Wednesday 6th at WOW office: General meeting for "Projet Boutique" cooperative and Bio Essence originality

hello,

This day was crowded of activities because first, there was between 8.00 am and 1.00 pm "projet boutique" meeting and second we met with "Entreprise Bracelets" and "Bio Essence" runners. After the first meeting which consisted of electing somebody president of the cooperative there was an apetising big meal cooked by "Chez May".

At 3.pm we exchange again with Sini Mboup, Bracelets' owner in order to find a way to better set up an accounting and forecasting frame because she really needs help.

Mame khary Gueye, Bio Essence's manager came to WOW office at 4.30 pm. She is a very amasing woman because she speaks fluent english, she got important degrees in Europe and USA, travelled all around the world and is 32 years old. In fact, she worked at big fims such as Paribas, Cap Gemini and now run a company with $1,000,000 capital.

Nevertheless, she is more focused on exportation because she benefit from many administrative facilities and therefore has to export 80% of her production.

Good vision in terms of quality and strategy is her strength.

-Aicha

Friday at the office...

The office is in a great house with a lot of space/rooms that will allow WOW to provide training, exhibition, working spaces for the partners. Everything is getting set up day after day. There's more and more furniture. We have now white boards in the meeting room. A printer and 2 desktops arrived this morning and might get ready to work next week. It's very exciting to be part of an organization that is growing and getting structured for the next steps. 

Today was our 2nd brainstorming session, which focused on Entreprise Bracelets and the 2 workshops from Enda Ecopole. We kept the same analysis framework, since we felt it works well and trigger good discussions. Like on Wednesday, it went very smoothly. We thought that we could get more information about one of the workshops. Malick will try to get another appointment with the manager next week. Those working sessions are very good since, as we bring business ideas to the table, we need to consider the Senegalese culture and its specificities. It makes the discussions very enriching and valuable. 

Here comes the weekend. Everybody will have different activities. Sachiko and I plan to go to Saint-Louis. This should be a great opportunity to discover the country and visit a charming city :-)

~Laurent

Enda Ecopole and Entreprise Bracelets

Good evening, we just finished speaking with Seni, from the Entreprise Bracelets, who creates and sells a wide range of small art products, such as bracelets, necklaces, decoration dolls, and many other beautiful creations... We felt she had an excellent knowledge of the market she targets. We learnt how she uses unique selling techniques and how she would like to expand her business and increase her company's revenue. We talked about different scenarios she has in mind to strengthen her presence in the markets of Dakar.

This morning was very booked, since we went to Enda Ecopole and had the opportunity to meet many people, and discover its neighborhood and its network of activities. Enda Ecopole is a very interesting organization that promotes small urban 

economy by providing support and to the young people who don't have access to school and face difficulties getting jobs. Through a wide range of activities, or workshops, they have an opportunity to get hands-on training and gain confidence. WOW provided funds to 2 of those workshops. One is focusing on transforming pieces of metals (such as used bottles caps) into art objects and furniture. The other one is creating iron-based products such as doors, stairs, or fences... using recycled pieces when possible.

It will be exciting to put down our thoughts about those companies tomorrow at the office.

~Laurent