Business Plan of Frontier Markets

ANANT KUMAR

401706003

ECE-MBA

SUBMITTED TO: - Dr. KARMINDER JIT SINGH

L.M THAPAR SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT THAPAR UNIVERSITY

DERA BASSI CAMPUS, MOHALI

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Frontier Markets connects India’s rural customers to products and services at their doorstep. 551
million rural customers lack access to financial, productive, durable products and services that
can economically improve their lives. This is because product companies do not have deep
enough infrastructures to access to rural customers; denying their ability to drive innovative
solutions locally to their target rural customer. Frontier Markets drives the best selection of life-
improving products and services to rural customers, while creating sustainable livelihoods for
rural women. In partnership with existing SHG networks, we on boarded 4,000 women to
become our digitally savvy women entrepreneurs called Saral Jeevan Sahelis. Our Sahelis use
our assisted e-commerce and delivery platform, called the Meri Saheli app, to collect real-time
data on customer, coordinate orders, and deliveries to earning an average of 65,000/- a year
without having to leave their village, becoming local leaders, and decision-makers at home. Our
local distribution hubs has a team of delivery field staff who ensure doorstep delivery daily, as
well as coordinate after-sales service for product companies. This combination of high-tech and
local teams, and product partnerships, has helped 700,000 rural customers’ access 1 million+
quality solutions in clean energy, agri, and homecare. The Meri-Saheli app was designed for
rural customers and by our Sahelis, ensuring it’s easy to use. Bharat India’s digitization thrives,
but to reach last-mile rural customers, an assisted solution allows for quick adoption, deep
learning’s, and optimal services to be delivered. Since COVID, we have partnered with 3 fintech
companies to launch doorstep atm services, online payments, and financial services and leading
FMCG companies to drive local essential goods doorstep deliveries. Achieving 97% conversion
rates, and on boarding 2,000 new customers monthly. We have launched our 2.0 version for
scale, adding AI capabilities to help Sahelis train to use the Meri Saheli app on their own. This
will be a gamechanger, allowing us to partner with multiple SHG organizations at once who
want to start the Saral Jeevan Initiative in their fields on their own. Our team has over 60 years of
experience working in rural India in sectors like microfinance, telecom, and distribution allowing
us to crack the rural last-mile challenge profitably. We envision becoming India’s largest high-
tech, high touch platform delivering solutions to Bharat India connecting 100 million rural
customers with 1 million digitally savvy women entrepreneurs.
FRONTIER MARKET-BACKGROUND

In 2011, the founding team of Frontier Markets noticed a big challenge facing rural India. They
saw that people in India’s Last Mile (the deepest, most remote rural areas) badly needed safer,
cleaner, better quality lighting products. They also saw that these products existed on the
market—more and more, quality durable solar lighting products were becoming available. But
despite the demand, and the supply, there was a gap: companies simply were not getting their
products into the hands of last mile customers. There was a Last Mile access gap—and Frontier
Markets was launched to close it. At first, Frontier Markets focused on distributing existing solar
lighting products (torches, lanterns, and more) through last mile distribution points—partnering
with shopkeepers who could sell these products to farmers and rural families. While this
approach made it clear to the team that clean lighting was a real customer need, they wanted to
make it even easier for rural customers—and particularly rural women—to access and try out
these products. And so, Frontier Markets decided to invest in rural women, and launched a
female entrepreneur model where they recruited and trained “Saral Jeevan Sahelis” (or “Easy
Life Friends”) to go door-to-door in their villages to market, sell, and deliver solar products.
Through this women-centric model, Frontier Markets was able to establish its presence not just
in villages, but inside village homes. We soon learned that many of the existing lighting
solutions had design flaws; so, we built our own solar torch, designed with Sahelis and
manufactured in India. Throughout the mid 2010s, as rural India got increasingly electrified, our
customers started asking for more than just clean energy products. They wanted appliances,
smart phones, and internet—and so, we started added new products to our basket. To close the
access gap, we realized, we would need to be able to offer, over time, all the products and
services that Last Mile customers want, but could not access. We invested in building an e-
commerce app, and today, are focusing on growing our network of Sahelis and expanding our
product basket so we can become the largest products and services platform for the Last Mile
customer.
MISSION

To be the most last mile centric company on earth, giving rural household’s access to the best
selection aspirational products and services available, with women driving the charge.

VISION

By 2025, the company aims at giving their customers and employees (rural people mainly
women) access to a better and more dignified life.

SUSTAINABILITY

Environmental sustainability: The Company is focused on distributing existing solar lighting

products which ensures environmental sustainability, saving the exploitation of natural resources.

Financial sustainability: The company employees certain person within the rural locals such as:
shopkeepers who can distribute and sell their profits and in return they get their commission and
hence maintaining the company’s finances.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Frontier Markets decided to invest in rural women, and launched a Female entrepreneur model
where they recruited and trained “Saral Jeevan Sahelis” (or “Easy Life Friends”) to go door-to-
door in their villages to market, sell, and deliver solar products. Through this women-centric
model, Frontier Markets was able to establish its presence not just in villages, but inside village
homes. We soon learned that many of the existing lighting solutions had design flaws; so, we
built our own solar torch, designed with Sahelis and manufactured in India.
SCALABILITY

 700,000Customers Engaged

 1,000,000Life-Improving Products Sold

 3,000+Rural Women Entrepreneurs Trained

 100+Employees Hired From Local Villages

 $10MOverall Turnover Achieved

 4States Served

INNOVATION

Frontier Markets success of being sustainable company while promoting energy services to the
poor, lay in its ability to innovate – innovate not only in the usage of technology, financing
methodology, modes of marketing etc but also in ways of linkage innovation. Frontier Markets
has pioneered in creating innovative linkages between technology, appropriate financing, energy
services, income generation and quality of life. Frontier Markets emphasizes the need to
innovate; else the needs of the poor cannot be met by technology in an affordable way, and even
if the needs are met they cannot afford it because of lack of appropriate financing. The very
belief that poverty can be reduced via affordable energy services has prompted Frontier Markets
to keep innovating and thus its ability to reach out to many poor clients.
FRONTIER MARKET BUSINESS MODEL

The business model focuses more on the distribution of power among its employees which are in
turn their customers only and hence eliminating the cluster of power in the hands of few. The
company’s model simply disowns the traditional hierarchical model of power sharing and the
customer centric model provides a transparency and promotes trust and hence increasing the
loyal and regular customer base. By Investing in the local females and training them as an
entrepreneur giving enhanced and much better understanding of the customer ideology, needs,
problems and ways to approach them. The company works on end to end value chain.

CLIENTELE

We have built a team of over 100+ employees spread across four states in India—Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Odisha. Our team is over 50% women, and we serve rural families
located in India’s Last Mile. There are about 551 million of these people who live out of reach of
traditional retail outlets and who are not getting access to the products and services they need to
build better, more dignified lives. 700,000Customers Engaged, 3,000+Rural Women
Entrepreneurs Trained, 100+Employees Hired From Local Villages.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

1. They meet Frontier Markets.

Their Saheli comes to their home, or they attend a marketing event hosted by Frontier Markets in
their community.

2. They see—and try—our products.

They look at the Saheli’s catalogue, and see and touch demo units of the products—they can
even take them home to try.
3. They purchase the product or service in cash.

They tell the Saheli what they want to purchase and give her cash. The Saheli places her order
for delivery on her e-commerce app.

4. The purchase arrives to their home within 48 hours.

Frontier Markets arrives at the customer’s house within 48 hours to deliver and install the
product. If there is ever an issue, a Frontier Markets staff will be there in 48 hours also.

5. They stay in touch with their Sahelis for new products and services.

The Saheli visits their home regularly to share about newly available products and services, and
is always accessible to customers who want her to visit so they can make a purchase.

OPERATIONS

Frontier Market has refined and articulated a delivery system, which delivers product and service
to its ultimate customer while, at every step along the way, providing for a high quality, highly
identifiable product experience. The customers’ total needs are considered, including provision
of a high quality product, installation, financing options, technical reliability, and equipment
maintenance and customer education. Steps involved are as following:-

 The trained female entrepreneur known as “Saheli” go to the customer home.

 Customer look at the Saheli’s catalogue, and see and touch demo units of the products.

 Customer tells the Saheli what they want to purchase and gives her cash. The Saheli
places her order for delivery on her e-commerce app.

 The product is delivered within 48hours to the door steps of the customer
PARTNERSHIP AND COLLABORATIONS

We partner with corporations, NGOs, and government agencies to grow our platform—from
recruiting women to adding products and services to financing our work.

Product Partners-

 Philips
 Crompton
 Samsung
 Prestige
 Kohler
 Jio
 Evolute

Financial Partners-

 Stitching Deon
 FMO
 Good Enesgies
 Teja Ventures
 The rise fund
 Acumen fund
 Beyond capital fund
MANAGEMENT AND EXECUTIVE TEAM
 Ajaita Shah (Founder & CEO)

14 years of experience working in Microfinance and Clean Energy

 Mehdi Rizvi (Head of Operations)

27 years of experience working in telecom, FMCG, Distribution

 Amrit Mohan (Marketing & Consumer Insights)

15 years of experience working in Marketing & Data

 Ranjan Talwar (Head of Finance)

25 years of Experience in financial inclusion, telecom, and manufacturing

CONCLUSION

“India’s future lies in its villages.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Frontier Markets is the market leader in connecting rural customers with global products and
services. We offer customers a range of life-improving solutions—from clean energy lighting, to
household appliances, to smart phones and 4G services—so that they can build better, brighter
futures for themselves and their families. And so far, we’ve connected over 700,000 households
to 1MM products and services, all delivered within 48 hours to their doorsteps.

The key to our success is investing in rural women. We’ve built a network of over 3000 rural
women entrepreneurs who are our on-the-ground service providers and equipped them with
world-class e-commerce technology. They know our customers, because they are our
customers—and can work hard to make sure their communities get what they need.