We started the day mapping out how we were going to turnaround the sewing business. We had some ideas but it was important that we got the girls to come up with their own solutions. Anna Lowe started off by recapping yesterday’s learning with the girls. She went on to show the impact on profitability of varying a product volume and price.
Richard White then did a marketing workshop where he got the girls to identify potential markets and consider a problem centric approach to developing new products.
The girls identified tourists as an important target audience and then were challenged to think of products related to the problem of heat. They came up with some brand new products that would be easy to produce and deliver a good margin. These included a water bottle carrier and a case for sun glasses. They also had some of their existing products like the beach mats.
We then started to look at sales channels and finding resellers who would earn a good margin on the products should be an important approach for them. Suddenly the girls began to see a way forward and we could see how excited they were,
Marieme Jamme then did an excellent session on using social media to increase visibility of the 10,000 Girls project. She also told them the importance of being credible and punctual with existing and potential customers. We were quite surprised to discover several of the girls were already on Facebook but did not quite understand it. We showed them how to use Facebook to find resellers and customers both in the UK and Senegal.
We finished the day at a traditional Sabar African drumming event in honour of Viola Vaughn and the Dakar Dragons. It was a fun event and all the Dragons were required to join in and do a vigorous solo dance in front of 100 people!
In Senegal, Welcoming your guests with a folkloric Instrument called the Drum is consider as a sign of respect. We had great fun, and burned lots of energy while dancing.
Today we were in Kaolack Village with the bakery and restaurant businesses. We started the day with Anna Lowe giving an excellent lesson in business planning which was translated into Wolof by Marieme Jamme. The girls followed with interest and it built on their existing knowledge of basic accounting.
We then briefed Viola Vaughn of our thoughts from yesterday and began discussing the organic tea business we are due to cover on Friday. After the conversation we all sat down together for a delicious meal together..
After lunch we broke into 2 groups; Anna Lowe and Jonathan Roe worked with the bakery business and Marieme Jamme and Richard White worked with the sewing business. The process was similar to yesterday – working with them to understand the investment requirement and the numbers to back it up.
The bakery business was once working very successfully in Kaolack town until their landlord ended their tenancy. They moved to Kaolack village and although they are still trading by doing lunches for local NGOs. It was established that they really need help on deciding the shape and direction of their business before investing any money. Anna and Jonathan will be helping them think through their options tomorrow,
The sewing business had an ambitious request for 12 extra sewing machines. This would have trebled the capacity and so their existing customers came under a lot of close scrutiny. The quality of existing customers was not as good as they thought and they had no concrete plans on where the extra orders were going to come from.
Marieme and Richard loved the products and could see that there was a potentially big business here but adding extra capacity at this stage would saddle them with costs they could not afford at present. We quickly changed mode from Dragons to trouble shooters and looking at helping them develop a sales and marketing strategy. Once the quality orders start to come in then there will be no problem getting funding for the sewing machines.
A major element of our work is in providing these girls with much needed business education and so tomorrow we will be focusing on sales and marketing. These girls have fantastic products but just like the owners of small businesses everywhere, they need help in better selling and marketing themselves and their products. To be continued tomorrow!
Today we ventured out to Ecole Premiere Saint Antoine de Padoue in Kongheul, Kaolack. The school is run by Italian nuns and all the younger kids looked so cute in their blue school uniforms.
It was a 3 hour journey for us in what can only be described as heavan for 4 wheel drive fanatics! The school is a participator in the 10,000 Girls project and we were there to meet the older girls in the enterprise programme. Their task is to run profitable enterprises that raise money for themselves but also fund places for educating young girls.This was the first Dragons Den style meeting of the trip and there were 12 girls working on 2 projects.
One project was to weave and sell special Senegalese fabrics that are highly sought after by Senegalese living in other parts of the world and who currently have to travel to Senegal to buy them. This project was deemed very interesting by the Dragons but there was not enough depth of understanding in its current form. The girls were sent away with a positive message and a request to do more detailed research. We expect that they will be ready in 6 months to a year with a much specific plan. They were very grateful with the learning derived through going through the process.
The other project the Dragons loved. The restaurant group currently have a restaurant business in the town which is making good money but is hindered by lack of basic equipment. Their premises are rented on a 1 month notice period and they are reluctant to invest in that location.
The girls really wanted better premises and had a shopping list of the equipment they would need down to a good level of detail. They also had a good grasp of the local market and they were ideally located as a pitstop for passing trade. A profitable area where the Dragons saw a lot of potential was supplying the local NGOs with lunches. They are already doing 25 lunches per month with scare facilities and this could be expanded significantly.
All the girls said they enjoyed the process of having to present their ideas and give detailed justifications. With the help of their English teacher Jean-Pierre, we agreed to draw up a simple business plan for the restaurant business that he could translate into Wolof to serve as an example for future Dakar Dragons project ideas.
After a tiring day the Dragons are now back in their hotel and getting ready for a meal together to review the day and plan for tomorrow.
Unbelievable really! I remember having a chat with my lovely friend Richard White about my Foundation and desire to help women in Africa six months ago. Richard and I met couple of times for diner and finally start building up the momentum to go to Dakar.
We decided to go to Dakar to help Viola Vaughn CNN Hero and Founder of the 10.000 girls in Kaolack in Senegal.
All is now happening,we had our second skype call today Friday the 3rd of July. We are currently working on the branding of the Dakar Dragons. A draft concept was released by Ces today and it is just beautiful to see. The team Dakar Dragons is shaping up nicely with wonderful people. I am so honored to have them! So Far we have 5 people including one from Hong Kong.We are leaving uk the 20th of November and will be back on the 5th of December.
I connected with Marieme Jamme via Ecademy and we met for the first time early in June this year. During that meeting she told me about the 10,000 girls project in Senegal and the proposed trip in November. I was very pleased when she asked if I would consider joining the team.
Over the last few weeks I have got to know Richard White via telephone conferences and emails, although we have yet to meet in person. A number of other people have also become involved and they will reveal themselves in due course.
It is clear that Marieme and Richard have been talking and thinking about this venture for many months. Now a team is forming and people are asking questions and making suggestions that challenge, and sometimes contradict, the vision held by Marieme and Richard. It can be a painful process creating a team. It is worth remembering the four stages of group development – forming, storming, norming, and performing. All teams go through these stages and this model helps us to understand our emotions as the team develops. Sometimes bringing a new person into an established team can set the process back a stage or two.
Many of you will be familiar with the Belbin team roles. There may be benefit in applying this model to the team. I know from previous projects that my dominant role is “Monitor Evaluator”. I suspect that I have already spotted the “Shaper” and the “Plant” in the team (but I may be wrong). Each team role makes a valuable contribution, but each role can also have weaknesses. This is why team building is so important. All the Belbin roles need to be represented in a successful team.
