Hi Katherine, thanks a lot for sharing your model! I have a question about the products itself. Where is the lantern produced? locally or it is imported? Are the clients involved in the production and mantainance of the lanterns?
thanks a lot
Gaston
Dear Gaston,
Thanks for your interest in Solar Sister. Your question gets at one of the core missions of Solar Sister: to support and encourage the local solar industry so that Africa's development will be powered by renewable energy. We firmly believe that supporting the local industry is the only sustainable solution.
Right now the way we do that is by working closely with local partners who are the importers and wholesale distributors for solar products. I am determined NOT to be one of the non-profits that floods the market with free or low priced goods and drives out the local merchants. That is why the Solar Sister model is a market based model and works with local distributors by extending their reach into the most rural areas through our Solar Sister network.
The ideal would be to buy from local African manufacturers (and I will tell you about an exciting development for that in a minute), but at this time the products are only available through import, primarily from China and India. We are a marketing and distribution network, not a production company, and as such, we are not married to any particular producer. This is an important quality as the technology is advancing so rapidly that today's cutting-edge product is tomorrow's has-been. We have the flexibility to work with several manufacturers and continue to deliver the best and most affordable product through our network. We are not a program that trains women to build their own lanterns. If you take a look at the products that we distribute, you will see that the sophistication of the technology, as well as the quality of production and the durability of these products is far superior to hand-made versions - and at a competitive cost.
We have tested several products and have chosen a select few that meet our utility/quality/affordability standard. Each one has a slightly different design which appeals to different buyers. The lamps we are using currently are made by D.light (the Kiran and the Nova particularly) http://www.dlightdesign.com and SunNight Solar (the BoGo and the mini-Bogo) http://www.bogolight.com/ . I also like the K-light by PiSAT and expect to include their K-light in the inventory mix http://www.pisatsolar.com/ . Manufacturing for all of these products is outside of Africa (primarily in China and India).
There is a new solar light called the Solar Pebble by Plus Minus Solar http://www.plusminussolar.co.uk/ . The exciting news is that they are establishing a product assembly operation in Uganda. We are looking forward to testing their product when it is available in June, and we are in discussions to be a distribution channel for them. This would be a really good step toward local production.
If you know of any local producers, please let us know. We would be delighted to support their efforts by partnering with them and distributing their product through the Solar Sister network.
This is great Katherine, the fact that the lanterns will be potentially produced in Uganada is really interesting. Have you heard about Fabio Rosa's model in Brazil?
cheers
Dear Julia,
Great question. One of the challenges of entrepreneurship - social or otherwise - is that once the business is in the operational mode, the entrepreneur is so caught up in the 'doing' that there is little time for reflection! Your question gave me a reason to pause for a moment to reflect on my experience of building Solar Sister.
I find the greatest challenge of building a social business is the challenge of scale.
In a social business, the objective is to apply business principles to achieve sustainable and long-term social change. With Solar Sister, our objective is to create a sustainable business model that empowers women through enterprise. We use an Avon-style distribution model for solar lamps. The lamp sales generate revenues to provide income for the female entrepreneurs and also cover the costs of operation. Any excess 'profits' are reinvested back into the communities in the form of community-benefit solar projects such as solar lighting for a local school or health clinic. The long term change is the economic empowerment of the women and the transforming benefits of solar light that their distribution system has brought to the doorsteps of their communities.
The real challenge becomes scale. Our pilot project is running succesfully, and giving us an opportunity to adjust and tweak the program in real time. Our project provides immediate and measurable benefits, even at the micro-level: an investment in a single Solar Sister entrepreneur brings benefits to 3,500 people over a five year period, or looked at another way: we can demonstrate that for every $1 invested in Solar Sister, we generate $20 of direct return over five years. The data from our pilot project gives us metrics to show that the business can be self-sustaining at scale.
But to scale this program to the level of a real business that can sustain itself requires an upfront investment in capacity and systems. For a typical start-up business, now would be the time to approach the Venture Capital funds. We have a product/service that we can demonstrate will generate a sustainable and significant return on investment. But, as a social business, our return on investment is a social return - not a typical economic return. So the usual VCs are not interested. Our business model is new to many traditional philanthropists and donor funds. What is needed is a new breed of philanthropist: The Social VC - a group of investors who seek social returns instead of economic returns for their investments and are available as resources to fund the scaling of social businesses.
It is encouraging that the dialogue around social business is beginning to build. Muhammed Yunus' most recent book "Building Social Business" is a valuable resource. And communities such as Ashoka Changemakers, Skoll and Acumen Fund are helping to inform and educate people about social businesses. I think the timing is right for Solar Sister and for other social businesses to demonstrate that their model for long term social change is achievable.
Best regards,
Katherine Lucey
Founder, Solar Sister
Comentários
Hi Katherine, thanks a lot for sharing your model! I have a question about the products itself. Where is the lantern produced? locally or it is imported? Are the clients involved in the production and mantainance of the lanterns?
thanks a lot
Gaston
Dear Gaston,
Thanks for your interest in Solar Sister. Your question gets at one of the core missions of Solar Sister: to support and encourage the local solar industry so that Africa's development will be powered by renewable energy. We firmly believe that supporting the local industry is the only sustainable solution.
Right now the way we do that is by working closely with local partners who are the importers and wholesale distributors for solar products. I am determined NOT to be one of the non-profits that floods the market with free or low priced goods and drives out the local merchants. That is why the Solar Sister model is a market based model and works with local distributors by extending their reach into the most rural areas through our Solar Sister network.
The ideal would be to buy from local African manufacturers (and I will tell you about an exciting development for that in a minute), but at this time the products are only available through import, primarily from China and India. We are a marketing and distribution network, not a production company, and as such, we are not married to any particular producer. This is an important quality as the technology is advancing so rapidly that today's cutting-edge product is tomorrow's has-been. We have the flexibility to work with several manufacturers and continue to deliver the best and most affordable product through our network. We are not a program that trains women to build their own lanterns. If you take a look at the products that we distribute, you will see that the sophistication of the technology, as well as the quality of production and the durability of these products is far superior to hand-made versions - and at a competitive cost.
We have tested several products and have chosen a select few that meet our utility/quality/affordability standard. Each one has a slightly different design which appeals to different buyers. The lamps we are using currently are made by D.light (the Kiran and the Nova particularly) http://www.dlightdesign.com and SunNight Solar (the BoGo and the mini-Bogo) http://www.bogolight.com/ . I also like the K-light by PiSAT and expect to include their K-light in the inventory mix http://www.pisatsolar.com/ . Manufacturing for all of these products is outside of Africa (primarily in China and India).
There is a new solar light called the Solar Pebble by Plus Minus Solar http://www.plusminussolar.co.uk/ . The exciting news is that they are establishing a product assembly operation in Uganda. We are looking forward to testing their product when it is available in June, and we are in discussions to be a distribution channel for them. This would be a really good step toward local production.
If you know of any local producers, please let us know. We would be delighted to support their efforts by partnering with them and distributing their product through the Solar Sister network.
Best regards,
Katherine Lucey
This is great Katherine, the fact that the lanterns will be potentially produced in Uganada is really interesting. Have you heard about Fabio Rosa's model in Brazil?
cheers
Dear Katherine Lucey
According to your experience what are the main barriers or challenges so that social business model can thrive?
We want to hear from you.
Many Thanks
Julia
Dear Julia,
Great question. One of the challenges of entrepreneurship - social or otherwise - is that once the business is in the operational mode, the entrepreneur is so caught up in the 'doing' that there is little time for reflection! Your question gave me a reason to pause for a moment to reflect on my experience of building Solar Sister.
I find the greatest challenge of building a social business is the challenge of scale.
In a social business, the objective is to apply business principles to achieve sustainable and long-term social change. With Solar Sister, our objective is to create a sustainable business model that empowers women through enterprise. We use an Avon-style distribution model for solar lamps. The lamp sales generate revenues to provide income for the female entrepreneurs and also cover the costs of operation. Any excess 'profits' are reinvested back into the communities in the form of community-benefit solar projects such as solar lighting for a local school or health clinic. The long term change is the economic empowerment of the women and the transforming benefits of solar light that their distribution system has brought to the doorsteps of their communities.
The real challenge becomes scale. Our pilot project is running succesfully, and giving us an opportunity to adjust and tweak the program in real time. Our project provides immediate and measurable benefits, even at the micro-level: an investment in a single Solar Sister entrepreneur brings benefits to 3,500 people over a five year period, or looked at another way: we can demonstrate that for every $1 invested in Solar Sister, we generate $20 of direct return over five years. The data from our pilot project gives us metrics to show that the business can be self-sustaining at scale.
But to scale this program to the level of a real business that can sustain itself requires an upfront investment in capacity and systems. For a typical start-up business, now would be the time to approach the Venture Capital funds. We have a product/service that we can demonstrate will generate a sustainable and significant return on investment. But, as a social business, our return on investment is a social return - not a typical economic return. So the usual VCs are not interested. Our business model is new to many traditional philanthropists and donor funds. What is needed is a new breed of philanthropist: The Social VC - a group of investors who seek social returns instead of economic returns for their investments and are available as resources to fund the scaling of social businesses.
It is encouraging that the dialogue around social business is beginning to build. Muhammed Yunus' most recent book "Building Social Business" is a valuable resource. And communities such as Ashoka Changemakers, Skoll and Acumen Fund are helping to inform and educate people about social businesses. I think the timing is right for Solar Sister and for other social businesses to demonstrate that their model for long term social change is achievable.
Best regards,
Katherine Lucey
Founder, Solar Sister
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