PROMOTING WOMENS EMPOWERMENT THROUGH BUSINESS GROWTH

1
EDIF PROJECT FINDINGS

• PROMOTING WOMENS EMPOWERMENT THROUGH BUSINESS
  GROWTH 
• SEEP Network Annual Meeting,Washington DC
• 20th 24th October, 2003
• Prepared by Lydia Opoku, Sinapi Aba Trust-Ghana

2
TODAY

• Brief Overview of SAT/EDIF Project
• Initial Market Research Findings.
• Steps in Developing the New Asset Loan Pilot
  Product.
• Key Findings from the Preliminary Evaluation of
  the Pilot Project.

3
Objectives of the Project

• The Main objective of the Project is
• To empower women help them develop larger and
  more profitable enterprises

4
Phase I RESEARCH FINDINGS

• The Nature of Womens Businesses
• Mainly subsistence concentrated in the retail
  of foodstuffs prepared food. Only a few into
  hair dressing, dress making and manufacturing
• Why?
• Low barriers to entry require only a limited
  amount of capital to begin and sustain.

5
Clients Business Goals

• Reaching new markets and customers
• Adding a new product or line of business
• Switching businesses
• Buying or building a store /market stall
• Purchasing assets or equipment
• Increasing business volume
• Changing supplier or supply method

6
Differences in Client Business Goals

• Advanced and individual loan clients were more
  interested in going into new business sector or
  diversifying.
• Group loan clients wanted to scale up existing
  businesses because they felt their knowledge and
  experience in current business was their ONLY
  advantage.
• Group loan clients do not feel comfortable doing
  a business they have no idea of.
• More men said they wanted to start a new or
  second business while women tended to want to
  improve their current business.

7
Obstacles to Womens Business Growth

• Capital constraints
• Need more stock to attract and retain their best
  customers
• Limited ability to take advantage of economics of
  scale maximize profits
• Lack of Productive Assets
• Few clients reported being able to make asset or
  equipment purchases
• Time constraints
• Especially those involved in preparing food.
  Women have more home responsibilities generally
  working longer days.
• Perishable nature of goods
• Efficiency in transportation bulk purchasing
  can be undermined if the market is not sufficient
  to absorb all her goods
• Lack of secure or refrigerated storage space
  limits womens ability to take advantage of bulk
  prices.

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Obstacles to Womens Business Growth

• Stiff Competition
• Makes it hard to develop customer loyalty keep
  prices thus profits are very low. Lamented a
  baker My biggest problem is uneducated people
  pricing their bread below cost just to move it,
  making my bread seem relatively more expensive.
• Low levels of education
• Particularly concerned about inability to keep
  track of accounts debtorswomen say this is
  costing them money time
• Lack of trustworthy employees
• Not having someone to sell goods or manage a
  stall in her absence limits mobility, makes it
  difficult to travel to buy goods, affects
  productivity, and affects profitability
• Very few women have had experience as employees
  themselves and thus have limited knowledge of how
  to select and manage employees.
• Insecurity
• Fear experiences of robbery. Need secure
  storage space.

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Implication for SAT ?

• Research shows that
• There is both a knowledge gap and a resource gap
• Confidence and experience are also factors

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What can SAT do?

• Asset Loan Combined with Intensive Training
• Helps women
• Build assets
• (Mid-size Productivity-enhancing assets) Most
  Common Types of Assets Desired Include Storage
  Food Processing Machines and Appliances,
  Furniture for restaurants/Rentals, Hair dryers,
  etc.
• Diversify enterprise activities to spread risk
• Provide the women with access to knowledge and
  build social network
• Business opportunity exposure

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Product Design

• We listened to clients, staff, and management and
  heres what they came up with
• Loan for productivityenhancing assetsincluding
  full costs
• Can be combined with regular working capital loan
• Longer loan term (up to 18 months) grace period
  (1 month)
• Individual loan with asset as sole
  guaranteeownership remains with SAT until paid
• Intensive pre-disbursement training to prepare
  clients to manage their new investment
• Monthly meetings for repayment and follow-up
  training and support
• Brings together clients from different sectors
  and communities

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CRITERIA FOR SELECTION

• Female solidarity group client
• 6th Loan Cycle more good repayment record for at
  least 4 cycles
• Desire to expand or diversify business
• Capacity to expand business
• Has family members currently involved in the
  business or who could be employed in a 2nd
  business or has the capacity to manage both.

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Cont. CRITERIA FOR SELECTION

• Ability to give concrete plans for the investment
  of the money why the additional capital will
  help her.
• Evidence she has previous business trainings into
  practice

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Goal for Intensive Training

• Equip clients with the requisite skills to become
  good managers (both finance and human relations).
  
• Help them to develop a viable business plan using
  the new asset.

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Topics

• Topics were identified based on surveys of client
  interest, observation of common business
  weaknesses of clients at this level, comparison
  of the skills of clients with larger businesses
  with clients with smaller businesses.
• Marketing Marketing Assessment
• Time management
• Record Keeping
• Winning Maintaining Customers
• Business Planning Management
• Asset Management
• Business Improvement Techniques Working
  Environment,Work Organization, Safety Health
  Conditions  

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Follow-up Training Topics

• Hiring Maintaining Employees
• Pricing Negotiation Techniques
• Winning Maintaining Customers
• Debt Recovery Strategies
• Rights of Women the Girl-child
• Living with In-Laws
• Health Issues Menopause,HIV/AIDs etc

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Key Benefits of the Asset Loan

• Adequate capital for productivity enhancing
  assets to supplement or expand existing business.
• Implementation of new technologies to improve
  productivity.
• Acquiring assets which can be used as
  collateral could create a critical stepping stone
  for SG clients to begin accessing larger
  individual loans.
• The regular meetings for training could help
  clients gain confidence skills they need to
  expand their businesses.

18
Phase II Pilot Testing

• 22 Solidarity Women from the Kumasi branch
• Urban, Peri-Urban Rural
• Majority in Trading (83)
• Average Age 43-47 years
• Majority Married (70)
• Average loan Cycle 8
• Average Loan size US 412

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Phase III Preliminary Evaluation

• Access to a lump sum, longer grace period,
  training were the most important features of the
  product.

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Enterprise Level Impact

• Business Diversification/Adding New products
• Initial thought Traders operating from open
  markets would benefit less because they have no
  place to store or use the asset.
• But.these enterprising women seized the
  opportunity to purchase the asset for use in home
  -based businesses managed by children siblings.

21
Enterprise level Income

• Impact on Income
• Most women saw a significant increase in income
  within the first two months.
• Reasons for Income Increase
• Larger and longer loan term grace period
• Combination of lump sum and working capital loan
  freed up client savings to be used to buy more
  stock in bulk to take advantage of economics of
  scale therefore more income.

22
Enterprise level Impact

• Employment creation
• Most have employed family members or other
  members of their communities in their businesses
  or to manage their new line of products.

I have hired 5 children to sell my Abele walls
(Ice Cream) in the community.For every 10,000
they sell, I pay them a commission of 2,000 which
is helping these poor children their families.
A proud provision store owner at Potrikrom, a
rural community
23
Social Impact

• Women who have always thought of managers as
  another social class now understand themselves to
  be managers.
• Gain access to new peer group
• New leadership opportunitiesin the asset loan
  program and as business owner in their
  communities
• Husbands became proud of their wives
  achievements.

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Others..

• Improve the quality or desirability of products
• Made minor investment in their business sites a
  shed ,chairs, tables,cooking utensils, radio etc.

25
Training Impact Client Receptivity

• Overwhelming! Clients were very excited about
  the special 2day intensive training received as
  part of the Asset Loan Program.
• Particularly they valued
• The opportunity to share ideas learn from the
  experiences of people outside their groups
• The team approach with different people teaching
  different topics.
• The intensive focus on concrete strategies that
  can help their businesses.
• The format of being brought to a central location
  to spend an intensive period of time over having
  shorter meetings in their communities.

26
Women Value the Opportunity to Learn

• Overall,the combination of intensive training
  targeting business expansion strategies asset
  loans seems to be very productive and empowering
  for clients.
• All women who attended the training felt it was
  worth the time away from their businesses
• Want SAT to incorporate such training modules
  into their regular meetings for other women to
  also benefit
• Clients putting the training into practice

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Multiplying Effect of the Training

• If you educate a man ,you educate an Individual,
  but if you educate a woman you educate a whole
  nation. Dr.Kweggery Aggrey, A Ghanaian
  Philosopher
• Clients were sharing their training with their
  employees, family members, Trust Bank members
  neighbors.
• So?

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Our Hope for Our Women Clients

• (A virtuous woman) watches over the affairs of
  her household and does not eat the bread of
  idleness. Her children arise and call her
  blessed her husband also, and he praises her.
  Many Women have done well, but you exceed them
  all.
• Proverbs 3127-29