A Good Business for Poor People

Keywords

microfranchising, emerging markets, entrepreneurial opportunity

Abstract

Nineteen-year-old Stephen Mensah has a junior high education, but no real home or assets. He had lost any hope of attaining the additional education that he wanted until six months ago, when he became a Fan Milk microfranchisee. Fan Milk is Ghana’s leading producer and distributor of dairy products. Scandinavian investors founded the company in 1960 to produce milk for Ghanaians, many of whom suffered from protein deficiencies. Today, Fan Milk is listed on the Ghana stock exchange and employs some 8,500 microfranchisees, who sell milk, ice cream, yogurt, and popsicles from atop their carts or bicycles throughout Ghana. Fan Milk has sister companies in Nigeria, Togo, and the Ivory Coast, but the business remains most developed in Ghana.

Now, almost every morning, Mensah wakes up on a thin mat at the White Park Fan Milk Depot in Accra, Ghana. He cleans his cart and stocks his cooler with the variety of products he thinks will sell best. He then heads into the sun and weaves through crowded streets to deliver dairy products to Accra’s residents.

Original Publication Citation

Jones Christensen, L., Lehr, D., & Fairbourne, J. (2010). A good business for poor people. Stanford Social Innovation Review, (Summer): 43-49.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2010

Publisher

Stanford Social Innovation Review

Language

English

College

Marriott School of Business

Department

Marketing

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

Link to Full Text

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