00:15 And in this episode, we are focusing on consumer-driven value creation. In other words, how do you translate your customer's barriers and aspirations into a product or a service they will not only like, but also invest their money into?
00:33 My name is Ken Owino. Imagine for a second how easy it is to call a cab using an app or to order food from the comfort of your house. Now imagine being able to get veterinary services, or vaccines, or essential medicines for your livestock at a remote location with no Internet access. I know, sounds crazy and almost impossible. But that is exactly what Peter Awin is doing in Ghana. Peter is the founding partner and director of CowTribe, a company that provides on-demand and subscription-based animal vaccine delivery services to last mile farmers.
01:16 Cowtribe's vision is to make sure that farmers have access to something that they would never have imagined coming to their doorsteps, because they are used to walking to the city center, walking long distances, joining queues. They have to even sometimes beg, and it's like they're doing them a favor. We are turning everything around and say "Sit in your farm, let us bring it to you, and let us serve you as though you're like any other person accessing the same kind of convenience in the city".
01:50 To give farmers the convenience of getting medicines and vaccines for their animals, CowTribe combines technology with marketing and distribution to ensure that even those in the most remote locations are reached.
02:04 The business model is around demand aggregation, so the idea is that these farmers are scattered everywhere. It doesn't make economic sense to try to deliver to them individually, you have to find a way to aggregate all the orders, and then deliver it in bulk to a location that all of them can easily access the service.
02:27 Now, if you take away technology, we're just normal distribution company, and our goal is just to distribute. Our paper revenue model is just tied to that. Whenever farmers order the vaccines and other products we just have the outcome with our margins.
02:42 Cowtribe services to farmers are catered on an application that links all spheres of the business. The app has been made in such a way that it works even without an Internet connection.
02:54 We've actually built our application the Android application, and below it is algorithm that is built around USSD. So it's a USSD algorithm, but on top of that it's an Android front end. So you see an Android front end, but then you can switch off your data and still be able to work, send money, do whatever with your app.
03:19 Cowtribe owes much of the success it enjoys to diligence, in collection and execution of consumer insights. Now, there are different ways to collect consumer insights. For Peter, he opted for talking and interacting with farmers to get their needs and aspirations.
03:35 Before we started, the first thing we did was to go to individual communities. We actually spent like eight months just knocking literally on every single farmer's door that we could find, and just talking about this idea.
03:51 Talking to the farmers, Peter discovered that there was no clarity in their needs, so he devised a better way to get feedback from the farmers.
03:59 And then, one day, we just said "Oh, but wait a minute! How sure are we that identification of demands is the best idea, the best solution the farmers need? How about we do what we call willingness to pay?" And then what we do is that we put together three different ideas, solutions, and ask them to pick which one they want. And let's confirm that identification is actually what they really wanted, because we don't want to go without having that validation.
04:37 Convinced that what the farmers needed the most was veterinary services, Peter started offering veterinary services to the farmers.
04:45 I recruited seven vets and told them to just be nearer to the communities, and whenever a farmer calls they should just run there and provide support to the farmer. The farmer just paid a one-year subscription for that service, so imagine an uber for veterinary service.
05:06 But it was the worst idea you can imagine. A vet goes to a community and comes back, and just when he's arriving at home another farmer calls from the same community, and it's like 15 kilometres away. He is asked to go, and he just kept going back and forth like that. Within ten months, all my vets had resigned.
05:30 This setback revealed to Peter that there was a mismatch between what the farmers said they wanted and what they actually needed, and with this in mind Peter was able to change the product he offered to the farmers.
05:44 On the other side, we had hundreds of calls coming every day. The demand was so high that we just couldn't meet it because it was... until then we figured out that maybe the best solution is to prevent the animals from dying in the first place. That was the change, that was the leverage for us to begin to think about how can we provide a cover, how can we prevent them from getting sick in the first place. That was when vaccine came into the question. Since then, we've actually been working around that.
06:18 Most farmers that Peter have are from low-income communities. This is the fact that Peter was well-aware of. Now, to solve this, he developed a communication mechanism that ensured that farmers have funds prepared when the products are availed.
06:35 We tried to make it as predictable as possible. We tell you that in three month time we'll need twenty cedis, which is like five dollars, so just make sure. Then you send them messages continuously to know that it's coming, it's coming, it's coming, start saving. And then when it comes, they don't have an excuse to say "We don't have it".
06:55 Number two is that we tried to as much support the very disadvantaged farmers. For instance, the farmer has only two cows, and We don't want him to sell one cow to treat the other, you know, it's not possible because it's just too expensive. If the farmer is needing those cows to maybe provide milk or to plow the field, then you can say "Okay, can we sign this moral agreement that when your crops are harvested, you can give us our five dollars?"
07:34 Are you an entrepreneur thinking of going into agribusiness in Africa? Peter has some advice for you.
07:40 The best thing to do as an entrepreneur is to move to the rural markets. There is so much, so much work there that people underestimate, people don't know how much wealth is in the rural market. Don’t be stuck in the urban areas and the cities, just move to the villages because that is where the money is, that is where the opportunity to make impact is, and that is where there is so much need that we can provide. It's going to be tough, but you would learn to provide something that is valuable.
08:26 We've been talking about consumer insights as seen from Peter and Cowtribe's entrepreneur journey. It is important to fully understand the needs and aspirations of your customers before you develop a product. Make sure you involve them in co-creating the product to ensure that you cater for what they need because many a times what they say they want might not be actually what you need. And knowing this will save you not only time but a lot of resources which will otherwise be wasted in terms of losses.
09:05 Many thanks to Peter for sharing his story. And as always, thank you for making time to join me. My name is Ken Owino. Let's link up again for the next episode of Zoom Africa to discover more insights about entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa.
00:15 And in this episode, we are focusing on consumer-driven value creation. In other words, how do you translate your customer's barriers and aspirations into a product or a service they will not only like, but also invest their money into?
00:33 My name is Ken Owino. Imagine for a second how easy it is to call a cab using an app or to order food from the comfort of your house. Now imagine being able to get veterinary services, or vaccines, or essential medicines for your livestock at a remote location with no Internet access. I know, sounds crazy and almost impossible. But that is exactly what Peter Awin is doing in Ghana. Peter is the founding partner and director of CowTribe, a company that provides on-demand and subscription-based animal vaccine delivery services to last mile farmers.
01:16 Cowtribe's vision is to make sure that farmers have access to something that they would never have imagined coming to their doorsteps, because they are used to walking to the city center, walking long distances, joining queues. They have to even sometimes beg, and it's like they're doing them a favor. We are turning everything around and say "Sit in your farm, let us bring it to you, and let us serve you as though you're like any other person accessing the same kind of convenience in the city".
01:50 To give farmers the convenience of getting medicines and vaccines for their animals, CowTribe combines technology with marketing and distribution to ensure that even those in the most remote locations are reached.
02:04 The business model is around demand aggregation, so the idea is that these farmers are scattered everywhere. It doesn't make economic sense to try to deliver to them individually, you have to find a way to aggregate all the orders, and then deliver it in bulk to a location that all of them can easily access the service.
02:27 Now, if you take away technology, we're just normal distribution company, and our goal is just to distribute. Our paper revenue model is just tied to that. Whenever farmers order the vaccines and other products we just have the outcome with our margins.
02:42 Cowtribe services to farmers are catered on an application that links all spheres of the business. The app has been made in such a way that it works even without an Internet connection.
02:54 We've actually built our application the Android application, and below it is algorithm that is built around USSD. So it's a USSD algorithm, but on top of that it's an Android front end. So you see an Android front end, but then you can switch off your data and still be able to work, send money, do whatever with your app.
03:19 Cowtribe owes much of the success it enjoys to diligence, in collection and execution of consumer insights. Now, there are different ways to collect consumer insights. For Peter, he opted for talking and interacting with farmers to get their needs and aspirations.
03:35 Before we started, the first thing we did was to go to individual communities. We actually spent like eight months just knocking literally on every single farmer's door that we could find, and just talking about this idea.
03:51 Talking to the farmers, Peter discovered that there was no clarity in their needs, so he devised a better way to get feedback from the farmers.
03:59 And then, one day, we just said "Oh, but wait a minute! How sure are we that identification of demands is the best idea, the best solution the farmers need? How about we do what we call willingness to pay?" And then what we do is that we put together three different ideas, solutions, and ask them to pick which one they want. And let's confirm that identification is actually what they really wanted, because we don't want to go without having that validation.
04:37 Convinced that what the farmers needed the most was veterinary services, Peter started offering veterinary services to the farmers.
04:45 I recruited seven vets and told them to just be nearer to the communities, and whenever a farmer calls they should just run there and provide support to the farmer. The farmer just paid a one-year subscription for that service, so imagine an uber for veterinary service.
05:06 But it was the worst idea you can imagine. A vet goes to a community and comes back, and just when he's arriving at home another farmer calls from the same community, and it's like 15 kilometres away. He is asked to go, and he just kept going back and forth like that. Within ten months, all my vets had resigned.
05:30 This setback revealed to Peter that there was a mismatch between what the farmers said they wanted and what they actually needed, and with this in mind Peter was able to change the product he offered to the farmers.
05:44 On the other side, we had hundreds of calls coming every day. The demand was so high that we just couldn't meet it because it was... until then we figured out that maybe the best solution is to prevent the animals from dying in the first place. That was the change, that was the leverage for us to begin to think about how can we provide a cover, how can we prevent them from getting sick in the first place. That was when vaccine came into the question. Since then, we've actually been working around that.
06:18 Most farmers that Peter have are from low-income communities. This is the fact that Peter was well-aware of. Now, to solve this, he developed a communication mechanism that ensured that farmers have funds prepared when the products are availed.
06:35 We tried to make it as predictable as possible. We tell you that in three month time we'll need twenty cedis, which is like five dollars, so just make sure. Then you send them messages continuously to know that it's coming, it's coming, it's coming, start saving. And then when it comes, they don't have an excuse to say "We don't have it".
06:55 Number two is that we tried to as much support the very disadvantaged farmers. For instance, the farmer has only two cows, and We don't want him to sell one cow to treat the other, you know, it's not possible because it's just too expensive. If the farmer is needing those cows to maybe provide milk or to plow the field, then you can say "Okay, can we sign this moral agreement that when your crops are harvested, you can give us our five dollars?"
07:34 Are you an entrepreneur thinking of going into agribusiness in Africa? Peter has some advice for you.
07:40 The best thing to do as an entrepreneur is to move to the rural markets. There is so much, so much work there that people underestimate, people don't know how much wealth is in the rural market. Don’t be stuck in the urban areas and the cities, just move to the villages because that is where the money is, that is where the opportunity to make impact is, and that is where there is so much need that we can provide. It's going to be tough, but you would learn to provide something that is valuable.
08:26 We've been talking about consumer insights as seen from Peter and Cowtribe's entrepreneur journey. It is important to fully understand the needs and aspirations of your customers before you develop a product. Make sure you involve them in co-creating the product to ensure that you cater for what they need because many a times what they say they want might not be actually what you need. And knowing this will save you not only time but a lot of resources which will otherwise be wasted in terms of losses.
09:05 Many thanks to Peter for sharing his story. And as always, thank you for making time to join me. My name is Ken Owino. Let's link up again for the next episode of Zoom Africa to discover more insights about entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa.
It is an exciting time for Inclusive Innovation. As international awareness grows on the need to include low-income communities and underserved groups in the development of products and services, new business opportunities arise for entrepreneurs that want to combine profit with making a social impact.
The Bopinc Inclusive Innova…
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