Taking her business online
- Pre-Seed
E-commerce emerges as an important tool, yet it presents a challenge for women. A tailor-made, step by step and all-inclusive package is provided to help women-owned SMEs in handicraft villages in Vietnam to use a regional e-commerce platform and other tools, with a vision to scaling-up around the Mekong region.
Solution:
The Women's Initiative for Startups and Entrepreneurship Social Enterprise (WISE Social) proposes a tailor-made, step by step and inclusive package for help women-owned SMEs in handicraft villages get used to the KIU Platform and other e-commerce tools, and enable them to make transactions.
Why our solutions will solve the problem:
Our package will include:
- Introduction/training classes for women entrepreneurs in handicraft villages to get them familiar with the platform and its benefits: We will work with HAWASME and women entrepreneurs' clubs at the district level to identify potential users of the platform and invite them to these orientation courses
- Call-out for women entrepreneurs who want to make use of the platform. Priority will be given to: (i) those who are ready to export but have difficulty in accessing foreign markets; and (i) those who want to make use of all functions of KIU in order to demonstrate and showcase success stories later to encourage wider use of e-commerce tools.
- Selection of 30-50 applicants and provision of in-depth training and hand-holding guidance for 3 months, in partnership with e-commerce platform partners (from business plan coaching, mentorship, small grants for investment and monitoring and supervision) to ensure smooth transactions.
- Identification of successful transactions for showcasing; and stock-taking of difficulties encountered by women in using these platforms to inform future interventions (by both commercial partners and support organizations) towards greater women participation.
If the approach is proven, we will scale it up to other sectors and throughout the country and the Mekong region.
New e-commerce solutions are available in the market. Nevertheless, it is not easy for businesswomen, especially those in handicraft villages to get familiar with and make use of fast-changing technology and tools. E.g, none of the women-owned SMEs under the Hanoi Women's Association of SMEs that Kiu - a Mekong region trade platform - has been introduced to was able to get used to the platform.
Efforts in introducing these tools to women entrepreneurs are still limited and short-term. It takes time and effort to handhold and encourage them to use new e-commerce platforms efectively and sustainably.
This problem and solution came from our own interactions with businesswomen, especially in the introduction of the KIU platform and ITC trade analysis tools to them. Women reported they lack access to global markets and supply chains. They saw the need for new technologies and were eager to learn. Nevertheless, they relinquish after few unsuccessful attempts, without seeing the need for a careful business plan and investment to go online successfully. Therefore we believe that to get women go online, it is necessary to handhold them, help them develop and implement plans, and also importantly motivate them through successful stories
The expected impact is more businesswomen to go online, resulting in increased sales and more jobs created.
In the pilot period, we will target women entrepreneurs in handicraft villages around Hanoi as follows:
- 300 women entrepreneurs through general trainings and orientation courses
- 100 women entrepreneurs making use of e-commerce tools as a one of their marketing channels
- 30-50 women entrepreneurs receiving intensive support to use e-commerce tools
- 30-50 women entrepreneurs having successful deals during the project time.
If the approach is proven, we will scale it up to other sectors and throughout the country and the Mekong region.
Lists of participants in general trainings and orientation courses - 300 women entrepreneurs introduced with KIU platform and e-commerce tools
Follow-up survey - 100 women entrepreneurs making use of e-commerce tools as a major marketing channel
List of beneficiaries receiving intensive support and evaluation reports upon completion - - 30-50 women entrepreneurs receiving intensive support to use e-commerce tools; and 30 women entrepreneurs having successful deals during the project time
- Old age
- Lower middle income economies (between $1006 and $3975 GNI)
- Female
- Rural
- Suburban
- Consumer-facing software (mobile applications, cloud services)
There are some efforts for women to learn new e-commerce tools, but they are mainly short-term introduction/training courses, while it takes time, money and encouragement for women to be able to sell online. We will be addressing this gap by providing tailor-made and hand-holding programs in partnership with e-platforms to selected women entrepreneurs and showcase their success to encourage more women to go online.
E-commerce solutions are available out there in the markets, but users are mainly young, tech-savvy generation, and the older generation is encountering a widening gap. This project is about enabling women entrepreneurs so that they can connect and benefit from the digital economy.
- In the first stage, we will reach out to women entrepreneurs in handicraft villages around Hanoi through our women business association partners and invite them to trainings
- We will then annouce the call for intensive support to these trainees and also make public on WBAs website, our WISE fanpage and trade partners' pages
- In the scaling-up period, we will work with businesswomen clubs/associations in the relevant areas
- 9 (Commercial)
- Non-Profit
- Vietnam
WISE Social and its partners already paid for some training courses on e-commerce. We will need financial support for this pilot intensive support. If this shows to be successful, we plan to sustain the project by:
- mobilizing support/CRS funding from commercial partners
- collecting fees for certain support from women entrepreneurs, or a success-based fee can be considered.
It takes time and resources to support to get the first transactions. Therefore, it requires commitment and also investment (in terms of time and money) from women entrepreneurs until they see success.
- Less than 1 year
- 1-3 months
- 3-6 months
- Technology Access
- Human+Machine
- Income Generation
- Future of Work
We are applying to Solve because Solve focuses on human centered technology. We believe technology will change the world. For us, the use of technology is equally important as its development, and it is important not to leave women further behind by their low access to technology.
Our partners are the KIU platform and the women business associations in Hanoi and in Vietnam
Fee based training by commercial partners; free training by associations, no intensive package yet.
Director
WISE Manager