The purse project has become a finalist in an international social business competition sponsored by Regis University in conjunction with a big micro-enterprise conference they just organized in Denver that I was very lucky to attend. As a result of being a finalist I was able to meet Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammed Yunus, a truly delightful and inspiring experience. He gave the keynote speech focusing on what Grameen Bank is now doing to expand their services beyond micro-loans.
Briefly, they are working with Danone Yoghurt of France and building yoghurt factories in Bangladesh to provide a vitamin fortified yoghurt to poor children that is sold door to door by women entrepreneurs. The small model of yoghurt factory buys local milk, helps farmers build bio-digesters to harvest the methane on site and use for cooking fuel, employs local women to make yoghurt, and then other women have their own businesses to sell it. Danone yoghurt has integrated social good into all aspects of their company now, with a social investment fund launched on the French stock market. I listened to the CEO say to 600 people that he knows that breast milk is the perfect food for babies, and that Danone does make a breast milk replacement product, but that everyone in that division must work towards increasing the number of women breast feeding in their geographic territories. Mhd. Yunus new book does have a lot in it about what Danone is doing to improve business practices and make them more socially meaningful.
Grameen is now building an eye hospital where the rich will pay market rates to help poor people get operations at affordable rates. They are currently funding 30,000 scholarships for the children of their borrowers. Mhd. Yunus encourages all people to use their talents to start businesses whose aims are social improvement.
Since February when we sent $2,200 in sales and donations to Brazil the project has sold $2165 worth of purses and received $1350 in donations to the scholarship funds. I have 10 purses left to sell. I have learned that the purses made with colored yarn don't sell in the US except the very light colors. Black, silver, beige, white, brown, and the multicoloured white/black, white/gold sell. So of course, these first months are all about market research, and this is great knowledge to have.
This is a good beginning, and I thank all of you who have helped things get off to a solid start. I am facing the challenge of Brazilian bureaucracy to keep up this rate of sales in April. I have not yet gotten a shipment from Brazil because the Brazilian govt. doesn't allow a shipment of purses out without a cooperative number legally in place. All people in Brazil have to renew the number that is like a social security number EVERY YEAR in person at the post office to keep it current. (Can you imagine if we all had to go renew our SSN every year?) Some of the women in the coop had not kept their numbers current, and it takes 60 days to renew them, so they have not been able to send off their papers for the cooperative yet. It is very frustrating to have these snafus slow us down, because I need more products to sell to meet my monthly scholarship commitment of $750 and to meet the on-going costs of buying more purses so the women have an income they can keep reinvesting. It will work out somehow I am sure.
I have gotten some help from the head of the entrepreneurial center at CU on the business plan and some help from my brother in law. I have until April 20 to turn in the final plan. There are small cash prizes, but the real benefit of this contest has been meeting a wonderful bunch of Colorado people involved in micro enterprise and the college students who are also submitting plans along with me. The contest is making me learn how to structure the plan so that my efforts will succeed in building a sustainable social business.
I did a presentation at Carbondale Rotary and I hope to do more Rotary presentations and get some business advice from Rotarians. We are still in the "viral" marketing stage, word of mouth and personal presentations spreading the word. Before we can sell on line we need a steady supply of product arriving. If anyone has a good friend in marketing in the fashion industry who might want to advise me, please put me in touch. My niece has gotten some purses to the buyer for ABC in New York, and I shall hope to get some good advice from her. The founder of Global Girlfriends.com will meet with me as soon as I have a shipment in to give me advice and buy some for her website marketing.
I want to thank each of you for your encouragement, contributions and purchases and I will let you know when I have new purses in to sell. This is our web presence so far.
http://susiladharma.org/members_samerica_brazil.html
http://susiladharma.org/eNews07/enews0712-cgp-journal.htm