Cape Town Contd.

Camps Bay at Sunset

Work has continued to progress as I am trying to establish the foundation for the Wonder Plant. It has been a whirlwind trying to create a platform for which to market our product as well as trying to figure out exactly which niche we would like to get into. So far we have decided on a few different approaches which include selling the Spekboom to be planted at 30 Rand / plant, having a company plant it as volunteers for 30 Rand / plant, and having us plant it on their behalf for 70 Rand / plant. (The conversion rate is about 10 Rand = $1) Then we have also moved into a couple of promotional campaigns. While I am working on this project the other interns are working on putting up the sites, collecting donations, creating website platforms, etc. I have been working with one of the interns to have a promotional campaign of giving out about 30 trees to this one area in Stellenbosch that has very successful companies as a donation challenge. Through this I have  been trying to figure out suppliers to have a nice product design as well as promotional material to give with it.

Brochure: minus the logo which should arrive soon

The other main focus the last week or so is that this Friday is Mandela Day. This is a South African holiday which encourages everyone to donate 67 minutes of their day to any sort of charity or helping their community. Each minute represents each year that Nelson Mandela fought for equality and change. We had spent some time doing door to door sales to companies in Stellenbosch, mostly car companies with large carbon footprints, doing rocket pitches while holding up our first model plant I had put together. While this is still in the works for future follow ups and donations, we do have one company that is volunteering their time to plant a few trees on our Kayamandi site. However, as of this morning it is down pouring the next two days and it will be rescheduled for a future time. 

First product design

It has been really great to be able to grow with the company dynamic here. Each meeting is an uplifting debrief or reflection session which includes positives, negatives, accomplishments, acknowledgements, ice breakers, and lessons from the boss. Everyone works with each other here and engages together as we are all working on separate parts that are intertwined together. It has also been very interesting to view the way this company handles the in and out of the different interns. As it is a constant changing dynamic of international people the office changes every week. There has been recently in placed a sort of transitional program that will help the future of continuity between the different roles and projects. 

The stars mark all our current sites

 For any specific presentations, proposals, or marketing material feel free to shoot me an email. :)

Also as an exciting note, I went shark cage diving this week! Very exciting and very cold in the middle of winter.

Shark Cage Diving