> I did the quick math on a napkin, and realized they were doing far worse as an NGO/charity than they would be to help people as a for-profit business.
You're making the assumption that creating jobs is better than providing access to education. This may be true in the short term, but probably not in the long term if access to education in that area is a problem. I would say that given that investment in education takes years to pay off anyway it is probably a good plan to invest sooner rather than later. However without knowing more about the specific case it's impossible to say either way.
I'm purely speculating on a hypothetical situation here, but from the point of view of the NGO it may make more sense to invest in education. Creating 120 jobs is no doubt a good thing, but if what is needed most in the area is a school, then investing in more jobs is not doing the greatest good. Creating jobs where the workforce is uneducated is not going to improve the standard of living greatly in that area over an extended period of time. Providing the means for the next generation to obtain better jobs or have the education necessary to start their own businesses might. Maybe the NGO is playing the long game?
Also if they make a success of this model, running a cafe to fund a school, and prove that they can make it work then it will probably be easier for them to get access to funds to replicate that success elsewhere. This could easily have longer term benefits than creating a small amount of jobs. Not to mention that this model doesn't have to be replicated by that NGO.
You're making the assumption that creating jobs is better than providing access to education. This may be true in the short term, but probably not in the long term if access to education in that area is a problem. I would say that given that investment in education takes years to pay off anyway it is probably a good plan to invest sooner rather than later. However without knowing more about the specific case it's impossible to say either way.
I'm purely speculating on a hypothetical situation here, but from the point of view of the NGO it may make more sense to invest in education. Creating 120 jobs is no doubt a good thing, but if what is needed most in the area is a school, then investing in more jobs is not doing the greatest good. Creating jobs where the workforce is uneducated is not going to improve the standard of living greatly in that area over an extended period of time. Providing the means for the next generation to obtain better jobs or have the education necessary to start their own businesses might. Maybe the NGO is playing the long game?
Also if they make a success of this model, running a cafe to fund a school, and prove that they can make it work then it will probably be easier for them to get access to funds to replicate that success elsewhere. This could easily have longer term benefits than creating a small amount of jobs. Not to mention that this model doesn't have to be replicated by that NGO.