Sustainable business models for community-based enterprises in Samoa and Tonga

ABSTRACT

Sustainable business models can help improve the resilience of small enterprises to the challenges of limited resources, institutional constraints and climate change. However, there has been little research into how community-based entrepreneurship development organizations in the Pacific Islands can design business models that simultaneously counter environmental challenges and exploit market opportunities. This study compares the exogenous and endogenous influences on business model formation in two organizations that encourage the development of sustainable micro-enterprises among at-risk communities in Samoa and Tonga. The results suggest that a business model that is market-led rather than product-led is likely to be more financially viable.

KEYWORDS:

• Business models
• climate change
• social entrepreneurship
• community-based entrepreneurship
• development
• sustainability
• resilience
• networks

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Samoa Country Brief. Available at: http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/samoa/samoa_brief.html

2. See: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tn.html

3. http://www.madeintonga.com/TNYC

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Otago Research Grant [Grant Number 12/165].