Author(s): Shilpy Malhotra
With respect to social enterprises, the term ‘Ecosystem” can be defined as an interaction between various man-made forces that make them function effectively. In a developing country like India, it is very important to make social enterprises function impact fully for the growth of the underserved segment of the country. The study examines the social enterprise ecosystem of India using Transcendental Phenomenological approach. It has been built from Daniel Isenberg’s Ecosystem model to examine the six domains that create an ecosystem – Finance, Policies, Human Capital, Culture, Support and Markets. Sample includes the founders of 12 social enterprises having Pan-India presence. Data has been collected through interviews and secondary sources like reports, websites, feedback documents etc. Data has been analysed using transcendental phenomenological approach. Shared experiences of the founders of the social enterprises have been used to suggest certain measures and policy recommendations which if incorporated would help in strengthening the ecosystem. Findings suggest that in the past 7-8 years, the situation has improved a lot but, there is still a long way to go and a lot of improvement on various parameters is required. Some of these findings suggest that finance is not easily available to the social enterprises; government action is required and they need to resort to practices like hiring of professional fund managers. Indian regulatory system needs to be enterprise friendly and easy to comply with and follow. They need to have a realistic projection and be limited in number for ease of understanding and compliance. Marketing plans need to be concrete. Small and local suppliers must be supported and raw materials purchased from them as far as possible will help in strengthening their position. Quality standards of the products produced by social enterprises need to ensure that they can compete in the markets. Creation of small brands and collaboration with bigger brands can also help in this context. Social media usage when used wisely can prove to be beneficial. Taking individual support facilities like a good finance advisor, legal and commercial expertise, office space etc. proves to be very expensive. Networking and forums can be beneficial and government needs to take steps which can help building good support and energy efficient infrastructure facilities in the areas where adequate infrastructure is unavailable. Communication and mental health must be addressed through mentoring and training programs. There is a lot of confusion amongst general public regarding the working of social enterprises. There is a need to build an encouraging and positive environment related to these enterprises and people need to support them on a regular basis and not temporarily. Innovation part from start-ups is missing. Entrepreneurship can be taken as a career option and needs to be taught seriously at school and university level. Creation of good and strong teams is imperative for the success of an enterprise. Therefore, focus on workers and processes are required.