Week 1: Getting the team together.

Finally the time has arrived when the Uniloo team will get to test their business model and the idea of an in-home portable toilet during a 6 month trial.

Arriving in Accra to find out my internal flight was cancelled and I needed to get a 6hr bus trip, which turned into an 8hr bus journey to Kumasi, was not the best of starts to setting up the trial. When I arrived in Kumasi I was happily greeted by the project coordinator Asantewa and the two students from Cranfield University Simon and Clemens. We moved into the project house and the long journey was forgotten as there was great energy in the team.

The first thing to do was to sort the warehouse for the delivery of the Torp-Isak portable toilets (great toilet all the way from Separett in Sweden), the closest commercially built model currently on the market to the Uniloo design. Once the toilets arrived it was time to arrange the branding of the toilets and getting the uniforms and t-shirts ready. With the project we have tried to use local talent as much as possible. We managed to get great uniforms made by sourcing fabric in the local market and getting a tailor to make them. What a great job he did.

The polo shirts, the printing of the passbooks, receipts books, business cards and all marketing materials were all produced and compiled locally. The results looked really good and professional.

At the end of week1 I knew we were in for a long journey but we had a great weekend watching our project coordinator Asantewa graduate with her masters from KNUST technical University in Kumasi.

Key Learnings:

Logistics are a nightmare; always have a plan B when working in Africa.