Pitch Deck Outline Objective: To develop a pitch deck for team Susufy to pitch a solution to solve a problem facing Absa Bank and its customers Outcome: Win $10,000 at AbsaHacks Audience: Absa Bank
Team Name Susufy
Problem Did you know that SMEs represent about 85% of businesses in Ghana
…and contribute about 70% to Ghana's GDP?
For such a contribution, it’s not surprising that SMEs play a significant role in Ghana’s economy
And Absa recognizes that.
In fact, Absa views SMEs as a viable business opportunity for disbursing loans!
Yet the bank faces a number of challenges in dealing with this segment:
One, SMEs are usually a high risk group to lend to because they usually do not have collateral, do not manage their finances effectively, making it difficult to assess their credit worthiness.
Second, SMEs shy away from dealing with banks like Absa due to the long application processes and requirements for accessing loans.
In effect, Absa misses the opportunity to collect deposits from this critical market and the opportunity to make a sustainable impact in Ghana.
Problem: SMEs find it difficult to save and raising funds for their businesses. How can we open up fund access to SMEs and encourage them to save more? How can we overcome barriers and enhance inclusivity to improve SMEs' access to financial opportunities through banks?
Improving Access to Financial Opportunities for SMEs through Banks: Overcoming Barriers and Enhancing Inclusivity
Solution To solve this, we asked ourselves two questions: How to encourage SMEs to save and to increase their access to funds? How can Absa increase deposit collection from SMEs in Ghana? And how can we make Absa an attractive option for SMEs as a growth partner?
That’s when we created Susufy.
3 ways to solve this problem Collective Savings Investment Target saving and swipe /save
Susufy addresses the challenge by enabling communities to provide monthly financial support to their members using a rotating, crowd-funded model. This approach fosters financial inclusion, strengthens social bonds, and empowers communities to meet their financial goals and needs effectively. Susufy leverages a blockchain-based rotating, crowd-funded model to enable communities to provide monthly financial support to their members. This blockchain-powered approach fosters financial inclusion, strengthens social bonds, and empowers communities to meet their financial goals and needs effectively, all while ensuring security and transparency. Susufy is a web application that allows SMEs to get quick access to funds to grow their businesses by joining a group of like-minded SMEs who pool funds to invest in each others’ business.
Susufy provides SMEs with: Quick access to funds Secure investment for the future
Susufy provides Absa with: Quick access to deposits Low-risk clients for loan disbursement
How it Works (Product Demo) So how does it work? Take Abena - Abena is a fabric retailer in East Legon She hears about Susufy and decides to get on board
Step 1: Abena is asked to come with 4 other business owners she trusts to simply open a group account with 0 funds Step 2: Absa creates accounts for all 5 businesses and signs them up to Susufy Step 3: The Susufy App randomly generates numbers for each business to determine the order in which they would each receive funds Step 4: The App notifies all business owners of the period to make contributions Step 5: All businesses make the contributions and the App splits the cash 50-50% and sends the pooled funds to the first person
Now let’s take a look at the Susufy Dashboard
Market Validation
What is the market saying?
Why some business owners would join: Use the cash to grow business It’s a nice idea - another way of saving - helps the business solve a problem Makes you get working capital quick Would do it but it depends on the level of trust he has Because I need working capital for my business If I am in need of money urgently I would call on it .It’s part of savings to save more. The need to expand the business Depends on rules - When in need of money to invest in the business If I am in need of money for my business to grow and I can get it
What would motivate me to join: As long as it’s safe and can help me access funds quickly When the bank takes responsibility for loss of fund Will need the trust and assurance that my money is safe and receive my cash without complain Make sure everyone pays - Everyone must pay their part It should be simple and convenient - fast App If only it’s real - they are not in for your money
Why some business owners would not join: Some have bad intentions Someone ran away with her money!
Retrospective Having gone through this 3-day program, these are our key takeaways:
Learnt about the use of smart contracts and how to implement them in business We go an overview of Hardhat and tried our hands on it We’ve also learnt about ourselves and how to pivot quickly in prototyping
Looking Forward @Roy can we have a timeline for what is below:
Review our current solution (with Absa) - By Nov 2023 Conduct additional market research - By Jan 2024 Develop version 2.0 - By Feb 2024 Pilot version 2.0 - By Mar 2024 Sell final version - By Jun 2024
In the long term, we hope to implement smart contracts in our respective areas of interest (agri-tech, edutech, logistics, fintech, etc.)
Team Roy Mohubu Role:
Miranda Anya Role:
Peter Nortey Role:
Francis Okunade Role:
Obehi Omo-Ataga Role:
Regina Role:
Appendix
Team Name: Susufy
Team Members Roy Mohubu Miranda Anya Peter Nortey Francis Okunade Obehi Omo-Ataga
Team Lead Obehi Omo-Ataga
Problem Statement SMEs face two key problems: limited loan eligibility and a cumbersome loan application process. This hinders their access to much-needed funds for growth and discourages them from pursuing financial assistance.
Value Proposition: Absa Susu empowers SMEs to access quick and bigger loans through the power of group savings. Our solution provides a community of like-minded individuals who pool their resources to create a shared savings account. By contributing to this account, SMEs can access the funds they need for growth and expansion without the burden of loan eligibility or a complex loan application process.
USP: Our unique selling proposition is that we provide SMEs with a simple and effective way to access financial assistance through the power of community. By leveraging the concept of group savings, we enable SMEs to access quick and bigger loans while fostering a sense of community and collaboration. Our solution promotes financial inclusion, empowering SMEs to achieve their goals and drive economic growth.