Sunday, October 10, 2010

Doing More

Early in our pilot we realized that there were many people in the villages who would like to take advantage of the Burro battery offering, if only they had the battery operated devices necessary to do so. Many people did not even have a simple flashlight (AKA torch) – despite the fact that these devices are plentiful in every market throughout the country. Some people even resorted to building their own flashlights and lamps using a bit of wire, an LED bulb, and some local materials like bamboo.

We thought at first this situation was because these people just rarely left the villages and since the devices were not for sale in the village, they just didn’t have access. So, we set about sourcing some decent table top lights and small combo light/radio devices to take to our clients. In Accra, the light/radio could be had for about GH¢1.80 (at that time, this was about $1.30) and we sold it for GH¢3.00 including the reseller’s commission. A table top LED lamp with about 20 small LED bulbs we purchased for around GH¢3.00, selling for GH¢5.00. Unfortunately, we ended up refunding almost everyone’s money after about a month. The cheap LED bulbs in the lamp began burning out after about a week and after just a few weeks were about ½ gone. The radio lasted a bit longer, but in most cases the retractable antenna and the carry handle broke off after a few weeks.

Both Whit and I know from our Cranium experiences that it is possible to produce very high-quality products in China, because we did it. We also know that it requires careful management, monitoring, and testing to ensure the design and component quality specifications are being followed. Lacking these controls and fearing no consumer protection or warranty penalties, manufacturers will rarely make quality products based on principle alone. In fact, one China manufacturer, upon receiving our feedback about some of the quality issues with a product replied, “This item price is very cheap. Most customers are using this for promotion. I think it's suitable for African market.” They do have their facts correct – suitable for the African market means people will buy it and take what they get. In Ghana, nothing comes with a warranty, including the 4WD pick-up truck Whit bought brand new when we first began, and certainly not small consumer electronics like radios or lamps. People know that once they buy it the risk is all on them. So, many learn not to buy at all when they know it will essentially be money down the drain.

These lessons told us that to really help empower people to do more, we would have to not only provide the batteries, but also high-quality battery-operated devices optimized to work with our batteries and rugged enough to last in village conditions. Our first such device has arrived and is selling fast. It is a battery operated phone charger – to re-charge the battery inside a cell phone. Most of our clients who have no electricity have to travel to a town with electricity (paying for a taxi or Trotro, unless it is close enough to walk) then pay someone (typically at a shop) to charge their phone. Our charger lets them charge their phones at home, several times, using one set of 4 Burro batteries. People love the convenience.

Whit designed the charger, taking a generic battery holder with generic black and red wires that could be attached to most anything, and had it manufactured with a female pigtail end to which any one of many, many phone attachment pins. For instance I can use one pin to charge my cheap Nokia phone that I use here in Ghana, a USB pin to charge my US phone, and another pin to charge my iPod, all with the same charger.

It would be ideal for villagers if someone were actually making a phone suited to their needs – for instance running on two AA batteries – but in the meantime, they are thrilled with the Burro charger solution!

Next to arrive, in November, will be a versatile lamp with 4 brightness settings to put the customer in charge of how much energy they use and therefore, how much they spend on lighting. The lowest setting, about like a nightlight, will run for 250 hours on 3 Burro batteries. The brightest, which will light a whole room, for a meeting or party, runs only 5 hours. We think the sweet spot is the second setting which gives as much light as the dirty, smelly, yellow-light kerosene lamp currently being used in most village households. Our lamp will run 80 hours on that setting, saving about 60-80% and reducing respiratory illness.

Since the World Bank estimates that breathing kerosene fumes is the equivalent of smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day, this is huge!
XO

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