KIGALI, Rwanda--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Paradigm Project, a social venture company that delivers social, economic and environmental value within developing world countries through energy efficient products, announced today that it plans to launch a new franchise brand called EzyLife. EzyLife will revolutionize distribution in the developing world by focusing on last-mile distribution of fuel efficient cookstoves and other innovative consumer products, such as solar lanterns, water filters and agricultural products—products that deliver social benefit and simply make life easier.
“It’s no secret that technologies designed for the base of the pyramid are numerous and rapidly evolving,” explains Neil Bellefeuille, CEO of The Paradigm Project. “Unfortunately, the affordability and availability of these technologies is often limited by a lack of appropriate financing and efficient distribution to market. By providing unique opportunities to local entrepreneurs and finance partners, offering high-value products and creating a dynamic brand that consumers can get to know and trust, we are building efficient last-mile distribution capable of reaching millions throughout the developing world.”
The Paradigm Project is currently seeking sponsors who are interested in funding an entrepreneur launch kit for at-risk women in Ethiopia to become a Last Mile Entrepreneur. EzyLife Last Mile Entrepreneurs sell goods door to door in rural markets, earning a living wage and gaining valuable business experience. Each $250 sponsorship will provide an aspiring entrepreneur with: three months of training and mentoring as an EzyLife customer representative, three months of salary, and a product starter kit including one EzyStove, one Sun King Pro solar lamp, one Sawyer water filter, a branded EzyLife shirt, ID badge and product marketing materials. Parties interested in sponsoring an EzyLife Last Mile Entrepreneur can visit http://www.ezylife.com/get-involved/invest-in-an-lme.
In addition to name-brand products from a wide variety of manufacturing partners, EzyLife will design and produce its own line of entry-level, low-price/high-value products under the "Ezy" brand moniker, the first of which is the EzyStove shown above. Available in a variety of colors, the EzyStove’s patented design allows for replaceable fire chambers much like a Gillette razor, making the cost of owning an efficient stove much lower. The EzyStove is also sold in a kit that contains all the components required to build five stoves nested in a single, small box. Each stove can be assembled (even in the most remote rural locations) using only a screwdriver, which is included in the box, allowing entrepreneurs to retain more of the margin on their sale by providing some of the manufacturing labor themselves.
“The EzyStove is the Ikea of stoves,” says Bellefeuille. “It is simple, very inexpensive, modern, well designed, and manufactured for assembly in the field to keep costs down and quality high. It’s not just a product. It’s a business in a box that we believe will provide self-employment opportunities for thousands of women at the base of the pyramid.”
EzyLife will offer local entrepreneurs interested in developing distribution and supply chain businesses access to unique products at aggressive price points achieved through global procurement contracts. Prospective “charter” partners (similar to a franchise) can start out as non-exclusive distributors selling product in their home countries and then graduate to exclusive charters who receive product, financing, marketing and strategic support from EzyLife.
“This is a best-in-class franchise opportunity that provides all of the systems and knowledge an entrepreneur needs to build and grow a successful consumer products business serving base of the economic pyramid (BOP) markets,” says Bellefeuille.
EzyLife launched its first three charters in Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia and anticipates sales of some 300,000 EzyStoves in the region and the addition of 10 to 15 new countries by the close of 2013.
“We’re still pulling much of the front-end of the brand online and into the public eye, but we have some strong charter partners operating on the ground already and have sold some 100,000 EzyStove and 3rd party stove products to date in Kenya alone,” explains Bellefeuille.
There are 4 billion people at the base of the economic pyramid, defined as those with annual incomes below $3,000. Their local purchasing power in current U.S. dollars is less than $2 per day, yet together they constitute a $5 trillion global consumer market. BOP markets are usually rural, very poorly served, dominated by the informal economy, and, as a result, relatively inefficient and uncompetitive. Thus a massive opportunity exists for first movers to gain a significant competitive advantage in serving these markets globally with last-mile supply chains.
Through EzyLife, The Paradigm Project has a vision to serve 1 billion people at the base of the pyramid over the next 20 years. To learn more about The Paradigm Project and EzyLife, please visit www.theparadigmproject.org.
About The Paradigm Project
The Paradigm Project is a social venture company that invests profit-seeking and philanthropic capital to create sustainable and scalable business models that deliver social, economic and environmental value within developing world countries. To do this, they collaborate with local businesses and global non-profits to build and manage scalable supply chain businesses that meet immediate development needs. Equally, a foundation for long-term community and investor returns is created through the realization of project-related carbon revenues. The initial vehicle for this model is clean-burning and efficient cook stoves connected to the carbon markets. The use of efficient cook stoves reduces emissions, which in turn generates carbon credits that are sold through carbon markets. Proceeds from sales create a self sustaining mechanism that eventually eliminates the need for outside funding. Surplus proceeds support other community projects such as clean water, health clinics and schools.
About EzyLife
Paradigm develops last-mile supply chains to serve these markets through a unique franchise model called “EzyLife” that provides best in class Operational Systems, Finance, Marketing and Strategic Support to local franchise or charter partners. Those local EzyLife charter partners sell fuel efficient stoves and other life-enhancing products to bottom of the pyramid customers through traditional wholesale, retail and highly trained micro-franchise associates called Last Mile Entrepreneurs or LMEs, creating jobs and sustainable market channels in developing world communities.
