<h1>How Korea’s Social Enterprises Can Survive: Sales Channels and Product Strategy</h1>

Social economy enterprises in Korea continue to thrive by fostering community participation, offering skill-building opportunities, and promoting ethical consumption.(Photo by Milly)

 The biggest difference between social economy enterprises and regular businesses is that they aim to generate both profit and social value. Simply put, they operate businesses based on a mission or value they wish to achieve or expand. But growing impact while also making money? That’s no easy task.

 

“I don’t really know if this is a product from a social enterprise or a cooperative. I just buy it if I think it’s good and reasonably priced.”

 

A close friend of mine said this. Even after knowing me for years and understanding the kind of work I do, being a “social economy product” wasn’t a factor when making actual purchasing decisions. And honestly, not just friends — even my own family rarely go out of their way to buy from social economy enterprises.

So why is it so hard to sell value-driven products and services?

 

Most Consumers Simply Don’t Know

 

The biggest reason is that many social economy enterprises in Korea are very small in scale. So it’s no surprise that many consumers simply don’t know they exist.

 

They also face structural barriers to entering large retail distribution channels. Naturally, this puts them at a competitive disadvantage compared to conventional businesses.

 

On top of that, many of these organizations lack the marketing and branding capacity needed to promote their products effectively. Especially when funds are tight, the first thing to get cut is often the marketing budget. But that’s the very area that could help connect with consumers and lead to sales. With limited resources tied up in production, payroll, and operating costs, it becomes harder to establish sustainable sales pipelines.

 

Interestingly, in Korea, there has been a growing movement where people want to "reward good businesses" with their spending.

 

*Note: "Donjjul" (돈쭐) is a mashup of “money” and “scolding” — a tongue-in-cheek term for supporting businesses that do good by intentionally spending money there.

 

While this trend may seem favorable to social economy enterprises, the reality is that most still struggle to achieve repeat and sustainable sales.

 

Expanding Market Access

 

Social economy enterprises in Korea often tackle public problems through private business solutions. Because they operate in the space between public and private sectors, governments and public institutions provide various public procurement and market access support programs to enhance their sustainability.

 

👀Some of the most notable include:

✅ Public institutions' preferential purchasing program

✅ Opportunities to enter online and offline social enterprise marketplaces (like e-store 36.5+)

✅Collaborations with public entities to develop and sell region-specific products

✅Partnership-based bulk purchases via large corporations

 

“Sales = Survival”

 

The most important thing is for the business to survive. Without a market, even the best impact won’t last.

 

We can’t just sit back and hope someone will help. Social economy enterprises need to actively explore ways to turn their impact into actual sales. Improving product and service quality is a fundamental first step — and that quality should be highlighted in every sales strategy.

 

If someone were to ask me:

"What comes first — survival or impact?"

Without hesitation, I’d say: Survival comes first.