Hoh Kim
Case Western Reserve University - Weatherhead School of Management
David Cooperrider
Keep this story going! Share below!
Baravom ("look"/"see" in Korean) photo studio is setting a new standard in Korea how profit and non-profit aspects can join together. It actively engages in profit business by taking various photo shooting assignments from corporate, government, non-profit organizations, etc. Mr. Na, the Head of the studio, former sales director at Oracle and managing director of a promising IT company based in Korea, realized that physically challenged people do not feel comfortable to request photo shooting at regular photo studios due to social prejudices/discrimination or simply due to not having enough money for it. Mr. Na got an idea from Toms shoes and if his studio receives one photo assignment with a fee, it provides a free photo shooting opportunity for physically challenged people or poor/old people. The studio has been widely publicized in Korean media and now even more than 200 people regularly provide donations to the studio to expand its socially beneficial activities. In the summer of 2016, the studio expanded its contribution activities in Myanmar.
Mr. Na and Baravom photo studio have been showing an innovative direction in the Korean society how profit and non-profit organizations can collaborate together and how profit and non-profit "mindsets" can create more fun culture, better synergy, stronger sustainability, etc. Baravom studio started as a profit organization and changed its status from profit to non-profit organization recently as there were growing number of people who wanted to support the studio's spirit of social contribution and activities by donation. Mr. Na was trying to find a way to do both profit business and to get public support including donation. In Korea, non-profit organizations can do profit business activities and can get donations, while profit organizations cannot get donations. Currently, Baravom studio is a non-profit organization with active profit business activities. Mr. Na, the head of Baravom studio, has been showing good examples on how profit-based mindset can give more sustainability in the non-profit organizations.
Inspired by Tom's Shoes ideas, Baravom studio is matching profit and non-profit business items: When the studio takes an assignment from private sector or elsewhere with a fee, they give a free shooting service for poor people or physically challenged people who do not have access to the service.
Also, as a profit business, the studio is offering educational program for business organizations: They teach photo shooting skills with a fee to business people who want to serve their communities with free photo shootings.
Mr. Na found that photos can be a good conversation trigger. Before, they usually took photos of poor people/physically challenged people, then, send photos days later, which will be received separately. Now, they bring photo printers with them, and they print the photos on the spot, right after taking the group photos of poor/physically challenged people. Then, poor people/physically challenged people who are gathered to take photos can get their photos printed immediately, then they naturally engage conversations on their photos. So, this event becomes a communication opportunity among the recipients.
They also created a project called "One day like Great Gifts" by forming a project group with an upscale hair salon and an Italian restaurant. He said during the interview: "In Korea, I wanted to create a good example of win-win partnership between profit and non-profit organizations." They select a family for a physically challenged/poor people, and on a selected day, the family members go to the hair salon to get a nice treatment and hair cuts, then, have a nice meal at the restaurant, and get family photo shootings, all for free. The selected family get a nice memorable day and partnering hair salon and restaurant get promotion/publicity opportunities - win-win relationships.
While Mr. Na had successful careers as sales director and managing director in multinational companies, he wasn't happy and he wanted to change his life and lives of others. He loved photo shootings as a hobby and he wanted to do something with it. One day, he came to know that physically challenged people do not feel comfortable to get professional photo shootings due to social prejudices and systems (many photo studios in Korea is located in the second floor or above where there is no access for physically challenged people). He remembers the case of TOMS Shoes and he applied a similar model in running his own photo studio.
His story inspires others in the Korean society in many ways: 1) let people know the inequalities experienced by physically challenged people; 2) how profit and non-profit businesses can join together to create win-win partnership; 3) why money is not the first priority in our lives.
It is a small studio with three photographers including the head and with more than 200 supporters. Mr. Na said that "Making profit is not the first priority for our business, but, at the same time, I think making stable profit is very important to sustain the business model." The studio is making decent profits while keep expanding the donations for more social contributions.
Mr. Na, as a former senior executives in the corporate world, has been leveraging his network with leaders in the Korean society to spread the culture of donations and sharing helps for people who need them. FYI, in Korea, donations are not that active compared to other advanced countries. One of his key objectives is to change Korean leaders who do not have donation experiences into donors/helpers. He actively persuades leaders in the Korean society to have donation experiences and keep doing them. Also, his stories have been widely publicized in Korea, which helps others to think about the donations and social contributions.
Get stories of positive business innovations from around the world delivered right to your inbox.
Mr. Jong-min Na, Head of the Studio Baravom
