Briquettes: a lot of bang for your buck

There was a great highlighted technology over on Afrigadget that could lend itself to a branded microfranchise. It would be a briquette making business. There are other technology designs out there but the idea of a briquette making business is very appealing because it can address multiple issues in one intervention, i.e. as a business it would obviously seek to create jobs and increase incomes but selling briquettes would also bring some great positive benefits to the health of the family and the local environment.

The D-Lab out of MIT reminds us that charcoal is a smokeless fuel, cutting back on the indoor air pollution that leads to so many respiratory infections in children where there is open fire cooking in the home. In terms of the environment, charcoal can be made from agricultural waste which would otherwise be burned off as waste. This is particularly critical in a country like Haiti where deforestation is at a dire level. For a quick introduction to the technology GOOD Magazine did a great little article on this and other basic technologies a while back.

Has anyone has success or failure in attempting to launch a briquette making franchise. What were your greatest challenges?

OneRoof swinging for the fence

OneRoof is a for-profit social enterprise that seeks to deliver 9 essential services in one franchised operation: Information Tech. and Communications, Financial Services, Education, Energy, Health, Clean Water, Sanitation, Agricultural Technologies, and Employment Generation.

I heard Jennifer Ellingson, a senior associate, give a presentation about OneRoof at BYU last November and was quite impressed. They currently operate 20 stores themselves in Mexico and India, having yet to sell franchises outright. I would consider them to still be in the testing phase of operations and launch although I believe they have raised a significant amount of money for their initial growth. I think the are finding very different challenges in Mexico and India which is modifying their model. Looking over their website it appears that they have been able to attract a very talented team which bodes well.

I like their model of being a broker of services as far as being a branded location that can be a point of distribution for a number of partners instead of providing all the services themselves. I have no sense of how well they are delivering on their mission, I have not seen them in the press much and their blog has not been updated since they secured their second round of funding. Their aim to function completely as a for-profit venture will make them an interesting case study in evaluating the feasibility of Gates' creative capitalism and Yunus' social business.

Regarding not knowing their current status: what do you think about transparency and reporting in the citizen sector? How much should social businesses report about their struggles?

Rural Energy by Grameen Shakti

Grameen Shakti is a member of the Grameen family bringing renewable energy to rural communities. It was a 2006 Ashden award winner. I particlarly like their strategies of:
-Individual ownership for increased responsibility.
-Utilizing microcredit services to finance the purchase.
-Linking with income generating activities.

Personal Note

I thought I'd share a personal success: my team was recently selected as a finalist in the Social Venture Competition at Brigham Young University. We will be presenting on Thursday in an effort to secure a portion of the $25,000 prize money. Our business is called Motu BioFuels and we are making biodiesel from coconuts and jatropha nuts in Tonga. Whether or not we win we are launching this summer. I've researched various case studies and conducted market research for other groups' social ventures, now it is my turn to get my hands dirty.

Recharging Cell Phones

A very simple microfranchise could be based on an idea I have heard about on a podcast, but was unable to find in a quick search online, which is a cell phone recharging business that using a solar panel to charge car batteries to subsequently charge cell phones. It would be such a simple business with low startup costs. Buy the solar panels in bulk, stick a brand on it, market it to microcredit borrowers, and you have a franchise.

On ChangeMakers there is a wonderful model of renting solar panels spearheaded by Fabio Rosa in Brazil.

My Projects

In addition to posting findings of successful models I'll occasionaly talk about the projects I am currently involved with and invite discussion on the design and decision-making of the projects.

The first project is in rural Ghana and is trying to create a franchise that will sell health products to address the major health problems, with a particular emphasis on malaria. The franchisees will be women from microfinance village groups. The idea is that by buying in bulk and regulating the quality of products being sold in rural areas we, as the franchisor, can provide higher quality health products at lower prices than the current alternatives. We also hope the desire to make a profit will lead to greater 'salesmanship' of good health behaviors.

We plan on piloting a business at the end of this month.

I had given recommendations based on research with a team of graduate students from last summer but have yet to see a final business plan from the organization to know which recommendations they adopted. Once I see what they are actually doing then I can analyze their decisions in this forum.

The other microfranchise will create oil-press shops in Kenya and Tonga. The main source of oil will be jatropha seeds and coconuts. The pressed oil will be collected and turned into biodiesel. Brigham Young University's chapter of Engineers without Borders is designing the reactor and will help implement the project. A business plan for the oil-pressing franchise called Kijiji Oil in Kenya will hopefully be entered into the upcoming Social Venture Competition on campus.