Page 327 - Social Enterprise A New Business Paradigm for Thailand

Section 11.3: Approaches to Developing Social Enterprises

Efforts to address the challenges faced by social enterprises must begin with a broad, systemic
perspective in order to identify the fundamental obstacles. These challenges fall into two main

categories: market-side (demand-side) challenges and supply-side challenges.

11.3.1 Marketing Challenges
Marketing is often the weakest aspect of social enterprises. However, it would be inaccurate to
treat the market for social enterprises as a single, uniform entity, since different enterprises
serve different segments. Therefore, strategies for developing markets for social enterprises
must distinguish between two main groups:

1. Social enterprises that produce goods and services for the general commercial market.
These enterprises can be self-sustaining if they are built on strong business models and
typically do not require special support beyond general marketing training, similar to the
assistance provided to small and medium-sized enterprises by government agencies and
academic institutions. If social enterprises in this group are unable to strengthen their
marketing capabilities, they may need to consider repositioning themselves as nonprofit
social organizations. For this group, development support from government agencies and
external promoters can focus on raising public awareness of the enterprise’s social value,
thereby increasing acceptance among consumers and in the market. Nonetheless,

competitiveness remains a core condition for achieving long-term sustainability.

2. Social enterprises that produce goods and services for underserved or unserved markets,
typically characterized by low purchasing power or the absence of existing services, often
cater to low-income populations or persons with disabilities. These enterprises merit
targeted support and can be categorized as follows:

2.1) Markets exist, but buyers lack sufficient purchasing power, as the target consumers are
typically poor or vulnerable groups. Solutions in this context require (1) the development of

new technologies, and (2) the use of Robin Hood-style models or partial subsidies. This
approach is already practiced by public hospitals and major medical schools. Other
examples include the Grameen Bank model, which addressed arsenic contamination in
drinking water by partnering with multinational corporations to develop specialized
technology that could produce clean water at prices affordable to low-income consumers.
Similarly, a project in Bangladesh to provide nutritional supplements to poor children was
made possible through collaboration with Danone, a French yogurt manufacturer, which
built a local plant using cost-efficient production technology. These markets are not
premium-grade but are instead niche markets

In Thailand, there is a notable lack of consolidated knowledge regarding how to effectively
approach and serve these markets. For example, while the disability market includes over 2
million people nationwide, 200,000 of whom are blind, there is still a lack of research into

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