Interesting reading material and organisations

Webuye, Kenya, June 2015

Like in any new venture we have spent months reading, meeting and talking to anyone that could be remotely connected with our vision and plans.

Thanks to this newly connected world we have been able to read (and watch) a vast amount of research, analyses, opinions and speculations published somewhere. Here the list of all topics we are following:

– Marketing and distributing to “bottom of the pyramid” clients

– Direct Selling in all flavours – there are many!

– Financial inclusion in emerging markets

– Clean and mobile technologies for rural users in emerging markets

– Lean Start-up and Customer Development concepts

– The lives of small holders, especially in Kenya
We have also met lots of interesting people who have been very kind giving us advice on anything from very practical (which bank NOT to use) to philosophical (how to encourage men and women in rural areas to give more power to women for taking financial decisions in the house).

We would like to thank the following people – while making free unsolicited publicity :-):

– Kat Harrison and Linda Wamune at SolarAid/SunnyMoney

– Kulsoom Ally at Juhudi Kilimo

– Jonathan Bamber and Ofelia Burton at Abundant Power Solutions

– Joanis Holziger and Anshul Patel at BBOXX Kenya

– Kyle Shutter at Takamoto Biogas

– Many at EcoZoom and Greenlight Planet

… many other friends, partners and advisers.

… and most crucially, many rural farmers, many of whom are now happy clients.

 

Here some of our favourite publications

On doing business with in developing countries:

– A good study by Hystra (2013) is the Marketing Innovative Devices for the Base of the Pyramid.

– The Business Innovation Facility publishes interesting case studies and practical guides.

– In Harvard Business Review, check Simanis’s (2012) Reality Check at the Bottom of the Pyramid.

– While from 2011, already a classic: ‘Poor Economics’ by Abhihit Banerjee and Esther Duflo.

– Over 3 decades old and seemingly more necessary than every: ‘Rural Development – putting the last first‘ by Robert Chambers.

On Direct Selling:

– No to miss a Harvard Business School’s Note on Direct Selling in Developing Economies by Chu and Segre (2010).

– not new but relevant to us the book Direct Selling Channels edited by Bert Rosenbloom in Journal of Marketing Channels (1992)
On Finance:

– Excellent papers by FSD Kenya. A “must read” is the Kenyan Financial Diaries: Shilingi Kwa Shilingi – the financial lives of the poor, published in 2014.

On being Lean:

– The Eric Ries’s seminal ‘The Lean Start-up’ (2011), particularly the ‘Start-up Owner’s Manual’ (2012) by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf for the nuts and bolts of it, and Blank’s YouTube videos that are great if you are in a rush.

Gaps we see, have we missed something?

Perhaps, not surprisingly, we miss experiences and opinions from Lean Start-ups working in emerging markets and more specifically from organisations targeting the so-called bottom of the pyramid market segment.

It is sometimes difficult for us to translate the experiences of Eric Ries or Steve Blank with their latest App in Silicon Valley success story into the Kenyan rural context. Starting with how much more difficult is to “get of the building” when one does not speak Bukusu and needs to travel on dirt roads to visit clients and finishing with the fact we are selling stuff (!) not mobile apps… We must seem so 20th century to many 😉

We also miss research about Direct Selling in these new emerging markets. Most of what has been researched dates from the 90s and covers mainly Western World-based economies. In addition, because these are old papers they are often not online and do require a trip to the British Library!

Perhaps we have missed something, if that’s the case, please let us know …. contact us!

Lessons learned

  • There is a lot out there but going out the building and doing your own customer fact finding is vital
  • It gives immense pleasure to see when your own analysis coincides with other people’s analysis

Favourite Steve Blank’s Manifesto line: “Communicate and Share Learning”