CooP-Africa is a non-profit organization in East-Africa that conquers the battle against poverty by initiating and supporting local social projects with bicycles, founded by Luuk Eickmans and Marieke de Wild in 2007. The belief is that by providing local people access to bicycles, the living standard will be improved because a bicycle grants people access to work, schools and healthcare. CooP-Africa aims to make their local partners, at this moment CooP-Kenya and CooP-Uganda, self-sufficient within seven years. In order to do so, CooP-Kenya and CooP-Uganda have to generate an income to finance their projects. Bikeventures is a commercial enterprise started by CooP-Kenya and CooP-Africa in 2011 to finance the projects, but due to circumstances the enterprise is not on-going yet. Bikeventures offers bicycles tours, bicycle rentals and safaris to tourists and locals. Most of the basics to start the enterprise, such as a logo, a website and products, are present but to get Bikeventures on-going there is some work to be done. This report describes the project of three students from the TU Delft forthe minor Entrepreneurship and Development executed for Bikeventures to help the ‘kick-start’ and to create a sustainable, self-sufficient company.
The project consists of two phases: the first phase took place in Delft from September to November. In this phase an extensive analysis on the context and the company is conduct and based on this analysis the project objectives and the project plan are created. The second phase from November to the end of January took place in Kenya. In Kenya the project plan is executed, evaluated and further developed.
Project scope
Mzizi will focus on leaving Bikeventures with a viable business plan and a strong internal structure. In this way Bikeventures will be able to continue their occupations and make itself profitable, accommodating CooP-Kenya with the financial support it needs to maintain the social projects it runs.
Structure
This report tells the story of this project in four parts. The first part is the analysis and the project definition. The analysis started with the general context and organisation, followed by an internal analysis of Bikeventures and an external analysis of the relevant context for Bikeventures and is concluded in a SWOT-matrix. Based on the SWOT matrix and consultation with CooP the project objectives are defined. The second part describes the plan made in Delft to achieve the project objectives. This plan includes a Business model canvas, a project planning and the preparations done in Delft to execute the project in Kenya. The third part tells the progress and the results of the executed work in Kenya. In the fourth part recommendations are done and a future plan to continue the work on Bikeventures is prevented.