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Chapter 1

Read:  Rotary club members are passionate about providing sustainable solutions to poverty. Rotarians are People of Action. Our members and the Rotary Foundation work to strengthen local entrepreneurs and communities.

Entrepreneurs Against Poverty (EntrAPov) is a microlending NGO and part of the Pocatello Rotary Club in Idaho USA. We believe you are a child of God. He loves you and knows you. God is ready to give you the blessings of self-reliance that come from starting your own business. We will work together as a group to help each other start and grow our businesses. Being self-reliant does not mean we get anything we desire. It is believing that through faith in God and our own effort, we can obtain the necessities of life. The following 12 chapters of entrepreneurial training will help you prepare to pitch your business plan to sponsors for a startup loan.

Introduce yourselves to the group. Each participant takes one minute to share: 

  1. name
  2. share your purpose for wanting to start or grow a business.
  3. what they hope to gain from the self reliance course
  4. something interesting about themself

Read: Each week we will practice the following: 

  • 1. Observing and talking with customers: gather ideas, understand customers’ needs, test products, adjust your business ideas, and gather feedback. 
  • 2. Journaling: write down your thoughts, ideas, and impressions. 
  • 3. Selling: learn to listen to the needs of others and identify appropriate solutions. 
  • 4. Financial statements: write down sales and expenses. 

Each week you will be challenged to practice these skills. You will begin talking with potential customers. You will report your results next week. Your business plan will need more planning and improvements than you can imagine. A key part of creating your business is to write down your ideas, observations, and impressions each day. This week, begin using these pages or an electronic device to record your thoughts and ideas. This is your business notebook. Each week you will be asked to report on assignments you complete in your notebook. Bring it to the group meeting each week.

Shark Pond Contest

Qualifying training classes in Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Malawi, and Zambia are invited by Entrepreneurs Against Poverty (EntrAPov), to participate in a contest called “Shark Pond.” Budding entrepreneurs who complete the training classes can compete for interest free startup loans to help launch their businesses. American sponsors choose who they would like to support and a friendship blossoms as they work together on the business. 

Watch the video Entrapov Documentary (click below) to see how it works.

Video: Entrapov Founder, Ben Davidson, explains which types of businesses work best . (click below)

After watching the video, answer the questions below: These successful businesses have a few things in common:

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Your Name
1- They earn high margins. The product or service can be sold at a high price with a low cost to make it. Which one of these businesses benefits most from high margins?
2- They are inflation resistant. When the economy goes bad people still need to eat, even though they might stop buying non-essential things like candy. Which of these businesses benefits from selling an essential product?
3- They sell to middle class or wealthy customers (like business owners) who have money and are not as sensitive to higher prices. Which of these businesses benefits from selling to wealthy customers?
4- They cannot be easily copied by someone else who can sell similar products at a lower cost. Which of of these businesses cannot be easily copied because they use scarce resources (a delivery car)?
5- They can start small using market tests. They can make a simple version of the product or service at a small cost. Then they see if customers will buy the simple product before spending a lot of time and money to start a business. Which of these businesses could have started small with very little money needed to test the market (for example, buying a few chickens to learn the business)?
6- They know someone who is already successful in this type of business and learn from them to avoid the mistakes a new business is likely to make. Which of these business owners volunteered on a friend's farm before they started?
Supervisor Name

Read: Below are some characteristics of a good startup business, like AirBnB. Airbnb is a website that connects people looking to rent out their properties or rooms with travelers seeking accommodation. It overtook a large portion of the hotel business in a short time. AirBnB was a great startup idea because it contained all of these characteristics:

  1. Solves a real problem: A good startup business identifies a real problem that customers are facing and provides a solution that is better than existing options in the market. Airbnb identified a problem that many people faced when traveling – expensive hotels that all looked the same. Instead of trying to make a better hotel, they provided a solution that allowed travelers to stay in someone’s home, providing a more affordable and personalized experience.
  2. Unique value: A good startup business has a unique value that is clearly different from competitors. This is more than just being friendly and giving good service. Airbnb’s unique value is providing a way to connect homeowners with travelers. This platform creates a win-win situation for both parties, with homeowners making money from renting their homes and travelers getting an affordable and unique travel experience.
  3. Scalability: This means that it has the ability to increase revenue without an equal increase in costs. Airbnb created 1 website (an expense) that it can add many properties to without growing expenses. Hotels have poor scalability because they cannot grow without building more rooms, which is a big expense. 
  4. Clear target market: A good startup business has a clear target market and understands the needs and wants of its customers. Airbnb’s target market is travelers who are looking for an affordable and unique travel experience. Airbnb does not even try to compete for business travelers who do not care about price or how unique the room looks. Bad example: “My document printing shop serves all adults ages 18 to 80 throughout Ghana.” Good example: “I serve small business customers in the Ashaiman area who can’t afford owning a printer of their own.” 
  5. Long term financial viability: A good startup business has a sound financial plan that demonstrates its potential for profitability for many years to come. The plan shows how business can remain profitable even if the cost of inventory or supplies go up significantly or competition increases. Because Airbnb does not have to carry inventory (their own hotel rooms), they can easily adjust prices if the cost of hotel rooms goes up or down. Bad example: A hotel business has a lot of risk because it costs a lot to build and maintain rooms. If a newer, better hotel is built next to theirs, the first hotel can only compete by lowering prices, which means they make lower profits and might run out of money long-term.

Homework Commitment: Review the the Business Plan Template shown below and found at the link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ui-zDCkJOwFVK3LwIQktMQubruZgBhBXg-gAH-nvYOM/edit?usp=sharing. Review this sample business plan to help you understand what is required by sponsors that give microloans. Print or save a copy to your computer/phone. Fill it out each week as you work on the lessons. The course work is designed to help you complete the business plan little by little over the next 12 weeks.

SKO Laundry Service Business Plan

By Richard Awuku of Ashimain, Ghana

Describe your business: Laundry Services, (washing and ironing every kind of garments). I have 85 regular customers. If given a grant, I will buy a washing machine combined with a dryer, (high capacity 18kg) for 9500ghc ($950 USD). This will help me get my work done faster and also because I don’t have a dryer now and the washing machine am using now is 13kg, so I am not able to work on comforters (duvets). Every month I get more than 90 duvets and always I pushed them to competitors with such facilities and they take 80 percent of the charges. This alone will add an additional $630 dollars in net income.

For every $1.45 in revenue the business spends $.82 in expenses which leaves $0.63 in net income (44% margin) after all expenses including self salary.

2022 Income Statement (with loan repayment added to show impact to financials).

MISSION

My mission is to make laundry hassle-free for our customers, with a commitment to quality, efficiency, and exceptional customer service. I strive to be the go-to choose for laundry services in my community, and to build lasting relationships with our customers based on trust, reliability, and professionalism.

SERVICES DELIVERABLE

  • Wash and fold service: This is my basic laundry service that involves washing and folding customers’ clothes, linens, and other items.
  • Dry cleaning: A dry cleaning service typically involves cleaning garments and other items that cannot be washed in water, such as delicate fabrics, suits, or leather.
  • Pressing and ironing: The business offers pressing and ironing services to customers who want their clothes to be professionally pressed and free of wrinkles.
  • Pickup and delivery: I offer pickup and delivery services to customers who don’t have the time or means to drop off their laundry in person.
  • Garment preservation: My business offers garment preservation services for customers who want to preserve valuable or sentimental items, such as wedding dresses or vintage clothing.
  • Rug cleaning: My business offers rug cleaning services for customers who want their area rugs or carpets to be professionally cleaned.

Describe your best customer – Cledox suits, a hotel located at Sakumono Village, I wash the hotel bed sheets and comforters (duvets). Because most of my customers or clients are people working, some in the government sectors and other doing their own business, I save them time with my service. I also make them look outstanding and elegance in a classic way or style this gives then the confidence to go out doing their business without worried about what to wear the next day.

Why do your customers do business with you rather than the competition (how are you different or better)? 

Apart from the good services we provide, I also make loyalty my priority. For example, there are a number of times I found things in my customers items, and I return them back eg. wallets, pens, credit cards, Id cards, money, etc. I pick up and deliver laundry. And above all, I don’t fade their items because I make sure I use the right cleaning products on their garments. 

Prices to customers (10 ghc = $1)

  • Suit = 50 ghc 
  • Shirt = 10 ghc 
  • Jeans = 12 ghc 
  • Duvet / blanket = 80 ghc
  • Wedding gown = 150 ghc
  • Robe = 25 ghc
  • caftan is 25 ghc

How do your current customers know you exist? Most of my customers knew my existence by visiting my shop. My shop is by a road side. I have mounted a giant billboard to advertise my services 

Why did you choose this business? I choose laundry business because I developed the passion for it 15 years ago when my formal boss would always ask me to come assist him on weekends to do his laundry at his residence. I was doing it so perfectly, and one day he encourage me to go into the laundry business. I also realised laundry is a business that will forever stay because the more people get busy at their various works, they will always be eager to look for people to assist then with their laundry.

Name your top ways to find new customers

  • Most of my customer sees the giant billboard and get me connected,
  • By referral
  • A flier I drop every week at people residency in targeted areas

My business has already started, and I have been in business for more than 1 year. My business is my only source of income.

  • WhatsApp phone number XXXXXXXXXXX
  • Email Address XXXXXXXXX@gmail.com
  • Course facilitator is Lovina Chizoba Mensah, email XXXXXXXXXX@gmail.com
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