Social Entrepreneurship Ideas for Emerging Markets

Here are 12 commonly used models of social enterprise which interface BRIC & other countries with the developed world:

1) Import/Export
2) Fashion/Art (from shoes to pocketbooks and beyond)
3) Outsourcing (from design/development and editing/transcription to customer relations call centers and research)
4) Intercultural communication/training (introduction to emerging cultures & markets)
5) Coffee & spices (also herbal or nutritious ingredient market)
6) English (schools & translation)
7) Tourism (college market, business market, luxury market, budget market, adventure market, philanthropy market)
8] Virtual tutoring & e-learning (syncronous or asyncronous)
9) Co-working or mutually reinforcing businesses (the problem with the later is if one part doesn’t work–it seems to put the whole at a disadvantage)
10) Connecting international products and services with distributors/channel partners
11) Cross-cultural market research (as well as opportunity identification–which could obviously be integrated with #4 above)
12) Toms shoes style model on various products

Basically determining the local strengths and how that meshes with international needs. Obviously its necessary to see and hear the needs of the market…and the assets of the local market. Also, one side consideration should be: what are the biggest challenges of companies entering or engaging, or marketing in emerging markets? The second question could be is it a scalable solution? (if its not scalable in a given locale…its quite possible that it would be scalable in other locales–franchise-style)

Note: some of these ideas aren’t intrinsically social entrepreneurial–however you can use profit to fund other social impact based ventures (employee support, customer services, training, NGO in health/water/education). Sustainable sourcing or sourcing from social enterprises/b-corporations is another option.

In addition, this social enterprise typology which is from Virtue Ventures provides a helpful guide for brainstorming.

Do you have other social business venture ideas?

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