The Hapinoy Fisherman Competition
The SEVEN Fund and the Boston-based Fisherman Foundation are pleased to announce the Hapinoy-Fisherman Breakthrough Innovation Prize. This business plan competition is open to all who aspire to alleviate poverty through new and viable business ideas and innovations that can be offered through the Hapinoy Sari-Sari Store Network. Proposals must be innovative, resourceful, scalable and fit to the particular needs of the Philippines. The competition will award four (4) prizes of php 100,000, php 75,000, php 50,000, and php 25,000. The submission deadline for business proposals is August 15, 2010.
Background
The word Hapinoy is a play on the words Happy and Pinoy, the colloquial word for Filipino. The Hapinoy Store Program focuses on the sari-sari stores in the Philippines (sari-sari is the Filipino word for “many or various kinds”), small neighborhood or village convenience stores or retail-based outlets that sell various things, mostly basic commodities. These kinds of stores are almost always located within or as an extension of the storeowner’s home.
In 2007, MicroVentures Incorporated launched the Hapinoy Store Program with microfinance borrowers in mind. Upon realizing that 15 to 20% of microfinance borrowers use the capital to put up stores or expand their inventory, the Hapinoy Store Program first focused on aggregating all these sari-sari store owners for bulk product discounts.
Today, Hapinoy has evolved into a full-service micro entrepreneur enhancement program: a network of micro, small, medium and large enterprises where Hapinoy Community Stores and sari-sari stores serve as the hubs for goods and services that are coursed through the program and offered to its Base of the Pyramid target.
On the ground, the Program partners with storeowners, the female/women micro entrepreneurs called Nanays, the Filipino term for “mothers”. The Program aims to help Nanay:
• Have a profitable and sustainable business
• Reap practical, tangible benefits from partners and microfinance institutions
• Become knowledgeable with the help of training programs and support
The general objective is to create a business idea or innovation that will provide Hapinoy communities with opportunities for self-sufficiency and improved physical, social, educational, economic, and spiritual well-being. The business idea should build and extend on the Hapinoy Store platform, thus generating additional, profitable revenue and social benefits to the store and fulfill a need in the community.
Participants will choose one partner-area among Hapinoy’s existing network of Community Stores. A maximum of two (2) participants will be allowed to propose projects for the same community. Proposals must have a business model and long-term plans for financial and operational sustainability
Selection Criteria
Winners will be selected based on the uniqueness of their business model, their role model potential, and that their projects are creating prosperity in their community by:
• Creating unique value for their customers through innovative products and/or services;
• Generating a sustainable profit for owners/shareholders commensurate with risks;
• Investing in training employees, safe work conditions, and high and rising salaries; and
• Protecting the future by strengthening local/global environments/communities.
Other Criteria
• Market potential of the proposed project which would translate into increased revenue for Hapinoy Store Owner
• Has direct benefits to consumers or members of the community
• Scope/ size of the problem or opportunity being addressed
• Innovativeness of the solution
• Scalability