How does the direct sales model of Tupperware connect to building sustainable business models for the poor? Acumen Fund and our investees are using variations of this in the sale of anti-malarial bednets and low-cost glasses. Tupperware has been the inspiration. The brilliance of the Tupperware model is in tapping into women’s social networks, which allows the company to surmount challenges associated with the lack of infrastructure, takes advantage of women’s social organization and can build significant self-esteem. In the U.S., this model has also generated significant wealth for millions of women. When thinking about distribution channels, we need to find the best examples of how this model has been adapted most effectively to deliver critical goods and services to the poor. Hindustan Lever’s Shakti model is one such example. Which others have gone fully to scale (for Acumen Fund, that means at least a million people served)?
Good topic. This is an area I am very interested in as we at The Emancipation Network are using the Tupperware model in the US to sell products made by survivors of sex-trafficking. It is a very good business model for us as it allows us to educate the party guests about trafficking and raise revenues at the same time.
There are several US NGOs that have experimented with the party plan or network marketing model. Most of them have looked at it as an extra fundraising opportunity and have not really run a full party plan business so they have had limited success.
I am very interested in hearing more about how you are using party plan methods to sell the bed nets and glasses you refer to. It makes a lot of sense to expand this model into more products like those. Are these businesses set up to distribute more than one kind of product? That is, if they build out a network of distributors to sell glasses, can they, or do they plan to use the same network to sell other products?
Also, how do they protect against abuse and fraud. One of the downsides of network marketing is that the decentralized management and distribution creates plenty of opportunity for abuse.
I agree that party plan and network marketing could be a very powerful model in areas with less infrastructure and I would love to learn more about the existing projects you mention.
Reply to John Bergergood business model. It can empower women to get more money for her family…..
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