Informations sur les produits

El Hadji Alioune Diouf

18FEB2012. El Hadji Alioune Diouf, Directeur, Direction du Commerce Interieur, Ministere du Commerce of Senegal pays an informal visit to Options Senegal — here inspecting a section of the newly installed Ecolign bottling line.

Education plays a key role in protecting the environment and Ecolign cleaning products were designed with the environment in mind. Our GIEs, who are already working to protect the environment through the use of ecological products and recycled packaging, will complement this work with educational programs at schools throughout the Thiès and Diourbel regions.

All of the community associations from which our GIEs were recruited operate kindergartens or nursery schools. GIEs will be visiting these schools to teach children the following topics though a variety of sketches, games, and other activities:

- The Garbage Cycle: What happens to garbage after it gets thrown in the garbage pail?

- Littering and its affects on the environment.

- Recycling: What is it? Why is it good? How can we recycle?

Through educational programs such as this, children can develop habits at a young age, such as recycling, that will help them to be more environmentally responsible and act as an example to others in the community.

1. First and foremost, we want to say that ChildFund Senegal and the Federations have been most cooperative with Options Senegal. For example:

1 a. After each training, the Options Senegal trainers (Malick Fall and Ibrahima Ba) and the Options Senegal managers (Jaryd Kase and Walter Coddington) discussed and agreed upon changes that could be made to the program and the organization of trainees that would improve the training program impact overall. Federation managers – in every case – were very responsive and accommodating, which in some cases meant changing training locations and days with only a day or two notice.

1 b. Federation managers always made sure that a Federation or Association person was available to translate French or Wolof to English for the English-only speaking OS persons.

1 c. We would also specifically like to thank Agbessi Constant Tchona of ChildFund  Senegal, Sergine Saliou Valentin Faye and Alioune Sarr of the Kajoor-Janken Federation, and Daouda Thiaw of the Fel Yook Federation for always being available to us by phone or in person – day and night – to help us with any and all issues.

2. Options Senegal has requested a meeting with ChildFund Senegal, Federation and IMCEC (the micro lending bank) representatives on Monday, January 30, 2012 in order to review together the progress, findings and recommended next steps of the work program.

II. THE TRAINEES

1. Almost without exception, the trainees invited to participate in the work program were of very fine caliber and attitude. All, without exception, were well groomed and always respectful of the trainers. As with any large group of people, leaders have surfaced and we made careful note of who those people are.

2. The trainees were already organized in groups of 10 to 15 people based on the Associations by whom they were recruited.

3. The preliminary training of the first group of 300 program participants has been completed. Each participant was asked to fill out a questionnaire that provided us with personal, demographic and socio-economic information about the population. Some of that information has been posted on the Options Senegal website.

4. It is understood by all parties that the trainees will need on-going training and supervision, especially during the first few months of their respective business operations. Options Senegal is prepared to provide that support.

5. In the process of preliminary training we discovered that some trainees did not understand what they were going to be trained for when invited to participate. For example, a few do not want to be in the selling of non-toxic cleaning product business. Some trainees already have jobs. Some trainees (particularly those with new babies) are not able to work part-time or full-time. We caught this problem early in the training program and created a letter of understanding that each person signs at the time they are recruited. Now that all parties have a much better understanding of the Options Senegal training program and business model, the Federations should be better able to communicate the nature of the program to future prospective trainees and program participants. Options Senegal will work with Federation representatives to prepare an “Options Senegal Program Introduction and Invitation” flyer for future use.

III. THE TRAINING CURRICULUM

1. A copy of the final ECOLIGN TRAINING PROGRAM Module I has been posted on the Options Senegal website. As has been mentioned, improvements to the original syllabus were made after each training session. The objective of the final PowerPoint of the training program is that anyone should be able read it [or deliver it] to understand the basics of the EcoLign business sales model. Trainer time is best spent working with trainees on practical classroom exercises and in-field experience.

2. Options Senegal requested and received a copy of the Life Skills and Financial Management courses given trainees by the Federation trainers. With the next round of training, we will want to see more synergy between the Federation training and the Options Senegal training.

IV. TRAINING PROGRAM LOGISTICS

1. Since the trainees will eventually work together in teams or GIE groups, we recommend that future GIE member groups not be split up for training. It is better to only train five GIEs at 10 members each, than 10 GIEs with only half the membership present at each training.

2. If four days of training is allotted for each group and Friday afternoon is a particularly important religious observance time, we recommend that the Federation training be conducted on Monday and Tuesday of each week and the Options Senegal training be conducted on Wednesday and Thursday of each week. This leaves Friday morning, if necessary, for Options Senegal trainers to meet with trainees wishing or needing special attention.

3. Options Senegal, ChildFund Senegal and the Federations all agree that a representative of IMCEC should make a one-hour presentation to each trainee group in future trainings.

V. TRAINEE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

1. ChildFund Senegal and IMCEC have come to an agreement whereby IMCEC will loan each GIE member involved in the Ecolign business program 50,000 F CFA.

2. Said money will not be paid directly to individual GIE members but will be paid directly to Options Senegal. Options Senegal will apply this money to the purchase of Ecolign product by GIEs/GIE members for resale and for sales promotion materials.

3. All trainees at this point understand that each member of the GIE is responsible for paying back their 50,000 F CFA IMCEC loan. Furthermore, all GIE group members also understand that the GIE business entity itself is also responsible for paying back the total Group loan amount should any member(s) default. Ultimately, of course, this means that each member of the Group is responsible for other member loan repayments should any other member(s) default.

4. Benchmarks/measurements of program success will be:

• number of program participants
• retention rate of participants
• growth in the number of participants
• average income per participant
• GIE/member loan repayment rate and timeliness
• growth of Ecolign market share

5. Options Senegal is as concerned about the ability of GIE/members to pay back their loans as ChildFund and IMCEC are. Therefore, for the comfort level of all parties, GIEs members have been asked to do some pre-selling to confirm that there is an interest or market for EcoLign products in their respective territories. In this regard, several GIEs have indicated that they have already lined up several commercial entities interested in sampling Ecolign products.

VI. OTHER PROGRESS

Options Senegal has:

1. Formerly incorporated as a Senegalese SARL business.

2. Leased and is retrofitting a space in Thiès to locate its bottling equipment, operating headquarters and living quarters for trainers and project managers.

3. Identified local bottle, package label and promotional printing suppliers.

4. Briefed ChildFund International Regional Director for West Africa, Ousman Cham (in person) on project progress and discussed critical success factors.

VII. NEXT STEPS

1. All parties have agreed that each GIE will be formally incorporated as independent Ecolign product bottlers (in some cases) and distributors (in all cases). Options Senegal has been in touch with APIX and has been advised that it will cost 80.000F CFA for each group to incorporate as an Economic Interest Group. Options Senegal has recommended that this fee be ducted from the GIE member loan money pool.

2. Options Senegal is developing final pre-sales flyers and price lists, packaging labels and sales promotional materials based on local competitive research and trainee and partner feedback to draft text and designs circulated in the last two weeks.

3. The Options Senegal team and GIEs will focus on new business/sales generation.

END OF REPORT

Abdalah Camara of IMCEC, Agbessi Constant Tchona of ChildFund and Bamba Diouf of IMCEC

EN/FR. January 30, 2012 – The Senegalese microfinance institution, Union des Institutions Mutualistes Communautaires d’Epargne et de Crédit (U-IMCEC) signed a memorandum of understanding today to provide access to financing and set up savings accounts for GIEs and GIE members in the Options Senegal Ecolign Entrepreneurial Program.

U-IMCEC was formed in 1997 by ChildFund Senegal with the goal of increasing children’s well-being through increased family income. Today U-IMCEC is an independent financial institution with over 50,000 members served by more than 40 branches in urban, suburban, and rural communities throughout Senegal. 56.75% of loans made by U-IMCEC are to women entrepreneurs.

U-IMCEC continues to work closely with ChildFund Senegal to promote its goals of entrepreneurial development, capacity building, the creation of jobs in rural communities, and working towards an economy that is not dependent on foreign aid.

In addition to providing start-up loans to GIE members involved in the Options Senegal Ecolign Entrepreneurial Program, U-IMCEC participates in Options Senegal training sessions to teach participants how banks operate and how different banking products can assist them as they launch their businesses and manage their personal finances.

Partenariat avec l’Institution de Microfinance U-IMCEC

30 Janvier 2012. L’institution de microfinance sénégalais, l’Union des Institutions Mutualistes Communautaires d’Epargne et de Crédit (U-IMCEC) a signé un mémorandum d’accord aujourd’hui pour donner l’accès au financement et mettre en place des comptes d’épargne pour les GIE et les membres du GIE dans le Programme du Sénégal options Ecolign entrepreneurial.

U-IMCEC a été formé en 1997 par ChildFund Sénégal dans le but d’accroître le bien-être des enfants grâce à l’augmentation du revenu familial. Aujourd’hui U-IMCEC est une institution financière indépendante avec plus de 50.000 membres desservis par plus de 40 succursales dans les collectivités urbaines, suburbaines et rurales à travers le Sénégal. 56,75% des prêts consentis par l’U-IMCEC sont les femmes entrepreneurs.

U-IMCEC continue de travailler en étroite collaboration avec ChildFund Sénégal pour promouvoir ses objectifs de développement de l’entrepreneuriat, le renforcement des capacités, la création d’emplois dans les collectivités rurales, et de travailler vers une économie qui n’est pas dépendante de l’aide étrangère.

En plus de fournir des prêts de démarrage au GIE membres impliqués dans le programme entrepreneurial d’Ecolign avec Options Sénégal , U-IMCEC participe à des sessions de formation au Sénégal Options d’enseigner aux participants comment les banques fonctionnent et comment les différents produits bancaires peut les aider comme ils lancer leurs entreprises et à gérer leurs finances personnelles.

As was the case in Dakar, this facility will double as office and apartment space for the Options Senegal business and project management team. As we get settled, more interior photos will follow.

We are grateful to Mr. Valentin Faye for finding us the location and negotiating an affordable rent .

Market Posters

Please take a moment and pick the poster you think is best for use by Ecolign sales reps in the market place.

Keep in mind three things:
1. EcoLign is a new product.
2. A poster can’t say everything; the sales rep will be there (by the poster) to answer questions and fill in the gaps, so to speak.
3. Generally, people are somewhat familiar with the term “ecologique” and believe it has something to do with the environment and/or safety.

For those of you who do not read French or Wolof, here is the gist of each poster:

The first poster, Sakkanna, reads:

New Ecological Cleaning Product for the Home.
Economical and affordable.
Bring your recycled 1 litre [soda or juice] bottle and we’ll refill it with product. [The sales rep will explain that in this way the consumer only has to pay a few hundred francs -- about $.40 --  for the concentrate to which he/she adds water versus almost $2.00 or more for the ready-to-use product in an original/new Ecolign bottle.]
Available here.
Manufactured in the United States, bottled in Senegal.

The second poster with the picture of the woman and child reads:

New Ecological Cleaning Product.
EcoLign, for the health of your home and your family.
Available here.
Bring your recycled 1 litre [soda or juice] bottle and we’ll refill it with product.
Manufactured in the United States, bottled in Senegal.

The third poster makes the point that laundry detergents do not clean floors, furniture, windows, toilets and kitchen surfaces as well as specific cleaning products designed for these applications. [Many consumers in Senegal use concentrated laundry detergent powder sold in 60ml foil packets to wash/clean everything.]

It boils down to which benefit you think is most important to the prospective customer:

1. Affordability (first poster)
2. Health and Safety (second poster)
3. Performance (third poster)

If none of the posters work for you, feel free to recommend another strategic or creative approach.

Partnership. Over the past three months, since the US contingent of the Options Senegal development team has been “on the ground” here in Senegal, we have developed a deep respect for the work of the local Federations and Associations that ChildFund International and ChildFund Senegal support and have organized respectively. As for the Options for Life and Options Senegal mission – the economic development and empowerment of developing-country women and young adults (male and female) – the task of recruiting, screening and training candidates would have been more time consuming, less efficient and probably less productive without the assistance of the Senegalese Federations. So far, the Partnership is working very well.

Training. By the end of next week, we will have grounded 300 young adults in the business of green cleaning product applications, marketing and sales. Follow-up calls to the ones we have already trained indicate a real readiness to START SELLING. In fact, several marketing groups (GIEs) have already gotten client purchase commitments using the training material as selling tools.

After each training session to date, we refined the training curriculum to better anticipate frequently asked questions and topics that needed more or less discussion. Today, we posted a link to the complete EcoLign Training Program: Module I PowerPoint presentation on the Options Senegal blog in the “Blogroll” box on the home page (bottom, right-hand corner). Check it out and feel free to comment.

Sales Promotion Material. Speaking of sales materials, we are writing and designing them now, heavily influenced by the market and consumer research conducted over the last three months. Artwork will go to local printers next week.

General and Administration. We have decided to locate the product production equipment in the city of Thies. It is more central than Dakar to the 300 sales and marketing people we will have trained. We signed a lease with a two month opt out clause should we need even larger space sooner than we expect. We will post pictures of the facility next week when we move in. The space will triple as mini-plant (equipment) location, on-going training facility and apartments for the local Mini-plant managers – all for just $400 per month. Equivalent space in the manufacturing and port district of Dakar is $6,000 per month.

Product Development. We have decided not to package concentrated product in 30 to 60ml plastic bags. Instead, small amounts of product concentrate will be pumped into consumer’s recycled soda and juice bottles from 5 to 20 liter dispensing containers carried by EcoLign sales reps, market sellers and boutique operators.

Trainer Ibrahima Ba

For partner comment and reference by Ecolign Sales Trainees, there is a link on this blog in the “Blogroll” box (lower right hand side of the home page) to a PowerPoint presentation that accompanies the first Module of the Ecolign Business Training Program. Or, you can click on the link below to download and view the presentation.

Over the course of two days, trainees are introduced to the soap and detergent cleaning product category, covering such issues as the history of cleaning, why we clean, how to clean, toxic chemical components and green cleaning. An introduction to Ecolign cleaning products, the target audience and the profit potential is also covered.

http://optionssenegal.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/ecolign-training-program.pdf

Christmas in Thiès

EN/FR. The Options Senegal team was invited to participate in the ChildFund and Kajoor Jankeen Federation annual Christmas party. Two-hundred seventy-five children from the Thiès area received a gift each presented by such dignitaries as Valentin Faye (photo bottom left), the Federation President.

Options Sénégal a été convié à la cérémonie de l’arbre de Noel organisé par le ChildFund et la Fédération Kajoor Janken.  275 enfants de la zone de Thiès ont reçu leurs cadeaux des mains de personnalités telles que Valentin Faye, Président de la Fédération.