OneRoof

Essential Services

By bringing together under one roof a range of what we consider to be essential services, our delivery platform enables our franchisees to meet the pressing needs of their rural communites and to make a good living at the same time. Below is a summary of the essential service possibilities that can be brokered by OneRoof:

9 Essential Services: ICT, Education, Clean Water, Health, Financial Services, Energy, Sanitation, Employment Generation, Agricultural Technologies

A typical OneRoof franchise builds its business around our central service—information and communication technologies, or ICTs—and over time can add some or all of the other eight services we offer, depending on two factors: local market demand and the applicability of partnerships generated by our in-country subsidiaries or San Francisco headquarters.

Each OneRoof store begins with ICTs for three reasons:

OneRoof staff have many years of experience in the field,
Our experience has shown that there is substantial demand for ITC services in our markets, and
A solid information pipeline facilitates provision of the other eight essential services.

With our other eight services, however, franchisees and operators serve more as brokers than experts. A franchisee can educate his customers about a solar water pumping system we offer for sale, but a representative of our solar energy partner will do the installation and provide long-term service. A franchisee can help customers apply for a loan online with a bank that is our partner, but ultimately the bank will determine if that customer gets the loan. A franchisee might hire a part-time employee who receives the necessary training and supervision from one of our partners to sell low-cost reading glasses both in the store and during field visits.

A franchisee must understand his or her local market well in order to determine which services and products to carry beyond ICTs. For example, our India subsidiary reaches agreements with partners in the following areas: solar energy, financial services, educational software, eyesight-testing and reading glasses, water filters, and career counseling. Each franchisee then chooses which of those services and products he or she will offer based on local market surveys, willingness to invest more capital, time available for additional education and training, etc.

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICTs)
Information and communication services can include internet access, telephone and/or VoIP, desktop publishing applications, e-government assistance, copying, scanning, digital photos, and games and movies. Franchisees and operators receive training and ongoing support to ensure that they become highly knowledgeable about the various ICT products offered in OneRoof stores.

EDUCATION
We will offer computer classes and will provide educational software including a focus on local language literacy and the teaching of English. Each OneRoof store will have two rooms: a front room for computer services (and sale of other products), and a back room that will be a venue for workshops and community meetings and could contain spaces for a small lending library and for distribution of educational materials from public and non-governmental organizations.

FINANCIAL SERVICES
In rural cash economies, significant financial transactions must be carried out in cities, which requires costly, time-consuming and sometimes risky travel. In partnership with regional banks, OneRoof plans to provide local access to banking/ATM, microfinance loans, remittances, and relevant insurance policies locally.

EMPLOYMENT GENERATION: BPO AT THE BOP
We create new jobs and add value to existing jobs by linking farmers, artisans and other producers to new markets, and hosting career counseling workshops. OneRoof is also leveraging its network of computers across all franchised stores to provide Business Process Outsourcing at the Base of the Pyramid (BPO at the BOP) in order to generate additional employment for rural youth and more income for franchisees. During late evening hours, as well as non-peak hours during the day, unused computing capacity can be put to use.

HEALTH
Vision screening and customized reading glasses have been piloted in OneRoof stores. Effective herbal medicines, oral rehydration solutions, anti-malarial bednets, and HIV/AIDS testing are products and services are currently being considered as services, in partnership with qualified health professionals. We also hope to give customers remote access to health professionals using computer-based technologies such as proven telemedicine programs.

ENERGY
OneRoof will work with providers that sell clean, convenient, and affordable alternatives to conventional electricity, particularly in the field of solar technology. We currently offer portable solar-powered appliances such as lanterns, fans, and battery charters, and are evaluating larger systems to power homes and water pumps.

SANITATION
OneRoof is evaluating different latrine systems as well as innovative ecological (“dry”) sanitation systems for distribution where locally relevant.

CLEAN WATER
OneRoof is assessing a variety of new technologies for water purification, from filters to the development of small-scale water purification and distribution systems that could cover a number of towns and villages.

APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES
With agriculture being the predominant source of income in most of the communities where we work, we are looking at various services such as equipment rentals, sale of water pumps and other low-cost technologies, and we are considering partnerships with extension services to offer workshops and long-term guidance.