The Rise of the Social Business in Emerging Economies: A New Paradigm of Development

Social business has emerged as a sustainable and innovative means to solve emerging social problems. Although it is gaining momentum, there is a paucity of studies on the drivers of social business models and its key success factors. Drawing on a systematic literature review and an in-depth analysis of 31 social businesses in Bangladesh, the study presents eight key drivers and four success factors for a sustainable social business model. The findings show eight key drivers for social business models including customer centricity, quality, social needs, latent demands, incidental gains, innovation through partnerships, inspirations from initiatives and collaborative eco-systems. The findings also report four critical success factors including social goals, collaboration, simplicity and start from home. Overall, this study discusses the scope of developing and sustaining social business models for empowerment, quality of life and economic growth in emerging economies.