UK street magazine The Big Issue was created with the idea that it is better to give a man a hand up than a handout, and by hiring the homeless as vendors, it offers them an opportunity to make a living for themselves and rebuild their lives. (Hsueh Chi-kuang)

"The Big Issue! $100 a copy!" Since last spring, you may have noticed this catchcry amidst the bustle around Taipei's MRT station exits. Or maybe you've spotted the orange-vested, ID-badged sellers, waving the latest issue high in the air.

The Big Issue, originally from the UK, launched a Taiwan edition in April 2010, packed with articles from professional journalists and authors. But what stands out most about the magazine is how it's sold-the sales-people are all homeless, and out of each issue's cover price of NT$100, NT$50 goes to the publisher to cover costs, with the remaining NT$50 going to the seller him- or herself.

By combining a unique business model with a means of helping the less fortunate, The Big Issue (TBI) has become a model social enterprise, operating to provide a social good rather than simply to make a profit. Now that TBI Taiwan has just celebrated its first anniversary, what kind of challenges have they faced, and how has the model fared in Taiwan, where social enterprise is still a fairly unknown thing?

It is a fine Friday morning in summer, and 48-year-old Li Long-zhu is looking at his schedule. First, he has to head to TBI's distribution center at Tai-pei's Hua-shan Creative Park to pick up the latest issues, and then push his cart full of magazines to the plaza in front of Shin Kong Mi-tsu-ko-shi, across from the Tai-pei Railway Station. As he makes the trek, he thinks to himself, "This issue's not been out long, and with the weekend coming up, that should make for some good sales today!"

Li Long-zhu, originally from Yun-lin, dropped out of high school at 14 to find work. At 20, he married a mainland Chinese woman and moved up to Taipei. Together they had two children, and while his wife was a fulltime housewife and mother, Li worked pressing clothes for a garment factory in Wanhua.

That was back when Taiwan's clothing industry was booming. Orders were piling up, and he and his colleagues were making NT$5 for each garment they pressed. He worked 10-plus hours a day, making NT$50,000-NT$60,000 a month with ease-his personal best was making NT$110,000 one month.