Learning outcomes The target audience includes postgraduate students of entrepreneurship, social studies and management, as well as individuals attending short courses and learning programmes in social entrepreneurship and social enterprise.At the end of the case discussion, students should be able to: Case overview/synopsis Gary Hopkins believed in the power of coffee to transform people’s lives. I Love Coffee, a South African coffee roastery and shop, had grown from a bold idea into a thriving social enterprise, empowering the Deaf community through training and employment. From the outset, he believed that I Love Coffee should be a sustainable business that made an impact. Now, nearly nine years into the venture in April 2025, Hopkins, its chief executive officer (CEO), had a vision of big growth. The expansion into the UK was part of this, with Hopkins seeking to develop a social franchise model that could be replicated in other countries too. However, he faced several key challenges. I Love Coffee was not attracting the attention of big funders, and navigating the cultural, legal and banking issues associated with expansion had proven to be complicated. Designed to teach social entrepreneurship in marginalised communities, the case study poses the following critical questions: How could I Love Coffee scale production while continuing to train and support employees from the Deaf community? What strategies would ensure the business could effectively manage larger operations, geographically spread? Crucially, could I Love Coffee grow without compromising its founding purpose? Complexity academic level The case study offers contextually relevant insights into a range of relevant topics related to nascent social enterprises, social opportunities and innovation, as well as social impact and scalability. Moreover, the case study is intended to improve and deepen students’ critical reasoning and decision-making abilities and skills through an integration of theory and core concepts relating to the social economy, with a focus on social entrepreneurship and social enterprise.Positioning. Both social entrepreneurship and sustainable social enterprise are increasingly relevant, given the sheer extent and complexity of so-called wicked problems that require redress. Social enterprises in developed and developing economies are faced with the duality of having to ensure that they achieve social impact through delivering social value while simultaneously ensuring financial sustainability (Ciambotti et al., 2025; Urban, explore and appreciate the context of the Deaf community and their lived experience; evaluate the dual imperative of social and economic sustainability; and explore the different challenges associated with expanding a social enterprise internationally.Integration with a Broader Knowledge Base. The case study provides a deeper understanding of the start-up process and sustainability, as well as the internationalisation of a social enterprise across marginalised communities. Importantly, students will appreciate the importance and relevance of for-profit models for social enterprises and different approaches to growth and sustainability.While social entrepreneurship is central to emerging economies, given the magnitude and nature of social ills in these contexts (Ciambotti et al., 2025), some attention has been paid to the internationalisation of social enterprises in addressing global social challenges while simultaneously navigating additional complexities of global contexts (Marshall, 2011). Earlier literature particularly spoke to how “… intersecting SE and IE can prompt a revision of the definition, boundaries, and levels of analyses currently used in IE research and how wealth creation in IE could be expanded to reflect the notion of blended value in an increasingly connected, fast changing, and complex global economy” (Zahra et al., 2014, p. 138). This critical juncture of social and international entrepreneurship is reflected through a close consideration of the case study. Subject code CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.
Venter et al. (Thu,) studied this question.