By: Andy Fugh and Devin Yeatter

Key Partners:

Envirofit has a variety of partners including government agencies such as the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) of America and UKAid in addition to international organizations like the UN and World Economic Forum. These organizations provide economic support, PR, and even advise Envirofit on a variety of issues including assisting in finding grants. Meanwhile Shell’s foundation also provides funding and PR to Envirofit. Organizations such as the Clean Cooking Alliance and the Himalayan Stove Project have been assisting in distribution and PR channels as well.

Cost Structure:

Envirofit markets to base of the pyramid customers such as those in India making between $2 and $7 as well as other low income households in developing countries. They pay to manufacture the stoves, distribute them, advertise the company. They also pay for research, facilities, and staff in the various countries they are active in.

Revenue Streams:

There are several different methods by which Envirofit generates revenue. They accept donations and also offer a “carbon credit” program where both individuals and companies are able to donate via this program that allows lower income families to subsidize their purchase of Envirofit’s products. The sale of these stoves generates revenue. Envirofit also offers a service known as SmartGas where users pay by the amount of gas they use and have the tanks and gas delivered to their homes.

Channels:

Envirofit mostly sells to retailers within countries, and allows anyone to apply to become a distributor. In addition, its governmental and community based partners serve as distributors and increase awareness in the various countries it operates in. It has its own services and employees in various regions to help operate SmartGas in addition to other aspects of their business.

Key resources:

Envirofit’s resources are vast. It has an extremely large network of partners including many government agencies and corporate partnerships. It also includes its human capital in the form of its employees. They also own several patents for their products. In addition, their scientists and engineers are constantly researching and developing their product as well which has great value.

Key Activities:

Research and Development: Envirofit International has a division of researchers and engineers that work together as a research and development department to continually improve upon the products that the organization distributes. This team develops different types of cooking stoves that suit different customer segments.

 

Impact Monitoring: Envirofit International follows up with its customers to ensure that each stove that they sell is creating a positive impact and that they are satisfied with the product they have received. This division feeds into the research and development segment of the organization, as the feedback that the company receives from customers can be used to refine the products that they sell and can be used to research and develop new avenues of products.

 

Design for Adoption: Before the stoves are produced on a large scale to be distributed to customers, Envirofit International tests each new stove design where they “focus, group test, and survey over 2,000 people”. This activity is used to ensure that the products that they produce are ideal for the customers that they are trying to serve.

 

Production for Scale: Since Envirofit International makes products that are sold globally, in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, it is extremely important that the production process is closely inspected. Each stage of production includes steps that are taken to check the quality of the materials used.

 

Customer Care: The Customer Care portion of Envirofit International serves as a means of providing the customer base with a source of educating themselves on how to use clean cookstoves, as well as serving as a branch that can be a contact point for customer concerns and questions.

 

Extensive Distribution: Envirofit International aims to be able to reach the most amount of customers via partnering with many different businesses that are both large scale and local to ensure that they can distribute their products in both rural and urban environments. They partner with last mile entrepreneurs. According to Business Insider, the Last Mile Problem results from the inefficiencies that make delivery to the doorstep very difficult. Partnering with enterprises that specialize in this area mean that they can take steps to ensure a more effective distribution system.

Value Propositions:

The value that Envirofit International proposes to its customers is that with purchasing an Envirofit Cookstove, they will reduce the amount of fuel required to prepare a week’s worth of meals, and at the same time health risks such as asthma caused from too much smoke intake will also be reduced. Essentially, the value to the customer is that over time, they will reduce the amount of money and other resources spent on fuel and on medical costs that come with dealing with the adverse effects of cooking over an open flame. According to Food Safety News, there are a very large amount of health risks associated with open flame and hearth cooking in homes, especially in homes with young children. The smoke and other particles produced from burning the fuel can cause an array of diseases such as asthma and even life threatening conditions such as pneumonia.

 

Customer Relationship:

Envirofit does a lot to maintain its relationship with its customers. Some of these strategies include creating a center that is aimed at educating the customer base on the problem of efficient cookstoves and on how to properly operate their products if the customer base has any issues. The firm also strengthens its relationship with its customers by creating and developing products that are affordable and improve the quality of life of the customer base, promising to be more energy efficient and reduce the health risks associated with cooking over open flames.

 

Customer Segments:

East Africa: Envirofit claims to be the leading cooking stove distributor in the East African region. This region includes nations such as Rwanda, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Mozambique. The organization aims to market their products towards both family professional uses in order to increase the efficiency with which the region uses energy to prepare meals.

 

West Africa: Envirofit serves nations in the Western region of Africa, including nations such as Nigeria, Liberia, Ghana, and Gambia. The organization aims to distribute their products to customers who wish to increase the efficiency with which they prepare meals as well as light their homes.

 

Latin America: In the western hemisphere, Envirofit distributes their products to Honduras, Mexico, and several countries in South America.

 

Sources

1. Dolan, Shelagh. “The Challenges of Last Mile Logistics & Delivery Technology Solutions.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 10 May 2018, www.businessinsider.com/last-mile-delivery-shipping-explained.
2. “CSR Programs | Off Grid Appliances | Clean Cooking Stoves.” Envirofit, envirofit.org/our-story/#our-story.
3. “Harmful Hearths: Open-Fire Cooking Threatens Lives.” Food Safety News, 31 Jan. 2011, www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/01/harmful-hearths-open-fire-cooking-threatens-lives/.
4. Narapareddy, Vijaya. “Envirofit International: Cracking the BoP Market Blue Ocean Strategy Case Solution.” Blue Ocean University, Blue Ocean University, 5 Dec. 2018, blueoceanuniversity.com/frontpage/blueoceancase/7785-envirofit-bop.
5. Bauer, T. (2011). Enabling Market-Driven Technology (Innovations Case Narrative: Envirofit International). innovations, 6(3), 93-102.

By Devin Yeatter

Kawasaki’s suggestion of making a mantra was well taken. I realized Project Plastikan hasn’t necessarily had a set way of explaining what we were all about other than each individual member’s near paragraph long explanation of the project. So having a simple mantra we can all preach would be very helpful.

We just had the opportunity to choose two people who would be assisting the project at Mountaintop this summer and beyond. In our process, we chose to “hire infected people” as Guy Kawasaki would say. The two students we chose seemed to display a genuine passion for the project, and to ensure the project works out, it will be important to continue to rely on infected people rather than those who aren’t

I enjoyed the idea of the 10/20/30 rule for presentations. I’ve always considered myself a bit of a minimalist presentation wise, so this idea takes it to another level. I hope as we continue in the project, and especially in regard to our final presentation, we are able to stick to this minimalist style Kawasaki advocates for.

We’ve done a good job of following a MAT without even consciously realizing that was what we had been doing. Now that we understand the idea of assigning tasks based on assumptions in pursuit of milestones, it should allow our project to remain on track.

Finally, the idea of simply getting going resonates with myself. Rather than sitting around planning what to do, it’s key to just get started. With our project being so young, we have so much to be doing at any given time that simply sitting around on our hands isn’t an option if we want to succeed.

BMC:

 

Key Partners: UPD, Paradise Village Women’s Co-op, Vice Mayor’s Office, Lehigh University

Cost Structure: Developing and transporting machines, Powering machines, Rent for space being utilized

Revenue Streams: Selling the products produced by the machines

Channels: Local markets or to companies depending on the type of product produced

Key resources: human resources (women of co-op), machines

Key Activities: Collecting Plastic waste, operating machines, maintaining machines, selling products from machine process, designing molds for new products

Value Propositions: The products produced from the machines are significantly more valuable than the inputs, the value in the products also borrows from the fact that buying the products is reducing plastic waste and at the same time supporting impoverished women

Customer Relationship: Since the women in the co-op who will vend these products will be a part of the community, the venture will have a very close relationship with its customers. The customers can feel good that they are supporting the reduction of plastic waste and the empowerment of the women in the co-op.

Customer Segments: Customer segments include potential customers who wish to make a difference in the world by using their purchasing power to reduce the plastic waste in the philippines. Additionally, another segment is those who wish to support the innovation and creativity of the women in the co-op. Lastly, the customer base will remain in the local community of Malabon, Manila, but after future success may expand to other provinces of the Philippines and eventually to a more global market.

By Devin Yeatter

List ten non-obvious assumptions about your target customers (or organizations) that you need to validate

1. The women of the Paradise Village co-op have the ability to learn how to utilize the machines we are developing
2. They will be able to innovate and develop product designs
3. Upon developing these products, they will be able to find outlets to ensure they can manufacture them, i.e. creating or finding a way to acquire injection molds of the products
4. The products they develop will find a market base in the Philippines
5. Recycled products will be marketable within the Philippines
6. The government (especially local) will be willing to cooperate and assist our project and the women’s co-op
7. We have chosen the correct people to be present at the women’s co-op during our workshop
8. Ramon will help us in developing our ecosystem and fleshing out our contacts
9. Locally made products will be valued more highly
10. We know who will be supplying the plastic waste/how we will be acquiring it

List ten hypotheses about your project that you need to test during fieldwork

1. Dividing workshop participants into smaller groups will be more effective in teaching them
2. Jumping right into working with the machines after a very brief introduction is the best method of teaching/knowledge acquisition
3. The machines will work exactly as planned with minimal problems
4. The machines can be run day and night
5. The machines can be operated with just the women of the co-op
6. We will be able to effectively sort the plastic waste to avoid cross contamination
7. The goods the women will create will either be very durable or able to reenter the recycling cycle again easily
8. The rented space for the machines will have enough electricity and be big enough to house them
9. Creating a recycling system that is effective for one community will lead to its spread in neighboring communities
10. The process of conducting a workshop with the women’s co-op will be different than the process of conducting a workshop in the US for college students

What do you think you bring to your team? How has your perception of your own strengths and weaknesses changed over the course of the class? Please be specific

I believe currently my experience writing proposals for grants and writing experience in general is quite helpful to the team as we begin working in earnest on our paper. In addition, as the general lead on working with the sus dev class on the completion of our ecosystem map, I believe some of the experience I have working in business environments (although less than desired) is still helpful at this juncture. I believe I bring a generally positive attitude about the project and life in general to the team, seeing the work ahead of us and knowing we have the ability to do it and do it well. This attitude can be helpful when we have great amounts of work ahead and could become discouraged at the prospect.

I believe this project has reinforced my ability to see to see the forest for the trees and look beyond the day to day tasks and towards the goal and end result being worked towards. With such an early stage project, this has become especially important. At the beginning of the project I believed myself to be good at communication within groups and above average at time management. However, this semester has seen quite a few issues arise within both of these aspects of myself as my schedule grew more full than I anticipated. My abilities within both of these aspects need to continue improving, especially with an increase in workload overall. I know I am more than able to handle all that is on my plate and I’m passionate about everything I’ve been working on, it’s just a matter of budgeting my time better and staying on top of communicating with all the other stakeholders who are invested in the work I am involved in.