Rede Asta (Asta Network)
Asta is the first Direct Sale Network of "inclusive" products in Brazil. It´s operated by uniting in one side small production groups, majority formed by women from low income communities, and in the other, resellers, any person who wants to sell the groups products. The sales of these products includes the producers socially and economicaly and that´s why we call them inclusive products.
About You
Section 1: About You
Section 2: About Your Organization
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
Organization Name
Realice Institute
Organization Website
Organization Phone
55 21 2560-5356
Organization Address
Rua Sargento Pinto de Oliveira, 84 - Ramos
Organization Country
Brazil, RJ
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has this organization been operating?
1‐5 years
Your idea
Name Your Project
Rede Asta (Asta Network)
Describe your Social Enterprise
Asta is the first Direct Sale Network of "inclusive" products in Brazil. It´s operated by uniting in one side small production groups, majority formed by women from low income communities, and in the other, resellers, any person who wants to sell the groups products. The sales of these products includes the producers socially and economicaly and that´s why we call them inclusive products.
Country your work focuses on
Brazil, RJ
Innovation
What makes your innovation unique?
Asta is an unique innovation simply because it´s the first time in Brazil that a direct sale network is formed to sell inclusive products, and by doing so the resellers spread the news that consumers can choose products that promotes social change, they realize that their consumption can change the world. The other magical thing about direct sale is the unlimited impact it can cause. The more resellers Asta gets the more small producers we´ll be able to include, more people will know that they can substitute their purshases for products that will benefit a lot of people. The other inovation is that as soon as Asta gets to it´s breakeven point, it´ll become a social tecnology and will be able to be scaled and implemented anywhere there are small producers aiming to climb theirselves out of poverty. Asta is unique because it mixes handmade products, retail market and a huge network of regular people as resellers in one project and the result is income generation, social and economic inclusion, emancipation and entreprenourship fostering, society mobilization and conscient consumption.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
Tell us about the social impact of your innovation. Please include both numbers and stories as evidence of this impact
Asta is 2 years old, it started with 24 production groups from several communities of Rio de Janeiro and only 5 resellers, Today it counts with 240 resellers and 32 production groups. From these 240, 79 are active, meaning that they sell every month and average of U$ 120,00. In 2008 Asta distributed about U$ 100.000 to the producers in sales and in 2009 and avarage of U$ 200.000. We have resellers that sells to their friends and family and also a small number that sells big amounts to companies as corporate gifts. We have life stories that are being changed because of Asta. Lucia, one artisan from the Fuxicarte group said that because of Asta she´s being able to sustain her family. Before Asta her group couldn´t sell anywhere because nobody liked their products, after Asta and it´s design support and training program, the group became self sustainable and their sales increases every month. “the best part is when we distribute the money of the sales to the artisans, they all get soo happy and inspired to produce more and more!” Today, more than 680 people are being benefited with Asta directly. When it gets to the number of 500 active resellers, Asta will become self sustainable and will be able to generate at least U$1000 in sales to each production group. Also, because of Asta´s beautiful Catalog and media coverage it works as a marketing tool for the producers that are being looked for other buyers. That´s what Asta aims, to act as a “apringboard” to the producers and don´t become their only sales chanel.
Problem: Describe the primary problem(s) that your innovation is addressing
According to IBASE research about the Social Economy Enterprises in Brazil, there’s about 15 thousand Economic Solidary Enterprise (EES) or production groups in Brazil, which represent 1,300.000 jobs. Handicrafts represents 23% of them, generating around R$ 23 million in sales per month. According to researches, in 2005 there were over 700 social companies in Rio de Janeiro, promoting work to 50,000 workers. Most of them find in those jobs an alternative to unemployment. However, such researches pointed the weakness below:
- Lack of legal structure: 60% of the EES are informal and therefore cannot sell to big markets; they don’t offer payments plans, selling only to consumer, and only 17% sell their products on shops or in their own space.
- Incomes are still low: Raw income in most EES researches in below R$ 500 per capta.
- Lack of production chain and network: Only 1% of EES purchase their raw materials from other EES, demonstrating lack of communication and mobilization among the companies, leading to economic isolation.
- Trouble in product trading: 67% of EES mentioned difficulties in selling their products. Most of them rely only on oral publicity and only 15% uses greater channels of communication, making the end consumer unaware of the EES existence.
- Lack of economic planning: 45% of the EES have not conducted any sort of research to strategic planning, showing a weak ability in managing their resources.
Asta Network aims to strike the above mentioned problems by creating a direct sales network formed by self-employed professionals, that by using catalogues and structured campaigns increase the distribution of the craftwork directly to the final consumer, increasing the demand for the products, consequently of the production, generating a steady income to all involved.
Actions: Describe the steps that you are taking to make your innovation a success. Include a description of the business model. What might prevent that success?
We´re improving our customers relation management department, to be more and more efficient to attend the resellers in whatever they need. We´re also improving the activities of our producers center support offering more services so that they can be more empowered as people and as businesses. We have participated on the Strategic Planning Programa to Gain Scale with Ashoka Mckinsey and create a plan to foster asta´s impact that includes new strategies to increase the number of resellers, web marketing to increase online sales and training programs to improve productivity capacity of the producers.
Results: Describe the expected results of these actions over the next three years. Please address each year separately, if possible
The numbers show that if we have 620 resellers selling an avarage of U$120 a month we´ll be able to include 87 production groups that will be winning an avarage of 1,500 dolars a month with Asta´s sellings. Than about 180.000 consumers will have access to Astas products. Than we will have created a supply chain of goods where sustainability is praticed everyday for all envolved and people from all around Rio will be able to access the products anywhere, through the resellers availability. After that, we´ll start Asta replication process to other places with similar social problems.
How many people will your project serve annually?
101‐1000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$1000 - 4000
Does your innovation seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
If your innovation seeks to impact public policy, how?
when Asta becomes big in Rio de Janeiro we´ll be able to fight for better taxes conditions for handicraft and new legislations that stimulates companies and governments to chose products to their basic needs that respects enviromental and social aspects. That will help push the market to become more conscient and responsible.
Sustainability
What stage is your Social Enterprise in?
Operating for 1‐5 years
Does your organization have a board of directors or an advisory board?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with businesses?
No
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with government?
No
Please tell us more about how partnerships could be critical to the success of your Social Enterprise
Partnership is critical because it helps us with knowledge and tools we don´t have and would spend time and money to create. It´s also very important to help with marketing and business strategy, to exchange ideas and also to help us spread the news that Asta exists. As Asta is a social business that deals with sales, marketing and social impact, it´s very difficult to have a team with knowledge in all of these subjects, that´s why partnerships can help us see beyond the operational day by day of the project. Also, we still need financial resources and without the sponsors Asta would never be true. For example, our partnership with Global Imprints send us students from important american schools to help us rethink our business and marketing plan; we´re participating in the Strategic Planning Program to Gain Scale from Ashoka-Mckinsey what is really helping Asta to structure itself to the coming growth. Our partnership with Conexão project (an ngo) is capacitating the producers in business management by bringing them volunteers from several companies, and so on.
We would like to learn more about how your initiative is financially supported. Please explain your business plan/revenue model
We have received 3 grants from gramtmakers organization until now. Today we can support 40% of our operational costs with the sales money. Until the end of 2011 Asta will get to it´s breackeven point. 50% of the catalogs prices are the products costs, 22% the resellers comission and 28% stays in Asta for administration costs. We need to sell about R$ 100.000 a month to get to the breack even point, today we´re selling about 20.000.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
The defining moment was one time that we couldn´t sell any piece of handicraft 4 years ago, when we started to work forming a production group of 15 women and started to help sell their products. There were no orders from no client (we used to sell to more than 15 shops around Brasil), we decided to endevour our own shop and worked with it for a year, what was very good for the producers but the costs and big amount of work for such a small team were huge. Than we realized that solidary economy in Brazil was needing an exclusive sales chanel, some chanel that would sell only products made by small comunitarian producers, cooperatives and handicraft associations. It should be also a chanel that could allow the consumers to know about what is behind each product and could reach more and more consumers. We knew a person that used to sell us Avon and Natura and one day we asked her to try to sell our products and she did. Right at that moment we realize that a direct sale system would feet perfectly for what we all needed.
Tell us about the person—the social innovator—behind this idea.
Alice Freitas was born in Nova Friburgo, a city 2 hours from Rio de Janeiro, graduated as a lower and decided to travel with a project she helped to create, the Realice project, thourgh Asian countries to catalog small social inniciatives. After that, the income generation area was really strong to her and when she came back, whe decide to join Rachel Schettino, a business friend, to implement an income generation iniciative. Before all that, she worked in a direct sale multinational and as lowyer in 3 offices.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Newsletter from Changemakers
If through another source, please provide the information
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| asta_slogan_transparente.jpg | 50.41 KB |
| forcadefibra_produtos_01.jpg | 939.05 KB |
| Costureiras_Fuxicarte_1.jpg | 58.9 KB |
 | 102 weeks agoAlice Freitas updated this Competition Entry. |
| 111 weeks agoAlice Freitas submitted this idea. |
