I work for the community but is abit of personal biz which hope I'll get ideas which will guide me to a sucess.

Planning a financial service company I remember that the purpose of the business is to help people communicate with one another. A village saving and credit company have good ideas for communicating with people and helping in the resettlement though the interest rate will be slightly lower than other micro-credit societies.

Thanks for the invitation to contribute. I wish I knew more about financial services to be able to contribute fully to the thread (and to be able to capitalise on the knowledge in the projects I am directly invovled in), but I do feel strongly that there is a need for Accountancy support services for NGOs and business incubation services for new rural businesses and this is something which could attract a level of funding, either from local government or overseas charitable trusts.

Any projects which increase the credibility of organisations that help alleviate poverty will contribute to the transfer of wealth from where they have too much to where they have too little.

Thanks Ben for the good idea and I have taken few research on micro-credit organistions they look much more onto the middle class and neglect the traditonal and I believe this is what I really wanted to achieve by empowering the people who have already given up in life what they think of is waking early in the morning to work in tohers fields just to get for today and forget about tomorow.

I think getting closer to the village level will create some impact on this people down here: one by making them learn what saving is and how it works ,openning their minds to banking systems because here in Gulu rural area including Urban some people fear merely the banks so I hope with this they will be able to learn.

Like Ben I wish I knew more about financial services. He makes a really good point about accountancy. I think you are doing some study in that area aren't you Munnu?

It's a good thing to do. And I think it's really important to see that spreadsheets are useful for all sorts of things. Analysis often means breaking things into smaller parts for closer examination. Spreadsheets are great for analysis.

Spreadsheets are good for putting things all together too. Sometimes I have difficulty keeping the differences between spreadsheets and databases clear in my mind. I don't know the differences really. In both you can make a change to a part that sometimes can change the whole thing.

One kind of financial service is burial insurance. Here people come together to pay a little bit into an account every little while. If they die a set amount will be paid for their burial. The good thing is that most of the time people don't all die at once. So often burial insurance businesses take part of the money in the account to use to make loans to the people participating in the burial insurance plan. I remember this being discussed at Omidyar.net and when I get a chance will look for those discussions.

That's one sort of approach to starting a financial services business. From what I know about you Munnu, you want to find ways to encourage people to make businesses. Not everything is about money, or to put it another way, money is only one of the tools.

Something I like about tools is you can use them to make something to sell, but even if what you make with the tools isn't selling well, you still have some value in the tool itself.

Many of my ideas for businesses start out as an idea I think is good but people don't yet realize is a good idea. (A lot of my ideas probably really aren't good ideas).

For example, I know that many homes in Uganda are made from mud bricks. I have an idea of how to make strong buildings using less mortar between bricks. The idea involves making some special shaped bricks that include some cement in them. These bricks are made in a special press. (This may not be a good idea, it's just an example to show something).

What's really valuable is a different way of building made possible with these new special bricks. The problem with new things is people don't want to try them. So how to make a business for something people don't want?

One way is to build the tool and make some of these bricks. Then build something showing how using some of these bricks along with regular bricks can make buildings that are stronger and quicker to put up. As people see them, especially as they see some people using them, then they will want to buy them.

So imagine you have made the tool. You could make the bricks, but you don't really want to make bricks, but you want to make a business that makes these bricks available to the many who now want to buy them.

One solution is to let someone use the tool to make the special bricks. After they make enough bricks to pay for the cost of the tool plus some profit, they will own the tool and continue to make bricks. But bricks are heavy, so more people in different places could get tools you make with the profit you got from the first one.

All the while you could keep track and arrange the sale of the bricks that the people using the tool you make. (You might not even have to make the tool, but have someone make the tool to your design).

My example isn't a very good one. What I'm trying to show is a different kind of financial service business from the burial society business. The kind of business I am trying to describe in the brick business is called a franchise In this sort of business certain rights are given to make or sell a certain product. This kind of business is where a particular idea is a valuable part of the business.

You want to be the one who puts the pieces together so that many people can make businesses that bring them income. Money is an important tool for this, but not the only tool.

Ideas and communication are very important. Tools like spreadsheets are useful for making good ideas--paying attention to details and also showing the whole picture--and spreadsheets are also a good way to communicate good ideas to others. In learning about accountancy it seems you are learning about money, and you are. But you are also learning about ideas and how to share them with others.

An important thing in starting out in business is to make sure your imagination is really active. Think and talk about lots of ideas. Then you can choose the ones you really want to put your efforts into.

Right after I wrote this I read an article by Jessica Flannery who had a great idea to make Kiva. Her article is on micro-franchises It might be a hard article to read, but it made me think that I wasn't completely off-topic to mention franchises in this thread.

Oh wow! Thanks to whomever added tags to the post above. I read Jessica Flannery's article because David Stoker wrote about it in his blog which he feeds to Razoo. I went to his blog and discovered it is called microfranchising! Munnu, it's definitely worth checking out what David Stoker has to say. An easy way to do that is to look at his blog either at Razoo or his blogspot blog.

Thanks allot munu,i have an idea based on the credit and saving,this is really work and its the only way forward for the reslltements and post war the only thing is that women are trusted than men and comitted basing on the experince. the problem we have now is that we really need working capital. i will give in more idea basing on the expperince on the ground.and the need accessement.

Thanks John for all that you gave in ,as I mentioned earlier my intention is mainly based on creating change in societies especially enable extremely impoverished people (mostly women) to engage in self-employment projects that allow them to generate an income and begin to build wealth for themselves which I hope will happen.

So I believe all idea is having it all done under minimum cost and helping to uplift the situation of sitting and waiting for the WFP give in food and the food exchanged with what is lacking in the house but to use that as a supplement onto what might decide to do.With expirience on ground,Sudan offers market which I believe when mothers are empowered,some thing great will happen in the lives and family, and George thanks for the contribution .

If I might add to the discussion a little bit more.

One thing that I am planning for the next couple of months is to draw up some mini business plans for people considering purchasing our rural technology products and thereby needing to justify to a bank or microfinance institution that they can can pay back the money.

These business plans will be "off the shelf" or at the very least extremely easy to customise to whichever buyer comes along, as part of the selling process.

I apologise if this is a little off track, but it seemed to blend with the idea that you had about empowering women to engage in self-employment projects. What you may be able to do, to ensure you are self-financing, is to build in a margin for your "empowering" services into the cost of the product, so that you receive a "commission" on the sale of the product, for anyone that uses your business plan to secure a sale.

Morish, I realy love the great ideas that you always come up with, first the soap thing and now this village saving and credit . i know most people have been glued to the idea of free grants and have never been looking at other optios like this rotational funds . With the first kind of funding, one is given once with little hope of getting the next one , but with the second type, if you pay well, then it's acontinous thing. I have already seen how it has uplifted people's lives and keps everyone busy and hardworking.

You have called it private , how do you intend to make it work ? we shall of course give a hand wherever we can.

good luck !

George, Munnu, and Grace...all great additional thoughts, questions and ideas. Ben, a mini-biz plan, or biz plan template (1-2 pages at most) could be very, very helpful. Who's on the team? What is the product/service? Who is and how big is the market? What are the expenses? Expected breakeven point? Main three problems? Just some basic things in a template could be very helpful indeed. Ben, any idea when you might have those finished?

I would suggest probably by mid-October. My work-plan in Nigeria is not yet finalised, but I would want to see the products in action and ask all the relevant questions of the potential users in situ, as well as talk to the bank, as to their needs. Having said that, I am eager to have things up and running by November, if at all possible.

I am wary of taking this slightly off-topic, so feel free to ignore this addition:) I am also planning a slightly more complex "village cybercafé" business plan and presentation, to encourage purchase and bank finance of our new solar-powered cybercafé proposition and this could be made available too, if people would be interested.

Ben, I may be really off topic-- and I suspect your wariness of taking this thread off topic is partly to remind me not to.

Munnu Morrish wrote:

Thanks John for all that you gave in ,as I mentioned earlier my intention is mainly based on creating change in societies especially enable extremely impoverished people (mostly women) to engage in self-employment projects that allow them to generate an income and begin to build wealth for themselves which I hope will happen.

I think Munnu really is interested in creating a financial service business. But his intention on creating change in creating self-employment seems his main purpose. Ben's business plans are right on target towards this.

Ben wrote:

What you may be able to do, to ensure you are self-financing, is to build in a margin for your "empowering" services into the cost of the product, so that you receive a "commission" on the sale of the product, for anyone that uses your business plan to secure a sale.

Sometimes banks talk about their "products." Building a business of a Savings and Credit Company like Munnu wants to do means making products available that will be really useful for his community. Thinking like a bank may not be the best way to accomplish what he wants--it maybe of course. But it seems to me considering the kinds of products Ben are suggesting is very good to consider.

The work that George is doing to provide on-the-ground needs assessment is great. Certainly there is a need for capital, but making a business plan will be a good step towards securing capital.

Making a business plan is what Mark suggests and all the questions he presents that need answering are good ones. My feeling, and I may be really off topic here, is that there should be some more free talk before getting too specific.

Grace makes good points about rotational funds. She also asks about ownership of the business:

You have called it private , how do you intend to make it work ?

There are many answers to the kinds of questions being asked. What seems useful is to consider many options and then it will be the time to choose from those options to make a business plan for this business.

Thanks y'all for the good ideas and contributions.

Grace its really not after who owns what but my idea is to have it all directed to helping the needy and provide them with hope of life but your question is great one .Howerver as John has stated it ,time will tell .But I don't have the right answer until the options are set but I took the lead to have this for the communities.

Ben said....bank finance of our new solar-powered cybercafé proposition and this could be made available too, if people would be interested.

Not much of this exist here in Gulu and connections is poor and power is terrible but with solar-powered(If I picked it right) would be of additional advantage.

When I take it to a new direction, Land here is extreme available but people lack the motivation,ability to invest, and use it to setup small biz which could bring income to their homes and change their S.O.L. Working as a comunity is really good but out of the many one might really be having a good investment ability but because its directed,they fail foristance for Nusaf Projects in Uganda if its said Pig rearing then thats final everybody as to go with that, Hope I'm still on track.but If the hopeless are motivated, they would have smart thinking and have trust in then selves.

[Deleted by author on 14 Sep 2007 05:46 PDT: ;]

This is a process,not abegining or the end. I have also been working on how to find the problems(assesment),to decide what can be done( analysis) and take action.Help communities to work together.Once people understand their own problems they can start to find ways to solve them .As they learn to decide what to do and take action with community projects /personal, the process starts over and over again to solve other problems.

The Children are sick ,can we ask the microcredit to help us find ways to produce more food?.here I believe we come in to the rescue either buy and supply them the seed on credit and at the at harvest they repay keeping other factors constant or hand them some money worth buying the necesssities and help them in that way.

This is the dream.

we are not connected ,people are computer iliterate,this is problem in the development world and its aproblem,can we find ways of who can help edtablish this kind of serviices to our communities and have us enjoy what the internet has to say,.....life goes on,things are changing ,the community is developing and e'tal

I think this is the kind of the things which is very necessary and I think can be done.

Thanks

It is nice to share in this thread.Micro credit can play a lot of roles in the community depending on how it had been used. For it to exist, community should be given prire knowledge on how to handle money and earn profit.

This thing can help in eradicating poverty from the community so long the community are educated to know the impact that micro credit can creat on them. It is a gradual process that starts with few people and the more active the beginers are , the more other people will join in and benefit from this scheme.

I had some advice from my friend on Razoo and he gave some good information about mobile microcredit and the below

One strategy he have heard about to reach the poorest, the ones microcredit is missing, is matched-savings programs. These are grants but they are awarded according to savings by the individual. One group that is doing this is at: asap2025.org. he don't know all the details of their partners, but he know they do a lot of work with FINCA.

The way microfranchising will reach the poorest is through employment. he thinks it will be the children of microcredit borrowers, those with basic reading and writing, can keep accurate accounting records etc. that will be the owners of microfranchises. The hope is that microfranchises could grow to a point that it would create employment.

Another initiative not yet mentioned is Drumnet, which is more about helping finance agricultural development, where seasonality of income might preclude someone from taking the microfinance route.

This link will take you there:

http://www.drumnet.org/index.htm

My impression is that Drumnet are focused around East Africa at the moment, although I hope that they are able to extend into West Africa soon.

I have really desired what my colleague has posted, now one thing our community do have very little on village saving and credit society, what do you suggest to see that they have advance knowledge on this matter? what can we do to gives prier knowledge to them? will there be alearning forum to teach our members about village saving and credit society though it's something known by them? what do you think?.

sorry to join this late - but I am very stong believer in franchises- why go to the bother of developing a good communal service in one place and not be able to define how its whole can be planted somewhere else

something that puzzles me accutely is that eg ashoka does not seem to write up its thousands of members in ways that make it evident whether they have a replicable franchise

now if we were to be cynical, it could be that if franchises really sung out loud and clear where they exist around a social entrepreneur then at some stage that SE would need eg its original parent association less because they would be contacted by people who really wanted to network weave that practice everyhere it could go

I am going to assume that's not the problem. I used to do a lot of quite highly paid work on commercial service brands. I found strangely enough that there seems to be little if any training on how to write up and clarify if you have a franchise. Oddly a transparently defined service franchise takes away a lot of the work that a particular type of archaic manager likes to boss or even rather randomly tamper with. A franchise (unlike an organigram) needs to become a see through map which takes away quite a lot of top-down structure. My father wrote about more of this back in 1982 -and most of the organisational changes that make service different from thing manufacturing are still not realised with the full entrepreneurial energy they could be http://www.normanmacrae.com/intr apreneur.html

Chris, I am afraid that the experience of many commercial franchisees would contradict this idealistic view.

Many 'commercial franchises' - and I emphasise commercial - continue to take both fees and ideas from their franchises and continue not only with top-down management but often authoritarian controls that would not be tolerated in many corporations.

Maybe the idea of 'non-commercial franchises' needs to be developed further so that I can understand how the central control - implicit in franchising - becomes decentralised or democratised.

I have been completely of the roadbut now am back t the discussion,Chris and Jofhn thanks for your contribution t the thread. I have carried out numerous research about this discusions and new thingshave been coming in my mind and I think for its best thegovernment have cme up to set this credit andsaving societies in all the sub-countys,this implies that I can work on the attaining the best ofit from this organistions set up by the goverment or I take anewdimention towards this.

The development strategy here is that to cut the competition between the govenment plan and mind in setting up this is to really have the business plan set up i a way that the all will work in along soie that of the goverment forinstance taking the initiative to teach the benefiaries on how best they can work with the services which they are soon going to be rendered.

I need an Idea here:How best can I use the governemnt plan of seting up all this credit and saving societies in all sub-countys in the district ?and How helpfull it will be to the societies?.Can it wok on setting up cyber cafes in the sub-countys?

;

I'm up too late, and not sure I'm thinking very well. Munnu's question has the gears turning, but I realize a good answer isn't going to come off the top of my head.

Last week I went to consult with a friend who owns some property in an neighborhood in Pittsburgh. I got to talking about that neighborhood and the neighborhoods around it with my father. In talking something that became very clear to me is that individuals make a big difference in the way things turn out.

One of the neighborhoods next to the neighborhood my friend has property is called the Hill District. It's both one of the most famous and infamous part of the City of Pittsburgh.

A man who made a big difference for the better for the Hill District neighborhood was a Realtor--that's a person who sells and manages properties--way back in the 1950's. My friend is a Realtor too. This man, Robert R. Lavalle made a really big difference with a savings and loan association, a type of financial business which is a little like a Savings and Credit Society, but is especially for helping people buy houses.

Before Robert R. Lavalle there was a criminal boss named Gus Greenlee. One thing I want to make plain is I don't encourage illegal activity! But one of the ways that Greenlee made his money was through a kind of gambling called numbers. Basically people would pay a penny for a ticket with numbers on it. Numbers were picked and the person who had the ticket with the winning numbers would get a pot of money.

Numbers was not the only illegal activity that Gus Greenlee did. But the strange thing is that Greenlee also did a lot of good for the Hill District neighborhood. Before Robert Lavalle's Savings and Loan, Gus Greenlee was about the only way that people could get loans to buy houses and start businesses.

Like I say, I don't encourage illegal behavior, but when I thought about Greenlee's numbers operation while talking to my father, I got really interested in the network that was necessary for enough tickets to be sold for a very small amount--just a penny--for Greenlee to get rich enough to make many loans which in turn made the Hill District a thriving business area.

Micro-loans have a real role to play. But Micro-savings are also an important part of the picture. What seems clear about micro-savings is that it takes the cooperation of many people to make it work. That's sort of the opposite of companies that make micro-loans, where really it's just a person or a small number of people who make all the decisions. So I want to think more, and think harder about the savings part of this goal.

It was by a good mistake which really made him succeed.In uganda those things happen but its really very hard to find someone really succeeding though it will help in today living.However,the concept is realy seeing forward and making something happen has Gus did it worked out and he became what he is now(was).

Its starts as an egg and later harshes into a chicken so from aprocess there come something and in every struggle with determination there is always away.This is saving.

Thanks John but Iam still finding answers to the questins in the previous post and I believe this will see us move to a new direction.