Advising Local Entrepreneurs
Project: Supporting and stimulating small business activities.
Objective: Promoting innovative entrepreneurship in the broadest sense.
Approach: Identifying innovative initiatives. Exchanging ideas in the field of marketing and innovation. Developing checklists and design proposals.
An impression of the project:
James Mwaipopo bought 200 copies of the guide at costprice (675 TSh. Per copy) to become a reseller in Bagamoyo. He was not too happy with the maximum selling price of TSh. 1.000, that was printed on the cover because it is too cheap! On the other hand, he was very happy with the bicycle donated by Jamani to support his reselling activities. After 4MSK Internet Café, James is the second reseller in Bagamoyo. Jamani also donated one year’s subscription to IT Vision Magazine to 4MSK.
4MSK Group in Bagamoyo recently changed the layout of its internet café, based on an interior design proposal by Jamani. 4MSK also raised its prices for internet surfing for non-residents: while being the only internet café in Bagamoyo, they were charging the same rates as in Dar!
Left Jamani’s design proposals for the interior layout of 4MSK, drawn to scale:
The new layout (1) using the existing furniture This design makes better use of the available space inside the container and accommodates customers’ need for privacy.
The alternative (2) was based on a new design furniture: easy to manufacture, with more space for the legs under the table and for the arms under the monitor.
On the right drawings for the new situation in which a second container will serve as a computer training centre (4) and the first container (3) is optimized for carrying a maximum number of internet computers.
With small contributions of Jamani, Tingatinga artist Bill Mang’ati now creates paintings on small plywood panels instead of on bedsheets: more durable and easier to transport for the tourist market.
Mr. Ngurangwa and a new design couch he made for our guesthouse.
Brainstorming with Jamani
As the director of entrepreneurial training centre BLACC put it: Our children have hardly any exposure to new ideas. This seriously hampers the opportunities for innovative business activities. As we have experienced, however, people are most eager and grateful to learn about new ideas during the ‘brainstorming’ conversations we have. Some examples:
Bus service start up
One of our acquaintances got hold of a nice looking van that he wants to use for generating income as a daladala. We asked if there was still demand for an extra daladala, because you already see so many. Wouldn’t it be better to start something new?
Perhaps there would be a market for a more comfortable solution of transportation: Like a ‘Dala+ service’, which takes passengers on fixed times and in a safe tempo to Dar, offering comfortable sitting space. One could build interesting new services around it: daytrips to Bagamoyo from Dar, arranging a good stop halfway with a local restaurant, etc. We would surely use such a new service, as for present there is no alternative to the uncomfortable daladala. And the tarmac connection between Dar and Bagamoyo cries out for better transport solutions.
The owner of a shamba
The owner of an agricultural plot in Morogoro asked our advice on what to produce to get into better market segments. The problem Tanzanian farmers are facing is that seasonal changes prohibit the supply of a constant quality of product. Seeking new markets, this was the reason he had been turned down by larger hotels: they import their constant quality from South Africa.
First, to create the right mindset, we advised him to convince himself that these hotels would rather be supplied with Tanzanian products than exports and that their demands for quality are justified.
We asked him to identify what crops could be grown in each different season. The next step is to see what crops are good for processing. For instance, processing fruits into tasteful jams could be a solution to the problem of inconstant quality. Moreover, processing crops adds value to the product, something that should be done on a much larger scale in this country!
Although jams are available on local markets, it is now being poured from big buckets into dirty bottles. Why not take that extra step and supply the product with an attractive packaging and aim it at interesting niche markets? Start out with fifty pots and a handpainted or colorprinted design of some kind. Design it into a product with its own identity, standing out from the rest. Inform at the hotels what their needs and interests are; perhaps you can accommodate them. Experiment in small quantities with different kinds of jams and recipes.
Beekeepers collective
Tabora is well known for its special honey. During a seminar of AGEH, we got involved with people from an NGO in Tabora. One of their projects focuses on a beekeepers collective, who experience great difficulty in getting a fair price for their product. These beekeepers have little options, as there seems to be only one firm in this area, procuring agricultural products throughout the country for bottom prices.
The NGO is eager to improve the situation and believes that the collective has a sound business opportunity. Instead of overloading them with ideas on how to market this beautiful natural product, we decided to create a simple checklist and discussed it with them. Now they have a method for discussing and making plans with the beekeepers. The main objective of the checklist is to help people to think about their business and come up with different ideas.
The checklist comes with a form, for collecting information during a group session. It it is the beginning of Jamani’s Guide to Small Business, a project that is still on the drawing board.
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