Diana and I recently got back from Austin, Texas, where we attended our second Dell Social Innovation Challenge finalist weekend. Although this time, we were sitting on the other side of the fence.

DSIC has a tradition of bringing back the previous year’s winner as a judge, and this year I was able to sit on the judging panel. It was certainly a change of pace from last year, when I was anxious about pitching as well as incredibly sick. This year I was way more relaxed, and I got to meet some incredible people who were judges with me. Although I was by far the youngest judge, I still felt like I got to contribute a significant amount to our discussions as someone who is currently immersed in all the trials and tribulations of starting a venture. Being a judge was a great experience, and I’m glad DSIC made it possible! Plus, I think I prefer sitting on the judges’ side of the room much better.

The next day, Diana participated in the Social Innovation Think Tank panel, and we later gave an update on Essmart and presented the Outstanding Innovation Awards at the DSIC awards show. Here’s a video of our segment:

Sometimes it’s easy to get bogged down in the details of what we’re doing on a daily basis. It’s even easier to get caught up in the very competitive environment that is Cambridge, Massachusetts, or even the impact investing space. But being in Austin and re-connecting with many people from DSIC and Dell was an incredibly positive and supportive experience, and we’re so thankful to be a part of this family!

We’re excited to launch our first crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo!  We’ve been excited about how our model has been working in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, and we’re ready to take on the challenge of scaling to a new, nearby region. Our crowd funding campaign allows us to engage a broader audience (like you!) in making this a reality. The theory behind crowd funding is that if everyone gives a little, it will add up to a lot. So please consider supporting Essmart by making a donation our campaign! (Please note that donations are not tax-deductible as we are not a 501c3.)

To launch the campaign, Diana and Jackie worked hard on creating a video that explains who we are and how we got here. If nothing else, we hope you’ll watch it:

We’ve recently been setting up a new accounting software – Xero. As we’ve gone through this process, we’ve received a fair amount of push back in India. People are used to using a software called Tally, and we’ve had to justify why we want to use a different technology. As we’ve had these discussions, it has struck me that adopting Xero as our accounting software is just a part of our everyday mission: to help people adopt new, innovative, smarter technological solutions.

Most of the time, these solutions are external facing: solar lighting products, water filters, agricultural tools. But the same mantra applies to our internal practices as well. Xero happens to be one of these technologies.

The accounting industry in India seems to be dominated by Tally. People feel comfortable with this software. It doesn’t require any additional training, and it seems pretty ubiquitous. But the software has an outdated interface and is difficult to update, and so our team wasn’t terribly excited about it.

We researched a number of different softwares, and settled on Xero. The software is starting to get a fair amount of press in the US and we’re quite happy with the interface, but in India, no one has heard of it. People are constantly pushing us to use Tally instead. So, as in the case of a new solar lighting solution, our job is to facilitate user adoption. Except in this case, the adoption is internal.

This battle for innovation adoption is one that is core to Essmart’s mission, and we feel it is worth fighting this battle for Xero as well. Our company promotes the smartest, highest quality technologies, not only externally but internally as well.

Yesterday, we took everyone based in our Pollachi office out to lunch at nice place outside of Pollachi. This was our first retreat for our sales executives. It was mostly a chance to get everyone together, to treat our employees to a nice meal, and to say “thank you” for all of their hard work. We enjoyed a buffet lunch followed by a photo shoot in the restaurant’s scenic surroundings. It’s been great to see how all of our sales executives have also become friends, and we had a great time just hanging out, laughing, and trying to teach me and Diana phrases in Tamil.

After the photo shoot (one of our sales executives, Saastha, is particularly excited about photo shoots), we then sat down to talk for a bit. Diana and I said thank you, and then Poonacha took it away, talking briefly about the hard work we have ahead of us.

In the future, we hope to do more retreats like this, for both sales executives based in the same city and for the whole company. We’ve definitely started building a community in Pollachi, and it’ll be excited to see how this can grow.

While reading a Jalopnik article reflecting on the Indian car market, it struck me that the Indian car market is really not that different from the market for essential technologies. The author, Jason Torchinsky, a car blogger and first-time visitor to India, hit on a number of points about customer preferences, branding, and distribution in the car industry that really resonate with Essmart’s approach to technology dissemination. Interestingly, though, many of these points have historically been ignored by development-focused organizations.

Below are some of points Jason noticed about the Indian car industry from his visit with Mahindra, and how I feel they parallel Essmart’s work:

So, while India is an exclellent [sic] argument for the use of SUVs, it also manages to simultaneously make the opposing argument that no one really needs an SUV. This happens because for many of the situations you’d think you’d need an SUV (hauling huge things, rough terrain driving, etc.) people all over the place are doing with tiny hatchbacks and miniature 25 HP vans and trucks.

It’s amazing what people can manage to do with mini vans (not a minivan, but a miniature van). SUVs are overkill. We feel the same about our product catalogue. People don’t need a really expensive, large solar home lighting system; they can manage to get nearly all the same functionality from a much smaller product. And many essential technologies are just that – products that can get someone all the functionality they need but at a more reasonable price point or in a more reasonable sized box.

Indians are, collectively, some of the biggest savers of money in the world, so before they buy something like a car they research the hell out of it.

This is something we notice at Essmart quite a bit. Even though most of our shop owners and end users don’t have technical backgrounds, they often ask very technical questions about all the products in our catalogue. Wattage? Battery life? Flow rate? They want to know exactly what they’re getting. As a result, our sales executives need to be very knowledgeable, and they have to help instill this confidence in our shop owners.

… they can also be quite status-conscious, all the way across the economic spectrum. That’s why, I was told, the Tata Nano hasn’t met with the sales success it should have: they made too big a deal out of how cheap it was. … while there are possibly millions of Indians who could really use such an inexpensive car, none of them really wants anyone to know that they could really use such an inexpensive car. No matter how poor you may be, it seems that you’ll always want to seem like you’re not quite that poor.

In reflecting on the car industry, I actually think Jason has hit on one of the most critical reasons why technology-for-development initiatives across the globe have failed: branding. Non-profits and NGOs in international development are so focused on helping people that they nearly always brand their products as products that help the poor. Unfortunately, this is exactly what people don’t want. If you had the choice to buy a product that is a step up the social ladder or a product that cements your status as being poor, which would you choose? At Essmart, we’re focusing quite a bit on the branding of our product catalogue. For example, a low-cost solar lantern is cutting edge technology that just happens to be low-cost because how efficient LEDs are.

Lastly, Jason commented on car maintenance. He noticed that the majority of car repairs happen in small repair shops:

So anything, say, Mahindra sells needs to be at least somewhat repairable by these little shops. That means if they’re releasing some new engine technology they have to educate these smaller mechanics to know how to work on it effecively. This is also important because many people in smaller villages and towns rely on the mechanic for car purchasing advice.

Maintenance is an important part of Essmart’s model, but I actually think this quote has some more important commentary on marketing. Local retail shops are the lynchpin of Essmart’s operations because the majority of people depend on them to access information on new products. Our sales executives do their part in convincing households to purchase our products, but the word of the local shop owner is much more persuasive than our own.

So there you have it: essential technology dissemination is actually not that different than the Indian car industry. Rather, there’s quite a few lessons that the tech-for-development space can learn if we want to disseminate technologies sustainably or at scale.

You can’t completely understand the problem until you learn about it from the people who know it best.

This has been a personal philosophy that has grown stronger over the past couple of years. It’s been reinforced even more this winter.

I’m Jen, and I’ve been working on Essmart for over a year now as part of the US-based team. In Boston, I created surveys to assess the needs of village storeowners in India. I helped fundraise through social venture competitions. But this winter, I was finally able to come to India to do on-the-ground work. And as a result, Essmart and what we do has become even more alive to me.

I see the huts and off-the-grid settlements that never get electricity, which are problems that Essmart’s social goods help to resolve. I witness when village storeowners see this water filter or a solar lantern for the very first time.

People sometimes have this perception of international development work as swooping to save these people, heroically lifting them out of poverty or ignorance. This line of thinking perpetuates an unequal power dynamic that should not be the case. When I visit village stores with our sales executives, I meet tough, savvy shopkeepers who are not easily sold on our products. They take the products out of their boxes. Then they touch the products, they explore the finishes, and they carefully examine every detail. They turn off their shop lights so they can better test the strength of our lights. They listen closely when Essmart’s sales agents explain the product more to end users that crowd around in curiosity. It is only after this demonstration that shopkeepers agree to take our business card and have an Essmart catalogue put in their store.

These shopkeepers are not easy sales, but when they believe in us, they continue promoting our products. On one of our daily routes, we introduced a new product to a shopkeeper. When we left, he continued demonstrating the solar flashlight to three or four intrigued end users. Village shopkeepers are smart, and when we say that Essmart is establishing partnerships with local village stores, we mean it—these local retail stores are our partners and equals.

And we know that we’re promising them quality products.

With clock-like precision, at the exact same hours every day, the power goes out. On my first night here, I was shocked. Now, I just follow Diana and Poonacha’s lead and grab our closest solar lantern product to work by. Our appliances’ solar panels charge outside of the apartment everyday. One of ur water filter products sits in the kitchen. Even as I write this, I leap up every few minutes with our bug zapper to swat at the newest member of our resident mosquito army that’s trying to feast on this new foreign delicacy (me). I have never known sweeter revenge.

So, I assure you, these products really come in handy in Pollachi. Our own daily use of Essmart products is a testament to their quality and our belief in them!

It has been amazing seeing the ideas of Essmart translate into action and results on the sandy, sun-beaten roads of Southern India. Yes, Essmart is a work in progress, but that’s the way all things in life should always be. We are a dynamic process. We are constantly evaluating and re-evaluating, thinking about what we could do better, and making the necessary adjustments so that we become better. My time in India has more than reinforced my belief in Essmart and everything the US-based team and I have been working toward. I return to the States, reinvigorated to work for the Essmart cause.

Jen Zhu is a joint degree candidate in Government and Sociology at Harvard University. She has prior experience with two other social enterprises, and worked with Dalberg Global Development Advisors to analyze 80+ social enterprises’ challenges and success factors. She also researches the dissemination of public health interventions through social networks in developing countries. Jen works on market analysis, social media, and U.S. marketing.

As we approach the end of 2012, we’ve taken some time to reflect on this past year. It has truly been a whirlwind. At this time last year, Diana was preparing to travel to India for our first pilot. We had a grand vision, a ridiculous amount of passion, some research to back us up, and a small amount of funding from MIT. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

Since then, we’ve won a couple business plan competitions, recruited a team, and registered our company in both the US and India. We were fortunate to start working with Selvan, our Director of Field Operations, whose hard work and dedication is truly the reason we’ve accomplished as much as we have. As Selvan transitions into a new role focused on product testing and catalogue development, our field operations are now in the capable hands of Poonacha, who has helped us hire and train our sales executives and grow our shop network and sales.

We’ve been excited by the early successes that we’ve achieved. A few months ago, we had an empty office space, one employee, and no sales. Now we have a busy office with five employees, we’ve sold 300+ products, and we’ve watched how the products in our catalogue are actually changing lives and improving businesses. We have customers, revenue, and proof that our model works.

We’ve also got a long way to go in building this business. We have the day-to-day hills that we climb, such as navigating the Indian legal landscape, or developing a more robust data collection system. It’s easy to get caught up in the daily hurdles, but we always refer back to our grand vision: Essmart as the channel where thousands of local retail shops can improve their businesses and millions of households can access products that improve their lives. Distribution is the first step, but our dream is to build up the entire technology-for-development ecosystem by encouraging suppliers to design better products, and commercialize more products.

2012 was a roller coaster ride, and we expect nothing less from 2013. Thank you for joining us on this ride. We hope you’re enjoying it as much as we are.

Greetings from India!

Essmart has been on the ground in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, India for about two months now. Much has happened since our last email update. Selvan, our Director of Field Operations, has hired two sales executives, and they are working with 28 shops within a 20-kilometer radius of Pollachi. We now have six great products in our catalogue, which we’re seeking to expand. We’ve sold over 100 units through our network and are in working relationships with our suppliers. We’ve finished incorporation in both the US and in India, and we’re currently pursuing relationships with potential partners while meeting as many people as possible to talk with them about Essmart.

In early September, the Dell Social Innovation Challenge came to the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai to host a workshop with Indian educators in the burgeoning field of social entrepreneurship. Diana had the opportunity to share our team’s experiences of starting Essmart while we were still students, with the hope of encouraging Indian youngsters. After the workshop, Rob Hanna from Dell’s Social Innovation Challenge and Dell’s R&D Rajesh Navneetham visited our operations in Pollachi.

In late September, Diana participated in the Dasra Social Impact Program, an executive education program for leaders of nonprofits and social entrepreneurs working in India. Getting away from operations was helpful for reevaluating Essmart’s work, and lessons from the Dasra Social Impact Program have already contributed to a renewed vision of who we are and what we do: making high-quality, innovative technologies available for every customer at their local shopping destinations.

In October, Selvan, Diana, and Essmart’s sales executives participated in the Energy Showcase of the Dr Mahalingam College of Energy and Technology in Pollachi. We were graciously given a stall to display our process and our product catalogue, and Selvan has been solidifying himself as Pollachi’s own “solar guy.” Diana and Selvan will also participate in the upcoming Global Green Inclusive Innovation (G2i2) Summit to seek partnerships with other like-minded organizations.

Jackie and the US team have been presenting Essmart at events around Boston, including the MIT International Development Fair, the MIT India Conference, and the upcoming Forum for Social Entrepreneurs that is hosted by The Indus Entrepreneurs of Boston. Jackie also presented Essmart to the MIT Sloan MBA Entrepreneurship & Innovation class. The US-based team is currently putting its efforts toward fundraising.

Much has happened, and we’re exciting to continue moving Essmart forward! Be sure to stay tuned as we put the world’s essential technologies in every local shop.

A few months back, Selvan met a Dasra representative at a conference held at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai. She told him about the Dasra Social Impact Program, an executive education program that trains decision makers of leading nonprofits and social enterprises across India. Then she said that Essmart should consider participating in it.

As Essmart’s co-founders, Jackie and I deliberated about whether or not to join. There were pros and cons. The main pro was that Dasra is well connected in the social sector (industry?), and we’re new to India and could use the connections. This is particularly the case because, as Jackie wrote in the previous blog entry, our operations are based here and neither of us is Indian. The second pro was what I would be able to learn from other participants. The third pro was personal/professional development, since I now have the role of pitching Essmart in India.

Despite these pros, the cons were also plenty. The biggest con was that participating in the program came at a financial cost, and we’re bootstrapping. The second con was that the program required three weeks of my time.

After a analyzing the potential costs and benefits, we decided to go for it. Were the costs worth it? It’s too early to tell if Dasra’s connections will pan out into something financially tangible for Essmart. I’ll have to wait until after the second and third workshops, when we comb through and edit our business plans, polish our pitches, and present to potential investors. I did learn a few new concepts from the sessions and peer-learning sessions, but sometimes the discussions were a bit unfocused, nonprofit-centric, and not yet applicable to us at our early stage. I think I did grow personally and professionally. At least, I’m figuring out the most effective ways for me to represent Essmart and the most effective ways for Essmart to be represented to potential customers, partners, and funders. We’re still firm believers in limiting hype and selling results.

It has taken me a few weeks to see it, but the most beneficial takeaway from DSI’s first workshop was the time and space to revisit, rethink about, and re-articulate Essmart’s vision. When we’re busy with operations, we tend to lose sight of the big picture. Since Essmart is just starting off, we need to make sure that our first steps are taken carefully and deliberately. But for us to be aware of how our decisions support our vision, we need to be able to clearly articulate our vision.

The importance of defining who we are, what we do, and what we stand for came up the following week, when I made it down to Pollachi. Sales are picking up considerably, especially for a particular product. We also realized that if we go through additional, non-retail-store distribution channel, we could increase our sales in the short-run.

However, Essmart’s vision is to use the retail shop network as a means for people in rural areas to learn about great new products, get great new products, and trust the people behind great new products. It would be easy to follow the money and chase volumes of easy sales, but that wouldn’t build up the vision. We don’t want to become seen as distributors of a single product who go through ad hoc measures to sell. Anyone can sell products, but we’re creating a new distribution channel. Creating a new distribution channel takes time and conscious decision-making, especially in the early stages.

So, thank you, DSI, for making us hammer out our business model canvases, think through our theories of change, write and deliver 30-second pitches, and turn-in a two-pager and business plan slide deck. All of these activities help us recenter on who we are, what we do, and how we do it. We’re looking forward to working with you over the few months ahead.