A hybrid business model lets you combine a for-profit enterprise with a non-profit offshoot. Shradha Mohanty explains the concept, using an inspiring example.
What do you do if you want to do social good while also making a profit on your venture? You follow what is called a ‘hybrid business model.’
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Here’s a look at one such hybrid business to set you thinking, and who knows, inspire a fresh idea!
| Fast Facts |
| • Close to 120 million children attend schools in India’s 6,38,365 villages. • These children represent more than forty five percent of India’s school going children. • However, access to quality education and books does not reflect the same proportion of numbers. • The main reasons: lack of purchasing power and lack of sustained efforts to correct the problem. |
Mambo—and More
Suneel Chennamaneni and his brother Suman were helping their father set up an affordable private school in their small hometown, Sircilla in Andhra Pradesh, when a realisation hit them. None of the six or seven schools they studied had libraries. When asked if they would like one, most of them said, “We would rather have a computer lab.’
“We had to convince parents of the importance of a library. We created awareness through campaigns in schools. The only medium we relied upon was the word of mouth,” explains Suman. Their efforts bore fruit, in the form of Mambo Library (www.mambo.co.in), equipped with digital reading material, and stacked with books and educational games.
So far, so good. Now came the first hurdle: The people of Sircilla found the membership fee of `699 too high.
But for the venture to be self-sustaining, Suman and Suneel needed the amount. Their solution: pay in installments. It worked for most people, and the enrollment numbers rose.
The membership fee goes towards purchasing books and maintaining the library.
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| Hybrid Business Ideas That Have Worked |
| Industree: Industree has split into two organizations: Industree Crafts Private Limited, a for-profit company which is opening a new line of stores and products under the name Mother India; and Industree Crafts Foundation, a nonprofit group that accepts charitable grants to train artisans. Bookbox: A for-profit organization which creates audio-visual books for children in different languages. It is partially owned by PlanetRead, a non-profit orgnisation that uses Same Language Subtitling(SLS) for promoting literacy. Ashoka India: They launched Housing For All (HFA) which facilitated a unique partnership with DBS Affordable Home Strategy Ltd., a for-profit developer, and SAATH Charitable Trust, a non-profit, citizen organization. They are now in the process of offering affordable houses to families living in slums. |
How The Idea Grew
While Mambo began doing well, plenty of books lay idle during daytime. That’s when they hit upon the idea of making books available to village schools for free.
Called Wisdom Box, this new and noble scheme invites teachers from these village schools to pick up books from Mambo Library every fortnight. The teacher, also known as the Wisdomeer, keeps the books in the school for 15 days and then returns it for a fresh set.
This way, books do double duty—they earn revenue for the business, and also spread knowledge among those who are usually deprived of this luxury. Wisdom Box gives special attention to schools which are not big enough or lack the resources to have dedicated libraries.
Right now, Wisdom Box reaches schools in three villages—Saranpally, Thanvahapally and Neralla. These villages are well connected and have teachers who frequent the town. These schools have atleast 250-300 students each. Children have access to all kinds of books - academics, academic supplements, etc. “The teacher is free to pick up books, but we evolve a plan according to the age group of children and through feedback from teachers on the students’ reading habits,” explains Suman.
Suman adds that with more investment, they can replicate the models everywhere. In the same district, they are looking into schools in Karimnagar, Javityal and Siddipet. By the time this article reaches you, Wisdom Box would have reached 20 schools.
“Wisdom box is the non-profit part of a hybrid model - a profit and non-profit combination, aimed at using resources optimally. The non-profit model feeds on the profit model. Hence we call them Hybrid libraries,” explains Suman.
Wisdom box does not have dedicated investments or capital. “However we divert funds received through donation. The Mambo library attracts investments and also incurs spending which works as a for profit business. Books are purchased for it and the investment is made in developing libraries,” explains Suman.
“It is difficult for Wisdom Box to set foot in primary government schools,” says Suman. “The teachers there think along the lines of ‘what’s-in-it-for-me.’ However, in affordable private schools where you usually find the same person taking care of administration as well teaching , it becomes a lot easier to convince them,” says Suman, “They are motivated to bring something new to the children which is available free of cost.”
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About Suman and Suneel
Suman: A law graduate, founder of SMSResume which was integrated by job portals as an SMS application.
Suneel: An NIFT graduate, completed his post graduation from NID, founder of a multi disciplinary design firm named SYNC.
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