POMELO/November 2014-March 2016. yANGON, MYANMAR

Pomelo, Inclusive Income for Disadvantaged Communities

Redesigned the business model of the social enterprise in order to achieve financial sustainability, generate growth and strengthen the skills of the craft producer groups we worked with. During my period as manager the focus on customer experience, product quality and producer support resulted in a 40% growth of yearly sales and almost doubling the number of producer groups. This business growth translated directly into better income and improved livelihoods for producers.

Pomelo is a social enterprise, working with disadvantaged people, artisans and small family businesses in Myanmar to co-design, develop and sell handmade products with a contemporary twist. Pomelo works with 54 producer groups across Myanmar.

Joining Pomelo as a manager gave me the opportunity to redesign the business model of the social enterprise in order to achieve financial sustainability, generate growth and add value to the craft producer groups we worked with.

Our aim at Pomelo was to provide the customer with a unique shopping experience that could maximize sales and communicate the stories of the products and makers. We knew every single sale counted therefore it was very important to really understand our customers, train the team to professionally respond to different situations and approach every day as an opportunity to generate ideas for further product development, makers’ feedback and improvement of display and layout. At Pomelo, I incorporated stock management systems, finance procedures, built business relations and developed a wider marketing strategy to address and target different clients.

Pomelo’s mission went beyond being a marketplace; dedicating time and resources to train the producer network was equally important. I restructured the team to be dedicated to producer support. This included providing design and creative direction for products, from prototyping simple pouches to customizing tailored crafts for hotels and restaurants with an emphasis on quality. We also offered finance and business workshops, ran competitions for creative ideas and conducted data collection for impact assessment.

Focusing equally on quality for customers and support for producers had a real impact. During this period, Pomelo became a successful, financially sustainable business, achieving a growth of 40% on yearly sales. We were able to expand the number of producer groups from 25 to 40, supporting over 450 people, and increase the quality of trainings, loans and opportunities provided to them.