Project Plan

The project will consist all the different facets which are important for our project

Mission

What is the mission for our project?

Our mission is to make a marketing plan for the carpentry workshop at Sustainable Rural Initiatives (SRI) located in Kisumu, Kenya. With this marketing plan we want to gain more orders for the carpentry workshop. Besides this marketing plan we want to invest in the continuity of the workshop, so they become self-sufficient.
Scope

Delineation of the project

When we arrive at SRI in Okana we will start with researching the current situation. First we will try to blend in the daily routines of the carpentry workshop and understand how they are working. If we want to help improve their business, we first have to be accepted and trusted by them. We will talk and listen to the customers, to find out what they really want. After this, we will analyze these findings and find out where the issues lie, and improve them by setting up a marketing plan. We are not planning on taking over the business of the carpentry workshop. By engaging everybody, who is part of the carpentry workshop, we try to attain more involvement and dedication for the workshop and focus on the continuity of the carpentry workshop.
Problem analysis

What is the main problem within the carpentry workshop?
SRI aims at providing the local community of Okana with employment and activities. As mentioned before, the carpentry workshop currently is the first, and only, initiative that has been launched and where people from the community are seriously involved in.

A team of professional carpenters with the required skills from The Netherlands (i.e. Flying Carpenters) realized this carpentry workshop in collaboration with SRI. Employees of the workshop are always inhabitants of the village. However, often these workers are not in possession of the knowledge that is required to deliver proper products. The carpenters from the Netherlands teached the employees the necessary skills, so they could run the carpentry workshop by themselves. A point of attention is to maintain this knowledge within the carpentry workshop, as a shift in employees sometimes occurs. When new employees start at SRI, they must be trained to gain the required knowledge. Therefore, there is one teacher appointed to take the lead. He will show the new workers how everything is done.

Unfortunately, the carpentry workshop is not operating as it should be. An important explanation hereby is that not enough orders are being collected. Until now the carpentry workshop has not put much effort in improving the marketing aspect. Currently the customers are often acquaintances or friends of the manager. This isn’t leading to a constant stream of orders. Also, a certain number of orders of one product is required for the carpentry workshop in order to keep the workers engaged. When new a new product design is delivered, the teacher will show the workers how to make that specific product, so they can produce it by themselves. Therefore it is necessary to set a minimum order size, so the carpenters of the workshop have the possibility to make those products on their own. Practical skills are taught best by gaining experience. It would not make sense if a newly learned way to manufacture a product is no longer required, because the size of the order is low.

A more fundamental problem is the lack of a proper mind-set among the employees. There is lack of motivation and dedication, because there is isn’t a lot of pressure and their confidence level is not that high. It is also not in the culture of the local people to show initiative. For example, when the lead carpenter isn’t available and they have to deal with an unknown task, the employees don’t see themselves capable enough to work on their own. In this situation they wait until the lead carpenter has returned and in the meantime they will do nothing, simply because they don’t know what to do. However, there must come a realization point that in order to make money, work has to be done. The whole foundation, on which SRI is structured, focuses on the locals. It is therefore important that the local workers become aware of the fact that it’s for the growth of their community.

In summary it comes down to two main issues that the carpentry workshop faces:
- A deficiency in the continuity of orders results in a lack of development
- The mind-set of the workers isn’t focused on showing enough initiative, due to an absence of confidence and involvement
In order to provide a solution to these problems, a number of targets have been set for the period that we are present. By expanding the customer segment, we hope to bring in a more continuing stream of orders. But along with more orders, more structure in the business is desired. We will also focus on this part. For without a clear structure in the cash flows and management, the project could fail.

By involving the employees more and giving them more responsibilities, we suspect that they will feel more dedicated to the workshop. Through this dedication, we feel that the carpentry workshop can grow positively and eventually run on its own.
Project structure

What is the structure of our project?

Our project execution is separated in two main parts:

- Field research, discover and tackle the deficiencies of the workshop and improve these issues. This will eventually lead to more orders

- Focus on the continuity of the workshop (see chapter XXXX for bla #fixme)

Each of these points is to be elaborated in the next part.

Field research

First we will focus on the field research. One of our goals is to bring in more orders for the carpentry workshop create market formation. An important customer segment here is the city of Kisumu, which is about a half hour drive from the carpentry workshop. There are many companies in Kisumu which could be possible buyers for the carpentry workshop. Therefore, it is important that these companies are approached. This is a task that we are going to perform. These potential buyers have specific needs that we will investigate. Then we will match the demand and supply through information exchange (van Alphen, 2008).

Obviously it is not sensible to arrive empty-handed at these companies. Therefore we make use of promotional materials to show which products the carpentry workshop is able to make. These promotional materials will consist of leaflets, posters and stickers. These are easy to give to a potential customer, so they also have the contact details of the workshop. The leaflets and posters will be produced in collaboration with SRI, because a renewed logo will be part of this. The current logo is not appealing enough and needs a modern input.

Another way to come in contact with the buyer is via the website of SRI. This website is a perfect medium to showcase the products in the carpentry workshop. In the future the website could even turn into a web shop on which consumers can order their products online. Currently the SRI website is being updated, so the carpentry workshop page can just as well be included in this process.

Discover and tackle the deficiencies of the workshop

The marketing strategy, as described above, should lead to more orders for the carpentry workshop. In order to make sure that production of these orders runs well, several changes at the workshop itself are needed as well. There is lack of motivation and dedication amongst the carpenters, because there isn’t a lot of pressure and their confidence level is not high. A number of plans have been made to change this situation.

It is unrealistic to expect the same attitude as you would expect from a Dutch employee. Due to the differences in culture and the lack of knowledge, this situation is different. It is difficult to estimate the precise needs of the employees in order to keep them more motivated. Therefore, a part of our plan consists of placing a suggestion box. In this box, people that are involved with the carpentry workshop can deposit their wishes and ideas. This suggestion box is designed not only for the workers, but also for other people from the community that would like to give input to the workshop. In addition, it is intended to conduct interviews with stakeholders in the community. This can vary from family of the workers to neighbours and potential buyers. It is important to collect as much information as possible, in order to improve the carpentry workshop and its relationship with the local community.

The contribution of development succes in our project can be estimated to look at the functions of innovations. Our project includes de functions of innovations systems who are set up by van Alphen. This because we transfer a technology, namely the carpentry techniques, to the carpentry workshop. Functions like entrepreneurial activities, market formation, creation of legitimacy and demand articulation will be used a lot to complete our research (van Alpen, 2008).
Difficulties and cultural dimensions

What kind of difficulties and cultural dimensions will we encounter during our stay? And how can we handle these in the best way?

If we look at the 11 cultural dimensions of Trompenaars and Hofstede (Kroesen, 2014), there are a few applicable to our project. Cultural dimensions that are both enablers and barriers can occur.

A dimension, which is seen as a barrier in our project, is power distance. Instead of seeing hierarchy as a negative thing, it is actually essential in our project. The fact that there is no hierarchy between the employees and the management, results in lack of achievement. Both the workers and the security are slacking off their jobs.

Besides the lack of hierarchy, there is also a lack of innovation. At the moment no one of the employees is stepping to up to run the workshop properly. They all stick to their old habits and look for the easy way out. Especially their attitude can be a big barrier in the project. By triggering an intrinsic sense, for example showing them what they can achieve, we feel that their confidence level will rise and their dedication to the workshop will grow at the same time. Also encouraging status by achievement, will give a positive effect on their work ethos. These three dimensions (i.e. voluntarism, affective and status by achievement) can be seen as enablers. The combination of these three will give the most optimal results for this project.

Another reason for the workshop not to run optimally is because of the way they are running the business, namely synchronic. Although they try to keep track of their inventories and sales, there is still room for improvement. This barrier could be turned into an enabler, when orders are done more sequentially instead of synchronic. By bringing structure to the workplace, the workshop will have a clear view on the cash flows of the workshop. And eventually use this information for future investments.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that the workshop is an already existing business. All the employees and management team know each other; we will probably be seen as ‘invaders’. By respecting this strong sense of collectivism, it can be used as an enabler in the project. To receive mutal respect, we must communicate in a diffuse way. With this we mean that we must not only show interest in the workshop, but also in their personal lives, and try to understand their habits and respect them.

When the carpentry workshop is up and running, this will result in more profit. This profit can give a boost to the ecomomy of the local community in Okana. Bit by bit it will help in becoming a civil society.

Kroesen, J.O., 2014. Planetary Responsibility: An Ethics of Timing. Wipf and Stock.
Planning and milestones

Our overall planning

First stage of the project:

30th of October

       Midterm review

2nd of November

       Signing of the contract with Students 4 Sustainability

5th of November

       Meeting with Jowi, about last minute questions concerning the project and our stay

8th of November

       Departure from Amsterdam to Kisumu, Kenya

10th of November

       Meeting with Tina and Diederik (another student, who is also volunteering in Okana. We will take over ‘his place’). Discuss face-to-face what our task will be these three months.

11th of November

       Departure from Kisumu to Okana

12th of November and 15th of November

       Go to the workshop, talk with the employees of the workshop. Observe and listen to their stories. Get to to know the employees on a friendly basis, so they will be comfortable around us and not scared to ask or say things to us. See for ourselves what de workshop looks like and what they are capable of. Make an assessment and document our findings. Discuss these findings with Tina.

16thof November until 22nd of November

Place a suggestion box for all the people who are involved. We will check this box every day. Interview the employees (see appendix XXX#fixme), make an assessment and document of our findings. Evaluate these findings, and make a conclusion about the abilities of the carpentry workshop. Also look at closeby competitors (See appendix XXX#fixme). Discuss these findings with Tina.

23rd of November until 29th of November

       Create promotional materials (i.e. leaflets, posters etc.) These promotional materials will consist of a professional overview of their full portfolio. This will include prices, photos, productdetails, etc.)

30th November until 6th of December

       Start with marketing plan (see appendix XXX #fixme). Look back at conclusions from the previous week. With this in mind we will go to potential buyers in Kisumu. There we will interview the enterprises (see appendix XXX#fixme). By showing the leaflet with an overview of the portolio, we want to find out what kind of wooden products are desired by them, how much they are willing to pay, etc. After each day we will make an assesment and document our findings.

7th December until the 13th of December

       Evaluate both interviews (i.e. with the employees and with the enterprises). Discuss the results of both interviews and the outcome with Tina and Jowi. See if there are potentially profitable deals by matching the possible supply with the possible demand.

14th December until the 20th of December

Organize an open house for the local community. For the local community, we feel that it is important to engage them in SRI as much as possible. We want to realize this by organizing an ‘open house’ day at the carpentry workshop. All the people from the community, who are interested, have the opportunity to get a look at the activities taking place there.

During every week of the project, we constantly want to evaluate the project. Not only will we assess ourselves on a day-to-day basis, but we would also like to frequently have meetings with Tina or Jowi about our involvement for the workshop.

Besides this we will frequently check the ‘suggestion box’ and try to act on their input.

Second stage of the project

During the second stage of our project we want ot focus on the continutiy of the workshop. We want to make the employees more self-sufficient. We will realise this, by helping them with financial administration, knowledge preservation and find a suitable manager, who will replace Tina in a few months.

We are convinced that some unforeseen activities will arise, whilst we are there. Due to this, we expect that this set out planning wont be exactly similar to how we will operate in Okana. However we will take on these unforeseen possibilities by the best of our abilities.

At the end of the project we at least want to deliver:

       - An expansion of the carpentry workshops customer network

       - Set up a marketing plan

       - Getting the workshop on the right track in becoming self-sufficient

       - Find a suitable manager, who will replace Tina
Safety and security
Continuity

How will we secure the continuity of the project?

With our project, it is intended that more continuity will be created within the carpentry workshop. We will provide the workshop with an initial stock of wood that can be used for the first orders. By doing this, the financial revenue generated from these orders can be used to pay workers and buy wood for the next orders. Hopefully, more orders will come in, thanks to the attention that has been put into the marketing aspect. The effort put in the marketing of the workshop is focused on the long term. With the creation of promotional materials, like leaflets, SRI can easily advertise for the carpentry workshop in the future.

For the workshop itself, the most important matter is the knowledge retention. Within the next six months, the workshop must function on itself. The involved member of The Flying Carpenters, Tina Wentink, will no longer seriously be engaged after then. This means a couple of things. First of all, the carpentry skills must be contained in the workshop. The head carpenter has those skills, so it is important that this man remains involved in the workshop and the skills for the carpentry workshop are ensured. We will also try to capture this knowledge in documents, so the knowledge is preserved within the workshop.

Secondly, a clear form of administration is required in order to handle all orders without difficulties. Currently there is some form of administration, maintained by Tina. It is essential that a manager within the carpentry workshop can take over this job, so that all the administrative work can be done even if there is no external guidance.

Finally, if the overall mindset of the employees can be changed, it is important that this will be maintained. Obviously, this is related to the quantity of orders that comes in. If the employment is satisfying, hopefully this will lead to enthusiasm amongst the workers.
Financial Information

The financial information of our project.

The biggest financial mission for this project will be to enable the carpentry workshop to gain more profit. At this moment all the profit from the sales are put immediately into paying the staff. Therefore little money is left to buy new timber, for new products. For this reason we want to offer the carpentry workshop a load of wood to obtain an initial stock for the carpentry workshop. We discussed this with Tina Wentink, who is in charge of the carpentry workshop, and she confirmed an initial stock is needed for the carpentry workshop to be able to grow.

Students4Sustainability will finance an amount of 500 euros to purchase this initial stock. As mentioned before, the workshop doesn’t make a profit of the sales. By receiving this fund, the carpentry workshop can get out of this vicious circle of not making any profit. With this boost they are able to grow again. A contract will be signed to confirm the collaboration between our project and Students4Sustainability.

In addition to the contribution of Students4Sustainability, we will also try to gain more money through different routes. For example, we will organize a goodbye party where people have the ability to donate money for our project. Also during our stay we will continue to provide many updates via social media with more information about our project and where we stand. Because the three of us all have a fairly large network of friends and acquaintances, we will continue to draw their attention to the fact that one can support our project and make a donation. We assume in this manner we will keep obtaining some money to put into the carpentry workshop.

To understand the current financial situation, there has been a research into the sales of the last six months. This overview shows the results of products made and the overhead costs. See extra information for the overview of all the products.

An expert's estimation on how many days an experienced carpenter would take to finish a product is generated. As is shown in the calculation in, some items did not cover the costs for an experienced carpenter. That’s why these items are not going to be chosen to be produced in the coming months. Only if the price goes up dramatically, these products can become financially interesting for producing. By now we just want to focus on the products who are most efficient.

In extra information overview is given for the estimated production growth for the coming months. A growth of 10% per month is used.

At last, there is a balance drawn up where the income and expenses are incorporated (see extra information. This balance shows that in the last six months the carpentry workshop has generated more expenses than income. This is a critical situation and it should be examined how these deficiencies can be put right. This will be one of the main goals during the second stage of our project.
Conclusion

The overall conclusion of our project
The mission of Sustainable Rural Initiatives (SRI) is to improve the quality of life for the local community in Okana. They want to achieve this by opening their eyes to the potentials and opportunities that are already amidst them. Our research discovered how they can realize their goal and we are going to help them with this.

First, the problem is that the carpentry workshop doesn’t gain enough orders so they can grow in their business. At this moment they ended up in a vicious circle as you can see below.

They buy materials so they can make new products to sell. This gains into a profit, but because the order size is too low nog enough money is collected to and pay the salaries and buy new products. This results in having to choose between paying the employees or buying new materials so they can sell new products.

We feel that with a structured marketing plan, we can increase the order size. Besides promotion material, like leaflets, brochures and using the website, we will interview the employees, we look at competitors to learn from them and we will talk to potential new buyers in Kisumu. Together with the financial support of S4S to buy an initial stock wood we break through this vicious circle like you can see below.

The addition of an initial stock will provide into being able to buy more materials so they can generate a larger production. Therefore in combination with a the marketing plan they can sell more products so the profit will grow. If we achieve this we can make sure there is enough money to pay the salaries and also to buy new materials again to make new products.

Because our goal in the end is to help them become more self-sustainable. In the second stage of our project we will focus on the continuity of the carpentry workshop. We will help them with their administration and finding them a suitable manager who can take the lead. We are also going to document their carpentry workshop knowledge so it’s easier for new employees to become more familiar with the work progresses. And last but not least we want to look at the mindset of the employees. We want to increase their dedication and motivation for the carpentry workshop, so their engagement will grow which will lead to a positive influence for the continuity of the carpentry workshop.

So, when we meet again on the 29^th of January we hope we achieved these four following delivirables:
1. Expansion of the customer network to gain more orders
2. Implementing structured marketing plan
3. Help in becoming self-sustainable for continuity
4. Find suitable manager for continuity