Days in Dar
written by Reuben Cummings on May 9, 2010 ~ 4 minute read
Last week I concluded my trip to Dar es Salaam with Philemon for the CNFA Agrodealers Convention. Wanting to make the most out of my time there, I arrived a few days early so that I could meet with some organizations headquartered there. I arrived late Wednesday evening (4/28) and made arrangements to stay with fellow MIT alum Jamie, CEO of EGG-energy. Since I was discouraged from taking the dala-dalas at night in Arusha, I was pretty excited to take one to Jamie’s place in Msasani. A helpful passenger on the bus made sure I got off at the right stop where Jamie came to pick me up.
I started out the next day meeting Hillary, the Country Director of TechnoServe/Tanzania. I showed her videos of our sheller and charger in action and then took out the samples I brought with me. She was very intrigued by what she saw and gave me a handful of contacts to follow-up with. The next stop was the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) where my plan was to meet with the Director. The Director was away on travel but I did manage to get a meeting with John, the Investment Manager. My videos and samples impressed him so much that he ordered one of each on the spot. John also talked a bit about the benefits that TIC certification would provide us at GCS such as assistance getting residents permits, duty incentives, and greater access to investors. I thanked John for his time and then headed over to FINCA for another impromptu meeting.
One of difficulties of selling products to the rural poor is that many of them can’t afford to purchase them. I was hoping that we could work with FINCA to provide financing to our customer base of agrodealers and maize farmers. Unfortunately, the FINCA President was in a meeting and I was told to come back the next day. The next morning I headed back to FINCA and sat with a Credit Manager named Issa. While not as impressed with our company as John from TIC was, he did see some potential and told me to write a proposal. His main concern was that our sheller is a season product and that a bad harvest to impair the farmers’ ability to repay their loans.
My last stop of the day was the CNFA Convention. At lunch, Philemon and I met with Alfred from KickStart. He gave us a lot of valuable advice on how we should market and sell our products. Towards the end of the Convention, I met Kelly from CNFA who introduced me to a bunch of staff from Dar, Arusha, and Mbeya. She also managed to get Philemon and me a spot at the end of the meeting to show our videos which, after overcoming technical difficulties with the usb drive and projector, went over very well. By the end of the day, we landed over a dozen orders each of both the chargers and shellers. A nice way to kick off the sales trip!
Last week I concluded my trip to Dar es Salaam with Philemon for the CNFA Agrodealers Convention. Wanting to make the most out of my time there, I arrived a few days early so that I could meet with some organizations headquartered there. I arrived late Wednesday evening (4/28) and made arrangements to stay with fellow MIT alum Jamie, CEO of EGG-energy. Since I was discouraged from taking the dala-dalas at night in Arusha, I was pretty excited to take one to Jamie’s place in Msasani. A helpful passenger on the bus made sure I got off at the right stop where Jamie came to pick me up.
I started out the next day meeting Hillary, the Country Director of TechnoServe/Tanzania. I showed her videos of our sheller and charger in action and then took out the samples I brought with me. She was very intrigued by what she saw and gave me a handful of contacts to follow-up with. The next stop was the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) where my plan was to meet with the Director. The Director was away on travel but I did manage to get a meeting with John, the Investment Manager. My videos and samples impressed him so much that he ordered one of each on the spot. John also talked a bit about the benefits that TIC certification would provide us at GCS such as assistance getting residents permits, duty incentives, and greater access to investors. I thanked John for his time and then headed over to FINCA for another impromptu meeting.
One of difficulties of selling products to the rural poor is that many of them can’t afford to purchase them. I was hoping that we could work with FINCA to provide financing to our customer base of agrodealers and maize farmers. Unfortunately, the FINCA President was in a meeting and I was told to come back the next day. The next morning I headed back to FINCA and sat with a Credit Manager named Issa. While not as impressed with our company as John from TIC was, he did see some potential and told me to write a proposal. His main concern was that our sheller is a season product and that a bad harvest to impair the farmers’ ability to repay their loans.
My last stop of the day was the CNFA Convention. At lunch, Philemon and I met with Alfred from KickStart. He gave us a lot of valuable advice on how we should market and sell our products. Towards the end of the Convention, I met Kelly from CNFA who introduced me to a bunch of staff from Dar, Arusha, and Mbeya. She also managed to get Philemon and me a spot at the end of the meeting to show our videos which, after overcoming technical difficulties with the usb drive and projector, went over very well. By the end of the day, we landed over a dozen orders each of both the chargers and shellers. A nice way to kick off the sales trip!