economic development and Dr Megan Woods on research and innovation.
It’s not over-reaching to think that with these sort of people in charge of areas such as housing, trade and enterprise, and the Callaghan Institute, that we might start to see some signs of a pivot towards social enterprise.
Importantly, that doesn’t mean a pivot away from business, but it is likely to mean a pivot towards supporting business outcomes that also improve the world we live in.
This is likely to see more support for companies whose social missions exist alongside creating shareholder value.
It’s no accident that this sea change is occurring as the future of work is being rigorously debated. Artificial intelligence, robotics and the rise of software as a service are fundamentally changing the face of employment. People will have more time on their hands to do meaningful work.
The corollary to this is that workers will have the luxury of seeking greater fulfilment in their work, and consumers will look for great meaning in their purchases. All of which seems to be going in the same direction.
None of this is reason for the middle class to toss their cookies nor their sirloin. Though, ironically they may live longer – personally and commercially – if they do.
Mike ‘‘MOD’’ O’Donnell is an e-commerce manager and professional director. His Twitter handle is @modsta and he’s quite bullish about the possibility of social enterprise.