Winning team puts business plan in motion

GA winning Youth team emerged from the Solar Jooce Renewable Energy & Entrepreneurship competition held in September 2014. The prize was a portable solar generator comprising of two lighting points (LED and T5), DC powered table fan, phone charger, radio, and SD card slot.

The group –  DIRECT POWER (Aliyah Odufowoke and Faith Eze) are now receiving ongoing support from Solar Jooce to carry out their business plan, which is to generate revenue from a portable solar generator.

Solar Jooce got parents of both winners involved, and like their children, received training on how to operate the portable solar generator. The parents would then be in a better position to help their children run their new small business.

Each team member agreed to take possession of the solar generator for two weeks at a time, and report on their entrepreneurial experience.

Team member Aliyah Odufowoke  took the first turn and wrote a report after her first two weeks with the portable solar generator. 

                                                                          

Excerpt from Aliyah Odufowoke’s report:

“So it would have been more convenience if the charging points are like two each for a kind of phone.

I would be also glad if the bulb, florescent  and fan will have the own separate solar panel and battery because it has been difficult for me to rent differently to different people at the same time. A person may want to charge his/her phones and the solar generator would have been rented to another person”

RESULTS

A combination of verbal feedback as well as a written report submitted indicated:

1.       That they would have preferred to have each feature of the portable solar system separate in order to serve different customers simultaneously. A preference was expressed, for instance, for higher charging capacity where several phones can be charged at the same time, while catering to other customers who may require lighting at another location.

2.       Some street vendors requested very specific features as opposed to a bundle of features built into the solar generator.

3.       Team member Aliyah’s entrepreneurial efforts yielded N950.00 in revenue within the two week period she had the solar kit. She plans to reinvest her earnings in her business in order to grow.    

OUR OBSERVATION

The parents getting on board has been a major asset. The submitted report may not be sophisticated, but a lot can be gleaned from it. Most importantly grasping the concept of solar power as a viable source of energy and developing an entrepreneurial mindset make it all worthwhile.   

NEXT STEP

The portable solar generator has been handed over to team member Faith Eze. We await her report detailing her experience and results.

L-R (Faith Eze, Mrs. Ada Eze, Mrs. Fatimoh Odufowoke and Aliyah Odufowoke)