You have heard us talk about Victor and Gwokman a lot. They are two young boys on the compound, ages 10 and 15 respectively. As the time gets closer for us to leave, I have been concerned for these two who have become a part of our family. I had the idea of trying to help them start their own business so that they can generate a little income and help their single mom who is raising 6 children, 2 of whom are her niece and nephew.
The boys are already selling eggs from their chickens. We are trying to expand this business. In addition, we are adding selling whole wheat flour since most of the missionaries make their own bread. There is only one store in town that sells whole wheat flour already ground.
Our first trial was a success! My driver bought 10 mudus of wheat kernels, and then my housekeeper showed the boys how to wash it and separate the stones out of it. (It was very cute to see the boys washing and drying the wheat.) After several days of first gathering, washing, drying, and having the wheat ground, the big day finally came: bagging the wheat and going door to door selling it.
First, with a pen and paper, I gave the boys a little business lesson. We tallied up our expenses and figured out how much we would have to sell each bag for to make a profit. Once the price was set, we then moved onto a short lesson in marketing strategies. I coached them on what to say, and why they needed to say it. (In this culture especially, they had to emphasize that Mrs. Mitchell had helped them, that the wheat had been washed 3 times with clean water, and that the wheat had been packed in clean bags from America.) I coached them on how to increase their pool of customers and how to give good customer service. Before I turned them loose on the community, we rehearsed several transactions with them knocking at the door and going through their speech. Victor, who is a born talker and quite charming, is a natural salesman. They laughed out loud as I pretended like I was an old lady and hassled them when they didn’t give enough information about their product.
I was very happy when the boys came back a short time later with all of the bags of wheat sold. And they were ecstatic: 350 naira of profit ($2)! It’s been two days since then, so I asked them today if they had spent their money already. Yes, was the reply. But it was not your typical frivolous expenditure, by any means. They spent all the money on tomatoes to put in their soup . . . After telling me this, Victor quickly asked me when we could go and buy more wheat so they could do it again. What a different response from what I would have expected from my teenage American son. What a joy these boys have been in our lives!
May God bless their business!
Lisa
The boys are already selling eggs from their chickens. We are trying to expand this business. In addition, we are adding selling whole wheat flour since most of the missionaries make their own bread. There is only one store in town that sells whole wheat flour already ground.
Our first trial was a success! My driver bought 10 mudus of wheat kernels, and then my housekeeper showed the boys how to wash it and separate the stones out of it. (It was very cute to see the boys washing and drying the wheat.) After several days of first gathering, washing, drying, and having the wheat ground, the big day finally came: bagging the wheat and going door to door selling it.
First, with a pen and paper, I gave the boys a little business lesson. We tallied up our expenses and figured out how much we would have to sell each bag for to make a profit. Once the price was set, we then moved onto a short lesson in marketing strategies. I coached them on what to say, and why they needed to say it. (In this culture especially, they had to emphasize that Mrs. Mitchell had helped them, that the wheat had been washed 3 times with clean water, and that the wheat had been packed in clean bags from America.) I coached them on how to increase their pool of customers and how to give good customer service. Before I turned them loose on the community, we rehearsed several transactions with them knocking at the door and going through their speech. Victor, who is a born talker and quite charming, is a natural salesman. They laughed out loud as I pretended like I was an old lady and hassled them when they didn’t give enough information about their product.
I was very happy when the boys came back a short time later with all of the bags of wheat sold. And they were ecstatic: 350 naira of profit ($2)! It’s been two days since then, so I asked them today if they had spent their money already. Yes, was the reply. But it was not your typical frivolous expenditure, by any means. They spent all the money on tomatoes to put in their soup . . . After telling me this, Victor quickly asked me when we could go and buy more wheat so they could do it again. What a different response from what I would have expected from my teenage American son. What a joy these boys have been in our lives!
May God bless their business!
Lisa
1 comment:
Lisa, What a blessing you are to very many people! -Steve & Jackie
Post a Comment