Business Plan
Gambia Lifewater Project®
Improving Clean Water Access
Michele Cantos
Geoffrey Daniels
Raymond Kaniu
Jeremy Mak
Joe Ralbovsky
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 4
NGO Description 5
Mission Statement 5
Vision Statement 5
Ownership and Organizational Structure 5
Board of Directors 5
Line and Staff Positions 5
Expectations 5
Organizational Structure 6
Background Information 7-8
Skills, Experience, and Comparative Advantage 8
Marketing Analysis 9
Services 9
Demand of Service 9
Market Potential 9
SWOT Analysis 9-10
Promotion Strategies 10-11
Financials 12
Source of Initial Equity Capital 12
Monthly Operating Budget 12
Monthly Cash Flow 12-13
Projected Income Statement for a Two Year Period 13
Break-even 14
Method of Compensation 14
Record Keeping 14
“What-if” Scenario 14
Operations – Organizational Level 14
Operations – Syracuse, NY 15
Operations – The Gambia Office, Sare Lefa 15
Office, Insurance, and Capacity for the First Stage of the GLP 15
Equipment – Syracuse University 15-16
Equipment – Sare Lefa Office, The Gambia 16
Insurance and the Cost of Expansion and Risk 16
Concluding Statement………………………………………………………….……………….. 17
Executive Summary
Based in Syracuse, New York, USA, Gambia Lifewater Project is a transnational non-governmental organization that seeks to improve clean water access and livelihood security in rural villages in Gambia, West Africa. Our business proposal plan briefly outlines our strategy towards accomplishing that endeavor. We begin by describing the conditions affecting the rural communities in Gambia and where we are confident we could be of great service. Building on our organizational structure and responsibility, we will approach the market from an informed vantage point based on our marketing strategy and financial resources.
The following business plan also includes an outline of organization structure, a description of financial and operation management, services provided, a 5-year strategic plan, communications and promotions strategy, and an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that the organization faces in the years to come.
Description
Gambia Lifewater Project (GLP) is a transnational non-governmental organization operating in poor, rural villages in the “central river region” of Gambia.
Mission Statement
“We work to build local capacity for village-based hand-pump management, raise awareness and education of water, sanitation, and hygiene issues, advocate for policies and development priorities that protect or improve access to clean water, and support community hand-pump rehabilitation projects.”
Vision Statement:
We envision a future where all Gambians have access to clean water; a future where no rural community suffers from water shortages, broken water infrastructure, or waterborne diseases. We imagine a Gambia where all citizens have their domestic, agricultural, and livestock water needs met by reliable access to a safe and adequate water supply.
Ownership and Organizational Structure
Board of Directors
Our board of directors will be comprised of five independent members encompassing different disciplines in development. They will meet thrice a year and will be compensated handsomely for their contribution. They will also be expected to donate a portion of their salary towards our projects. Their primary responsibility is to ensure that all stakeholders’ interests and concerns are diligently addressed. Additionally, the board of directors will be in charge of selecting the CEO, CFO, and CIO.
Line and Staff Positions
Our staff personnel will conduct background research and provide technical advice and recommendations to their line managers. They will also be responsible for their duties as described upon hiring. Line managers reserve the authority and right to make decisions as the situation deems necessary (see organizational structure).
Expectations
Everyone involved with the organization will conduct themselves accordingly. As representatives of GLP, it is expected that by operating in their capacity, members will work in congruence to the mission, vision, and goals of the organization.
Organizational Structure
Background Information
For rural communities in Gambia, West Africa, a working hand-pump is, in one word: remarkable. It is the lifeblood and social nexus of a village. Hand pumps provide water for basic needs while facilitating fuel nutrition, gardening, and animal husbandry projects.
Nothing is worse than a deteriorating or broken pump because that means they have to pump longer or walk farther and farther to find other water sources, all which result in less time and energy for school, farm-work, child-care, income generating activities, and recreation. Can you imagine carrying 40 pounds of water? What about carrying it for a kilometer or more?
Numerous governmental and aid agencies installed UNICEF-commissioned Mark II hand-pumps in Gambia’s Central River Region in the 1990s to provide clean water for rural villages. However, virtually none of these organizations have implemented an effective village-based strategy to maintain or repair pumps in case of breakdown or damage. Spare parts and local technical expertise are difficult to find, and funds to pay for costly repairs are lacking. These reasons coupled with a lack of regular monitoring have resulted in a high number of pumps falling into disrepair, leaving communities to either open covered wells for water or to walk to neighboring village water points. When hand-pump covers are removed, water can easily be contaminated by the lowering of non-sterilized buckets and rope into the well and falling debris, exposing villagers to waterborne diseases like diarrhea.
How can we fix broken water infrastructure and protect people's water sources in rural Gambia? The installation of costly community solar panels and pumps is a rare and limited occurrence, mostly funded by either bilateral humanitarian missions such as the Japan International Cooperation or by the Gambian diaspora—and decisions on recipient villages are usually highly politicized. And local hand-pump technicians often use second-hand parts from decommissioned/stolen pumps and charge exorbitant fees for work that is overpriced and not guaranteed.
The Gambia Lifewater Project (GLP) meets a high development need for reliable access to clean water, as it is the only entity working to rehabilitate existing hand-power water infrastructure in rural Gambia’s Central River Region free of charge. By providing timely and cost-effective repairs to aging Mark II pumps or replacing dysfunctional pumps with more robust, higher-output Bluepumps, GLP aims to provide under-served villagers with more dependable sources of clean life-giving water for their domestic, agricultural, and animal husbandry needs.
Since August 2011, with our partners Water Charity and the Fairwater Foundation, we have fixed 19 Mark II hand-pumps and installed three new Bluepumps, increasing clean water access for more than 5,000 women, children, and men in 11 villages in Gambia's Central River Region. We aim to install up to 15 more Bluepumps in December 2012 to January 2013 and to train regional mechanics on maintaining the Bluepumps. Over the next year, we seek to multiple our impact by transferring our pump rehabilitation strategy to the US Peace Corps The Gambia. With your help, over the next five years, we hope to reach 100 villages served.
Skills, Experience, and Comparative Advantage
Our key to success rides on our staff’s diverse and unique skills and program operating strategy. Firstly, local field staff from our target communities form the backbone of our program. They help us penetrate and integrate into rarely accessed rural villages. They are fluent in the main ethnic tribal languages (Wolof, Mandinka, and Pulaar) in the region and assist in promoting local understanding, support, and interest in our pump repair activities. Secondly, our core support staff in the U.S. come with internationally-renowned graduate training in public administration, finance, and project management from Syracuse University’s The Maxwell School.
Next, our projects are low-cost, high impact, with minimal overhead, so more donor funds are directly tied to providing the rural poor with water and improving the livelihoods of Gambians. Moreover, we strive to foster transparency in all our projects, documenting sites with photos, videos, and GPS coordinates. Lastly, our presence in communities is continuous, and we aim to replicate our success in our program sites across The Gambia through partnering with the US Peace Corps The Gambia.
Marketing Analysis
Service
GLP provides two basic services to rural communities:-
ü We repair or replace worn out pump infrastructure to secure village clean water access.
ü We aim to provide communities with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to maintain and protect their water resources by holding village-based sensitization workshops and training regional Bluepump mechanics.
Demand of service
Local demand for our assistance in refurbishing old pumps and installing new Bluepumps is high, such that we have formulated a 5 year plan to scale up our service provision by replicating our process through Peace Corps villages to multiply our impact beginning next year. Secondly, our own repair work will extend from Bureng, Lower River Region-South Bank to Jarreng, Central River Region-South Bank in two year's time. In three years, we will begin implementing added value activities, such as well-disinfection and construction of household point of use water filters for locations with water quality issues.
Market Potential
According to Access Gambia:
Total water withdrawal: 31.8 million cubic meters in the year 2000
Largest users:
ü Agricultural sector: 21.3 million cubic meters per year (67%)
ü Domestic sector: 6.9 million cubic meters per year (22 %)
ü Industry sector: 3.6 million cubic meters (11 %).
Target group
ü People in the “central river region” of Gambia
ü Communities where there are either no pumps or ones that have deteriorating pumps
ü Users of water, or institutions such as schools that hope to benefit from our services
ü Donors at large
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
ü Only charity-based water organization operating in the region
ü Narrowly defined target population and service
ü Potential for volunteer staff based on expertise
ü Tax exempt status
ü Independent board of directors with a diversified perspective
ü Bluepumps are provided for free from Fairwater Foundation
Weaknesses
ü Solely dependent on funding and donations
ü Difficult to measure progress
ü Based in USA but operating in The Gambia, West Africa
ü Locals require training
ü We do not manufacture the pumps
Opportunity
ü Catering to the water demand of the rural communities
ü Appeal to basic human rights to clean water
ü Donors and foundations willing to provide funds but cannot figure out where/who to give it to
ü Providing education geared towards water hygiene practices
ü Provide community empowerment
Threats
ü Ethnic and political tensions
ü Contaminated underground water that will need to be purified for use
ü Deteriorating pumps already in the region
ü Decreasing levels of groundwater
Promotion Strategies
We hope to create adequate awareness of our services to the nation of Gambia and the world at large due to the nature of our business that relies heavily on public support. Consequently, it is imperative that we seek a great partnership with the local communities and the national government. Building a reputation of accountability and transparency we hope to cater and direct our efforts towards achieving our objectives. Our service is our brand; therefore, we must exercise it exceptionally well. Other promotional strategies include, but are not limited to:
ü Partnering up with organizations and vendors (could also lead to an increase in revenue)
ü Hosting events, concerts, and fundraisers
ü Working with schools to promote the education of water hygiene practices
ü Holding information sessions and trainings on how to use our pumps
ü Advising farmers on proper and economical use of the water from our pumps
ü Sending newsletters to our donors to show them where and what their donations have done for the people
ü Creating an open source where donors and users alike can interact thus creating a personal touch to the process
ü Offer a myriad of ways for collecting donations from mailing to online collections
ü Working with students at Syracuse University and other participating universities to promote and increase the awareness of the water situation in Gambia.
Financials
Financial Resources
Source of Initial Equity Capital
GLP’s initial equity capital was possible thanks to the grand contribution from Matt Bonham Foundation which granted us $500,000 dollars to start our organization. To express our gratitude for this generous offer, we will name one of our facilities in Gambia after him. Thanks to the contribution from his foundation and the little that we managed to raise, we have been able to stay afloat especially considering the initial costs it took to be established.
Monthly Operating Budget
The monthly operating budget has been estimated as follows:
Monthly Cash Flow
The monthly cash flow has been estimated as follows:
Projected income statement for a two year period:
Break-even:
Our break-even point seems to be around $80,000 per month. It is the amount of money we need to raise every month to meet our current expenses.
Method of compensation
We will compensate our employees on a bi-weekly basis and maintain and accrue their vacation hours and sick time. We will also have coverage for the employees working in the United States and will use worker’s compensation should any of our employees incur injury while on the job.
Record Keeping
We will keep a thorough and meticulous record of every purchase and match every ledger entry to the source document. At the end of every day, each department should make sure that the daily activities are recorded. All administration officers will report to their departmental accounting managers who will then report to the chief financial officer. We will also seek outside auditing from Ernst & Young to ensure that we are in accordance with the regulations. Due to the nature of our business, we are exempt from federal income tax, and will deduct individual and corporation donation according the IRS code section 501(c)(3).[1]
“What-if” Scenario: