Silent outdoor cinemas, eco-friendly skincare and healthy snacks made by ex-offenders: How small local enterprises are making an impact on society

WHILE small businesses - especially ones rooted in sustainable and socially responsible missions - often begin their journey with a sense of purpose, they may face challenges scaling and sustaining their operations at some point.

By addressing challenges with thoughtful strategies geared towards long-term growth, these businesses can navigate their path to success and continue to serve their customers.

This is why Xero, a global small business platform, launched the Xero Beautiful Business Fund (XBBF) - to help small business customers accelerate their innovation and set themselves up for success.

The $620,000 fund offered small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the world financial resources to boost their growth in four areas: innovating for sustainability, trailblazing with technology, strengthening community connection and upskilling for the future.

"Singapore's small business owners are very attuned to their customers' needs, developing solutions and services that solve meaningful challenges," says Koren Wines, managing director for Asia at Xero.

"We were very impressed with the incredible response to this year's Beautiful Business Fund Awards. The applications truly exceeded our expectations, and we are confident interest in the Beautiful Business Fund will only grow in the coming years as we empower more and more small business owners to thrive."

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Some 5,500 small businesses across Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, the US and the UK applied for the inaugural XBBF.

Here are some of the Xero customers based in Singapore that were shortlisted for the fund based on their commitment to growth and impact.

Pop-up cinemas without noise pollution

Cinewav aspires to become the world's largest cinema chain without the traditional confines of theatres and tangled wires. Their innovative approach? Transforming almost any spot in Singapore, such as Keppel Island, into pop-up movie havens with just a projector and a laptop - all while keeping the environment serene and free of noise pollution.

"We have anecdotal information from other outdoor movie vendors telling us how they have to monitor the noise levels using decibel readers, and have to keep noise under a certain level, in accordance with the National Environment Agency's limits. We have also heard stories of sound barriers that would have to be erected to reduce noise pollution," says Cinewav co-founder Christian Lee.

Cinewav's genius lies in its simplicity: Movie-goers can sit anywhere with a view of the screen. To listen in, they can use a mobile app to connect their own headphones to the film's audio. "It's an event audio experience in your pocket," says Lee.

Looking to the future, Lee is exploring using lithium iron phosphate rechargeable battery technology, commonly used in electric vehicles, to power the equipment. He points out the advantages of these batteries - faster charging and a reduced risk of overheating, making them more efficient and safer.

"This would take us even more off-the-grid, where we power our projectors and our laptops with rechargeable batteries," he says. "We could create cinemas in the coolest, most unusual spaces. You could unlock village cinemas, or every neighbourhood and every park in the world could have a cinema."

Upcycled beauty products gentle on the skin and the planet

Reme Beauty, a vegan skincare brand, is redefining beauty norms with its line of simple and effective products, all while championing a greener planet.

The brand's origin story is deeply rooted in the personal journey of its founder, Yen Vo. Driven by her husband's struggle with chronic eczema and armed with her expertise in ingredients and formulation science, Vo crafted a skincare range curated for sensitive skin, enriched with clean and active ingredients derived from upcycled biotechnology materials.

"The beauty industry is saturated and consumers are becoming more aware of sustainability, but sustainable products are often expensive," she says. "I wanted to create accessible products for consumers while not compromising on effectiveness and being trendy at the same time. With Xero, we can focus closely on evolving our brand rather than on our accounting."

The brand isn't stopping there - it is also on a mission to elevate its commitment to the planet. Plans are afoot to collaborate with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and partners devoted to tackling climate change and focusing on impactful initiatives such as eco-friendly packaging.

Yen is also keen to collaborate with influencers from diverse walks of life - including people of colour and individuals with disabilities. "As a woman of colour, I believe there is more we can do to uplift voices that truly matter, and we are committed to amplifying them," she says.

What's more, Reme Beauty proudly stands as a plastic-neutral brand, balancing out its plastic footprint by funding recovery and recycling initiatives equivalent to 100 per cent of the plastic used in its packaging and operations. By 2027, the company aims to be plastic-negative by increasing this quantity to twice what it produces.

Snacks made by marginalised communities

Boxgreen is not just a provider of wholesome snacks such as soy crisps, mushroom chips, dried fruits, nuts, teas and spreads - this social enterprise melds delicious, healthy eating with a powerful mission to break down employment barriers for the underprivileged.

The company collaborates with the Yellow Ribbon Project and Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (Minds) to offer training and employment to prison inmates, ex-offenders and people with special needs.

"Work builds dignity and confidence in people and uplifts their lives as well. By working with people in marginalised communities, we believe we make a difference," says co-founder Andrew Lim.

At the core of the company's operations is a kitchen facility nestled within Changi Prison. Plans are underway to open another in a centre dedicated to people with intellectual disabilities. In the past three years, Boxgreen's commitment has transformed into tangible impact: Over 210 individuals have gained valuable skills, accumulating more than 64,800 hours of hands-on training.

With many of the company's administrative tasks automated through Xero, the Boxgreen team has more time to explore new and impactful ventures. The company envisions scaling up its community initiatives by launching health and wellness programmes, deepening its support for training and employability in marginalised communities and fostering a broader understanding of nutritious, healthy eating.

Creating a better world with every business action

Buy 1 Give 1 (B1G1) is a tech company that integrates compassion into the fabric of everyday business. It harnesses the transformative power of small tech to create simple tools that enrich human lives, not just corporate bottom lines.

This innovative platform enables businesses to weave social responsibility seamlessly into their daily operations, turning everyday transactions into opportunities for global impact.

For instance, a company can choose to fund a financial literacy education programme for a day every time a client pays an invoice through Xero, or plant a tree every time a new lead is generated on its Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

By using B1G1's platform, corporations can pledge either a percentage of their revenue or a fixed giving budget while easily tracking their recurring impact.

"Imagine a world where every one of the transactions by the 3.95 million Xero users resulted in a meal for the homeless, clean water for a family or a child in need getting access to life-changing education for as little as just a few cents. That's what B1G1's unique power of small tech integration makes possible," says founder Masami Sato.

Redefining the future of responsible business practices

Since its inception in 2011, sustainability consultancy and innovation hub Sustainable Living Lab (SL2) has been the North Star for corporations embarking on a sustainability voyage.

Specialising in digital solutions, SL2 develops tools that simplify the intricate world of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting. The company's diverse clientele spans governments, international development organisations, multinational corporations and SMEs.

Riddhi Mehta, an associate consultant with SL2's Corporate Sustainability Team, highlights the company's unique perspective: "Being an SME ourselves, we understand the challenges that other entrepreneurs face when navigating the complex ESG space and recognise the pressures to meet clients' requirements for more sustainability commitments and qualifications. Automating tasks like invoicing, reporting, and bank reconciliation on Xero frees up time for us to help our customers meet and even exceed their ESG goals."

In the past year, SL2 has been working on Spryx, a sustainability management platform tailored to SMEs that will digitalise their sustainability reporting processes.

The firm plans to integrate generative artificial intelligence (AI) with Spryx to automatically generate sustainability reports compliant with industry and reporting standards. The platform will also be able to customise sustainability policy documents and provide real-time sustainability data analytics with actionable insights.

Creating a community of continuous learners and leaders

Marketing consultancy firm Akin is on a mission to help startups and SMEs make the best use of tech and data tools to grow.

At the heart of its approach is a deep commitment to education, focusing on equipping staff, partners and clients with cutting-edge tools and methodologies, such as understanding agile processes and excelling in UI/UX design and Scrum mastery.

In the past year, Akin has invested 400 hours into internal training programmes across both personal and professional domains. The company also has an annual training allowance for staff and subsidises the full cost of external training sessions for employees.

But Akin's vision extends further. The company is in the process of cultivating a "train-the-trainer" system to nurture employees into expert trainers in three critical areas: mental wellness, professional skill set enhancement and interpersonal soft skills development. Having access to their financial data anytime, anywhere on Xero means Akin's employees have the freedom to collaborate online in real time and dedicate more hours to upskilling.

This initiative is not just about internal growth, it is about fostering a culture of mutual learning and knowledge exchange, says Arvin Tang, managing director of Akin.

"This will enable a ripple impact among the extended ecosystem of our clients and partners."

Find out more about the Xero Beautiful Business Fund.