Xihaner: Building a Sustainable Social Enterprise in China

This case explores the opportunities and challenges of building a sustainable social enterprise in China. It traces the development of Shenzhen Xihaner Car Wash Center (“Xihaner”) in Shenzhen, China, founded in August 2015 by Mr. Jun Cao, the father of an intellectually disabled child. Cao’s goal was to provide gainful employment and continuing care for people with intellectual disability. From the start, he was determined to build a social enterprise that could generate enough profits to become sustainable over the long term and not a charitable organization that relied on donations. With a carefully designed business model, Xihaner made good progress in its first two years. Their achievements won the enterprise the gold award at the Sixth China Charity Fair on 24 September 2017. Despite these achievements, Xihaner still faced many challenges. Cao wondered: Do we have a sustainable business model for our social enterprise? How can we grow Xihaner further to benefit more intellectually disabled people in China?