Inspired By Indian Women. Finding Uncommon Solutions For Common Problems

Indian women face a distinct problem. A problem which I thought was already solved for ALL women over the world. However, when The Economist highlighted the plight of women in India and the steps that they would take each month to deal with an issue that all women face, I was inspired by the creativity of the thinkers behind the solution.

Woman in blue dress. Photo by hikingartist

What was the problem? Read this excerpt from The Economist’s article.

Ms Jadhav is one of 300m menstruating Indian women who eschew sanitary pads in favour of rags, dry leaves, straw or newspapers. AC Nielsen, a research firm, says that 70% of women in India cannot afford sanitary products. Many who can pay do not, as they hate having to ask for them in drugstores that are usually run by men.

In fact if you read the article you will see that “…women prefer a cotton rag to a branded sanitary pad (although an exception may be made for a special occasion, such as a wedding).” They figure their homemade one does just as good of a job.

I found it interesting. I don’t think many of us knew that this was a problem elsewhere in the world, based on our ease of access and the commercialization of feminine products. However some very enterprising ‘social entrepreneurs’ thought long and hard about solving the problem and could soon be reaping the benefits big time!

Economic Impact & The Solution

How BIG was this problem? Huge. I think that was one reason why this problem could not have been ignored any longer. The problem was far reaching. The article continues…

This has serious consequences. Adolescent girls miss up to 50 days of school a year. Some 23% drop out altogether. Working women lose their daily wages. The social and economic benefits to be had from resolving this problem are potentially so large that doing so is now a focus of social entrepreneurs in many developing countries (for India is by no means unique in this respect). They include Jaydeep Mandal and Sombodhi Ghosh of Aakar Innovations, a Delhi-based start-up.

And this is their approach to the problem.

They have developed a machine that produces low-cost sanitary napkins using as raw materials agri-waste such as banana fibre, bamboo and water-hyacinth pulp. Each machine can churn out 1,600-2,000 pads a day, to be sold for 40% less than branded mass-market products.

And how will they deal with the distribution issue facing the women since they are afraid to ask the male shopkeepers for the products?

To bypass the current female-unfriendly distribution system, Aakar aims to sell its machines for 250,000 rupees (US$4,000) a time to groups of women. The finished item will be sold door-to-door by village saleswomen who also hawk solar lamps, stoves and saris. It will be distributed, too, in women-run grocery stores and beauty parlours. Aakar hopes to profit by selling the raw materials and the machines.

Interesting. It is very good that these entrepreneurs got creative to get to solve what was becoming an untenable issue.

Could there be similar issues in our country or elsewhere that we take for granted, but could be big multimillion dollar industries? The Economist points out that “the 13.5 billion rupee sanitary-pad industry in India is growing fast. Established firms, including global giants such as Procter & Gamble, hold sway in towns and cities, though still only 25% of women use their products. In the countryside the proportion is lower still.”

Which is why the founders of this new product believe they have a shot at success. “By bypassing middlemen and using existing rural retail networks the founders believe they can win 6m customers and provide direct employment to 11,000 women in the next five years.”

How can we take a different approach to problems and create big business opportunities, while solving the real issues that people face?